Find my CV — a hide-and-seek CV | Dr. Yasas Sri Wickramasinghe

Profile

Postdoctoral researcher and senior lecturer working at the intersection of immersive technology, software product engineering, and pedagogy. I lead research-informed teaching across postgraduate programmes and run mixed-methods user studies on multiplayer location-based AR, spatial interaction, and player experience — in partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment, Niantic, and the University of Canterbury. My practice is built around experiential learning, industry collaboration, and values-driven, inclusive learning environments.

01 Work

Jun 2025 — Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

University of Canterbury — Human Interface Technology Lab NZ, Christchurch

Lead applied XR research in partnership with Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), Japan, spanning design, implementation, and evaluation of VR applications.
Run mixed-methods studies on user experience, comfort, and usability in immersive environments.
Design multi-modal experimental platforms integrating XR Interaction Toolkit and OpenXR.
Mentor postgraduate students in experimental design, Unity development, and publication writing.

Feb 2023 — Present

Senior Lecturer

Yoobee College of Creative Innovation, Christchurch

Independently designed and built an AI-first, learner-friendly interactive LMS for blended postgraduate delivery — video tutorials, gamified lessons and challenges, AI-driven assessments, and a business-intelligence dashboard giving the lecturer real-time cohort analytics.
Teach masters-level courses: Strategic Information Systems Planning, Database Management, and IT Project Management.
Supervise capstone projects; coordinate teaching assistants; lead moderation and quality assurance aligned with NZQA standards.
Recognised for innovative, high-engagement, research-informed teaching methods.

Jan 2020 — Sep 2022

Platform Lead — Software Engineering Strand

Open Learning Platform (open.uom.lk), University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

Co-designed, configured, and deployed Sri Lanka's first large-scale MOOC platform end-to-end; scaled to 150,000+ registered learners.
Coordinated cross-faculty collaboration to ship a unified Software Engineering curriculum.
Built fully automated registration, grading, and certification — enabling scalable delivery with minimal manual ops.
Recognised by the university as a flagship open-education project.

Mar 2019 — Sep 2022

Lecturer

University of Moratuwa — Faculty of Information Technology, Sri Lanka

Taught Database Systems, HCI, Software Engineering, and Enterprise Application Development at UG and PG level.
Designed an AR/VR learning framework subsequently adopted for postgraduate teaching.
Contributed to curriculum development for HCI and enterprise development modules.

Sep 2017 — Mar 2021

Technical Lead & Senior Software Engineer

99X Technology, Sri Lanka

Led engineering teams building large-scale enterprise applications; promoted to Technical Lead.
Introduced AR-based features and embedded Agile development practices across teams.
Ran technical training and mentored junior engineers; multiple Best-Employee awards.

02 Education & training

Jun 2022 — Jun 2025

Doctor of Philosophy — Human Interface Technology

University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand

Thesis: Designing multiplayer location-based augmented reality games that connect remote players and places.
Three mixed-methods user studies combining AR, eye-tracking, and player-experience metrics.
Produced multiple peer-reviewed publications and design guidelines for immersive game interaction.
Fully funded under the Applied Immersive Gaming Initiative (AIGI).

Oct 2019 — Oct 2020

Specialisation in Virtual Reality

Goldsmiths, University of London

May 2013 — Oct 2017

BSc (Hons) in Information Technology

University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka — Faculty of Information Technology

03 Selected publications

2025 · JournalWickramasinghe, Y. S., Lukosch, H. K., Everett, J., & Lukosch, S. (2025). Evaluating spatial decision-making and player experience in a remote multiplayer augmented reality hide-and-seek game. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 9(8), 79. doi.org/10.3390/mti9080079

2025 · OzCHIWickramasinghe, Y. S., Lukosch, H., Everett, J., & Lukosch, S. (2025). On the impact of augmented reality game mechanics on the player experience in remote multiplayer gameplay. In Proceedings of the 37th Australian Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (OzCHI '25) (pp. 426–439). Association for Computing Machinery. doi.org/10.1145/3764687.3764699

2025 · JournalWickramasinghe, Y. S., Lukosch, H. K., Everett, J., & Lukosch, S. (2025). Representing remote locations with location-based augmented reality game design. Entertainment Computing, 53, 100932. doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2025.100932

2025 · IEEE VRWickramasinghe, Y. S., Lukosch, H., Everett, J., & Lukosch, S. (2025). Augmented hide-and-seek: evaluating spatial decision-making and player experience in a multiplayer location-based game. IEEE VR & 3D User Interfaces Abstracts & Workshops (VRW 2025), Saint-Malo, France, pp. 1228–1229. doi.org/10.1109/VRW66409.2025.00260

2024 · ACM SUIRitter, M., Liew, K., Wickramasinghe, Y. S., & Lukosch, S. (2024). Trustful trading in shared augmented reality. Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Symposium on Spatial User Interaction (SUI '24), Article 4, 1–12. doi.org/10.1145/3677386.3682086

2023 · ISAGAWickramasinghe, Y. S., Lukosch, S., & Lukosch, H. (2023). Designing immersive multiplayer location-based augmented reality games with remotely shared spaces. In Becu, N. (Ed.), Simulation and Gaming for Social and Environmental Transitions — Proceedings of the 54th ISAGA Conference (pp. 204–214). halshs-04209935

2022 · KDUInparajah, J., & Wickramasinghe, Y. S. (2022). A review on reimagining medical education with virtual reality in emerging medical disciplines. Proceedings of the 15th International Research Conference, KDU, Sri Lanka. ir.kdu.ac.lk/handle/345/6503

