BIOGRAPHY
Dr. David Harris Smith is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Media Arts at McMaster University. His research and creative works in emerging media technologies include the practices and applications of artificial intelligence, robotics, virtual worlds and mixed reality environments. Dr. Smith’s recent cultural robotics project, hitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot, received extensive international media coverage. His current research explores the design and implementation of artificial consciousness, or synthetic-phenomenology, in robots. Dr. Smith’s research initiatives have received funding for over one million dollars from government and industry partners. He is a recipient of the Top 30 SiliconValley Innovators Award.