Zachary   McKENDRICK 

I am a theatre-maker, Human–Computer Interaction researcher, and educator working at the intersection of performance and emerging technology. My work is grounded in collaboration and in the pursuit of wholistic immersive experiences. As an artist, I create bold, physically engaged work that blends genre, high art, and pop cultural influences. I am interested in using ritual, spectacle, and heightened theatricality to explore questions of agency, identity, intimacy, and power.

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As a researcher, I examine how performance practices can inform the design, use, and evaluation of interactive technologies. My work has explored virtual rehearsal, embodiment in VR, interactive storytelling, human–robot and human–drone performance, and the development of more human-centred immersive systems. Rather than treating theatre as content for technology, I use rehearsal, movement, dramaturgy, and actor training as design knowledge.

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​My teaching follows the same collaborative and practice-driven approach. Across theatre, performance, computer science, interaction design, and HCI, I encourage students to experiment, take informed creative risks, question assumptions, and develop the language to explain their choices.

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Throughout my work, I return to one central question:
How can the things we create and the technology we use help us better understand ourselves and one another?