2017 · IEEEWickramasinghe, Y. S., De Saram, P. S. R. S., Liyanage, C. P., Rangika, L. N. R., & Ranathunga, L. (2017). Virtual reality markup framework for generating interactive indoor environment. IEEE 3rd Int. Conf. on Engineering Technologies and Social Sciences (ICETSS 2017), Bangkok, pp. 1–6. doi.org/10.1109/ICETSS.2017.8324175

2015 · ThesisWickramasinghe, Y. S., & Gunasekara, E. H. (2015). A mobile application with augmented reality to enhance Sinhala learning experience for children. University of Moratuwa Digital Library. dl.lib.mrt.ac.lk

04 Teaching & supervision

Postgraduate supervision

2023 — NowKotuwegedara, H. — Master's Thesis, Yoobee Colleges · Primary supervisor. Prompting for Security: LLM Code Generation in Angular.
2022 — 2024Ritter, M. — Master's Thesis, HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury · Co-supervisor. Trust and trustworthiness while exchanging virtual items in shared augmented reality. doi.org/10.26021/15296
2021 — 2022Inparajah, J. — Final-Year Thesis, University of Moratuwa · Primary supervisor. Reimagining Medical Education with VR in Emerging Medical Disciplines.

Courses delivered

2025MBI804 — IT Project Management (Master's) · Senior Lecturer, Yoobee Colleges
2025MBI802 — Database Management (Master's) · Senior Lecturer, Yoobee Colleges
2025MBI800 — Strategic Information Systems (Master's) · Senior Lecturer, Yoobee Colleges
2023HITD603 — Human Interface Technology (Master's) · Workshops on AR application development, HIT Lab NZ
2019–22IN1600 — Multimedia & Web Technologies (BSc) · Lecturer, University of Moratuwa
2020–22IN2100 — Object Oriented Programming (BSc) · Lecturer, University of Moratuwa

05 Invited talks

2024Breaking the Wall of Loneliness through Play · Falling Walls Lab
2023The First AR Game Dev Rant — Panel with Evie, Melanie, Devi & Yasas · NZ Game Developers Conference
2023Designing Location-based AR Games Enhancing Spatial Presence · Invited talk, NZ Game Developers Conference

06 Grants & recognition

Grants & scholarships

2024Niantic Studio Developer Accelerator Grant · Niantic, Inc.
2022–25Applied Immersive Gaming Initiative (AIGI) Full Scholarship · University of Canterbury

Awards & distinctions

2024Winner — Technology Track, Napkin Challenge, University of Canterbury
2022People's Choice Award, Visualize Your Thesis, University of Canterbury
2018–20Excellence Awards — Best Initiative Team Lead, 99X (3 consecutive years)
2020Emerging Xian Award — Top 3 Nominee, 99X
20151st Runner-up — Microsoft Imagine Cup National Finals, Sri Lanka
2015Champion — Hackanix Inter-University Hackathon, Microsoft Sri Lanka & AIESEC
20151st Runner-up — Fuegostica V2.0 Code Ultimate Hackathon, Sri Lanka
20162nd Runner-up — Dialog Ideamart "Mora Hack" · Finalist, SSAsia12 Code-A-Thon (IEEE) · Semi-finalist, DisruptX (SLASSCOM & IEEE)
2016Google Translation Marathon, Google Sri Lanka

07 What I bring

EdTech & Platform Building

Independently designed and built an AI-first, learner-friendly LMS at Yoobee — video tutorials, gamified lessons, AI-driven assessments, and a BI dashboard for live cohort insight. Earlier, co-built Sri Lanka's first national MOOC platform reaching 150k+ learners with automated grading and certification.

Teaching & Curriculum Design

Research-led postgraduate and undergraduate courses across Information Systems, HCI, and Project Management. Built gamified, industry-connected learning tools that lifted engagement and outcomes.

Research & Innovation

Peer-reviewed publications in HCI and AR; empirical user studies using mixed methods, eye-tracking, and player-experience metrics. Collaborations with Sony Interactive Entertainment and Niantic.

Technical & Digital Expertise

Unity 3D, Niantic Lightship ARDK, ARFoundation, OpenXR, XR Interaction Toolkit. Data analytics in Python, R, and SQL. Prototype-to-production across research and teaching contexts.

Communication & Mentorship

Supervise postgraduate research, mentor teaching assistants, and present at academic and industry conferences. Known for making complex technical ideas accessible.

Collaboration & Leadership

Multi-institutional team leadership across research and curriculum initiatives. Curriculum developer, conference speaker, and outreach mentor.

Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving

Design-led reasoning applied to pedagogical and technological challenges, with a commitment to evidence-based, reflective practice.

08 Service & certifications

Academic service

2025Paper Reviewer — ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST)
2024Student Volunteer — IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR)
2024Student Volunteer — International Simulation and Gaming Association (ISAGA) Conference
2024–25Postgraduate Student Mentor — University of Canterbury
2023 — NowBlogger, Emerging Technologies — readclub.me & Medium. AR/VR & HCI for an international research and design audience.

Certifications & training

2025AI Fluency for Educators · Anthropic — Certificate of Completion
—Certificate in Teaching Higher Education · Best Portfolio Submission & Best Research Presentation Honours
—Scrum Foundation Professional Certificate (SFPC)
—Certificate in Using Eye Trackers in Research · Tobii Academy
—GitLab Certified Associate
—Online Presence and Digital Footprint · University of Edinburgh
—Product Development: Customer Journey Mapping · Coursera

That's the whole CV.

Yasas Wickramasinghe, PhD