Sensorimotor Neuroscientist & Research Leader
I study how the brain controls natural movement — through EEG, the science of touch, and motion capture — and build the research infrastructure, instruments and ventures that turn it into real-world technology. I also run hands-on courses teaching scientists motion capture and VR in Unity.
I build the science, the infrastructure, and the companies that turn how the brain controls movement into technology people can use.
My research asks a deceptively simple question: how does the brain command the body to act in the real world? To answer it I combine EEG to read the neural signatures of movement, psychophysics of touch to probe how we sense contact and force, and motion capture to measure action with millimetre precision — closing the perception–action loop in extended reality.
I established and lead the University's markerless Movement Lab, research infrastructure now used across research groups. Previously at Meta, I contributed to the markerless, scalable hand tracking now integral to the Quest product line and used by millions worldwide. As Co-Founder & Director of Motion Dynamics, I translate this science into hand-tracking hardware, haptics and XR software — and I teach it through courses for scientists.
At Meta I contributed to markerless, scalable hand tracking — camera-based input that needs no gloves or controllers and holds up across real-world hands, lighting and motion. That technology is now integral to the Quest line, letting millions of people worldwide interact with virtual worlds using nothing but their hands.
The through-line of my work is independence: creating the facilities, collaborations and companies that let new science happen — and mentoring the people who deliver it.
I designed, specced and established a state-of-the-art markerless motion-capture facility now used across research groups at the University of Birmingham — a shared research asset I lead, and a magnet that draws collaborators and grant co-investigator roles into the department.
I opened a new direction applying kinematic assessment to sign-language acquisition, and I mentor the PhD researcher delivering it — reflected in our co-authored work. It shows an independent research agenda beyond my own hands-on projects.
I initiated a cross-college neuroscience × immersive-simulation collaboration — leveraging facilities no other group in the department has — and converted it into funded PhD capacity, bringing new research income and people into the group.
Through Motion Dynamics, applied partnerships, the Kenilworth Revealed AR heritage project, and training courses for scientists, I take research out of the lab into products, skills and community — the basis of an impact and knowledge-exchange narrative.
Four intertwined threads that run from the brain to the fingertip and back.
Reading the neural signatures of movement to understand how motor plans are formed, predicted and corrected while people act in naturalistic, real-world tasks.
Sensory-motor neuroscience of the sense of touch — how the hand senses contact, force and texture, and how tactile feedback shapes what we do next.
Capturing fine-grained sensorimotor signals with markerless mocap and hand-tracking hardware, measuring action with the precision that experiments demand.
Building XR, HCI and human–robot interaction systems that close the perception–action loop in real time — for research, rehabilitation and collaboration.
Hardware, software and studies that turn sensorimotor science into things people can use.
A collaboration I lead that brings University of Birmingham innovation to the community — AR that lets visitors step into Kenilworth's history, supporting local engagement and tourism.
Scalable, camera-based hand tracking I contributed to at Meta — now integral to the Quest line, used by millions.
A modular glove tracking every finger at high rate, with integrated haptics for precise XR and robotics control.
Renders physical button-press sensations with controllable indentation.
A VR billiards task coupled to a wrist squeeze band for impact-synchronised feedback.
A grounded lab system delivering precise vibrotactile stimuli while measuring fingertip force.
Peer-reviewed work across HCI, sensorimotor neuroscience and XR. Full list on the publications page.
Grants, awards and translation funding across research and enterprise.
XR Text Trove review of text input techniques.
Named postdoc delivering XR music system integration & studies.
Gift to explore ten-finger text entry for VR/AR.
Innovate UK market validation for the AR musician system.
Selected as a finalist; the fund was later withdrawn nationally following government changes.
Portable tactile neuropathy assessment proof-of-concept.
Immersive biofeedback for upper-limb rehabilitation.
Hands-on, practical training that gets research groups up and running with motion capture, VR and rapid prototyping — taught from real lab experience. Places are limited each cohort.
Set up, capture and analyse motion-capture data end to end — calibration, marker sets, recording clean trials, and exporting kinematics ready for analysis.
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Build and run your own VR experiments in the Unity game engine — from scene setup and interaction to logging trial-by-trial data for your studies.
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Practical CAD and rapid prototyping for research — design custom rigs, mounts and apparatus and print them for your experiments.
Sign up →Not sure which fits, or want a course delivered to your lab or department? Get in touch and I'll help you choose.
Sign up for a course →Collaborations, PhD supervision, speaking, consulting on immersive tech and neurotech, or a conversation about how the brain moves the body — I'd be glad to hear from you. To join a course, use the course sign-up page.