The Department of Graphic Design at Bilkent University cordially invites you to attend the faculty candidate seminar of Dr. Serra C\u0131l\u0131zo\u011flu \u00c7a\u011fatay, who is being considered for a faculty appointment within our department.<\/p>\n
Title of the Seminar
\nDesigning Meaningful Experiences in Immersive and Emerging Media: XR Storytelling, Participatory Futures, and Human\u2013AI Collaboration<\/p>\n
Date: 17 June 2026
\nTime: 13:30
\nVenue: FFB22, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture<\/p>\n
In this seminar, Dr. \u00c7a\u011fatay will present a five-year research agenda focused on the design of meaningful experiences in immersive and emerging media. Drawing upon her doctoral research on virtual product experiences in social VR environments, her practice-based work as VR Creative Lead on the award-winning feature film LifeLike, and the development of the QWeave framework, the presentation will explore how XR and AI-supported technologies are reshaping storytelling, community formation, and creative practice.
\nThe talk will address three interconnected research strands: XR storytelling and virtual production, participatory and city-embedded communities, and AI-supported creativity tools for human\u2013AI collaboration. Particular emphasis will be placed on worldbuilding, speculative design, and participatory design methodologies as bridges between design research, creative industries, cultural heritage, and civic engagement. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of how this research agenda may contribute to the development of a multidisciplinary, city-embedded XR Living Lab at Bilkent University.<\/p>\n
Short Biography
\nDr. Serra \u00c7a\u011fatay is a multidisciplinary designer and researcher working at the intersection of interaction design, extended reality (XR), immersive media, and speculative design research. She received her undergraduate degree in Interior Architecture and Environmental Design from Bilkent University and completed her PhD at Ko\u00e7 University, where she investigated virtual product experiences in social VR platforms.
\nHer research examines how designers, brands, users, and creators can develop meaningful experiences across physical, digital, and hybrid environments. Her work has been published in leading venues including ACM Mindtrek, AIS Transactions on Human-Computer Interaction, and ACM Creativity & Cognition. She has contributed to numerous projects involving social VR, immersive storytelling, virtual retail, and AI-supported design tools. Alongside her academic work, she served as VR Creative Lead on the award-winning feature film LifeLike, which was partially produced within VRChat environments.
\nHer teaching and research interests include speculative design, critical design, design futuring, worldbuilding, XR storytelling, Human\u2013AI interaction, design research methodologies, and emerging technologies in visual communication.
\nWe would be delighted by your participation and look forward to welcoming you to the seminar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Department of Graphic Design at Bilkent University cordially invites you to attend the faculty candidate seminar of Dr. Serra C\u0131l\u0131zo\u011flu \u00c7a\u011fatay, who is being considered for a faculty appointment within our department. Title of the Seminar Designing Meaningful Experiences in Immersive and Emerging Media: XR Storytelling, Participatory Futures, and [\u2026] <\/p>\n