Overview
Background
Dr Nilufar (Nell) Baghaei is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at The University of Queensland, and Co-Director of the Mixed Reality Lab. She leads a high-impact, interdisciplinary research group focused on designing immersive technologies and games, and studying their effectiveness in improving health and education outcomes.
Dr Baghaei has built a strong national and international reputation through prolific publications in top-tier venues, editorial and leadership roles in major journals and conferences, securing more than $3M in successful external grants (as lead CI or technical lead CI), and successful supervision of research students (Google Scholar h-index: 28; citations: 2,800+). She is currently supervising 12 HDR students (7 as principal supervisor) and serves on several UQ committees. She was awarded the 2025 Faculty Research Excellence Award in the supervision category.
Dr Baghaei is an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, Virtual Reality, and Games for Health Journal, and serves as the Organising Committee Member/Associate Chair for IEEE ISMAR and ACM CHI (A*-ranked conferences in immersive tech and HCI). She also acted as a Program Chair for the International Conference on Persuasive Technology in 2024. Her research has been cited in policy and patent documents, and featured in media outlets including Psychology Today, MedicalXpress, and 7NEWS Australia. Prior to joining UQ, she led the Games and Extended Reality Lab at Massey University, New Zealand.
Availability
- Dr Nell Baghaei is:
- Available for supervision
- Media expert
Research interests
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Virtual Reality, Game-based Learning, Digital Health, AI in Education, Persuasive Technology
Research impacts
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I was awarded the 2025 Faculty Research Excellence Award in the supervision category.
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My thesis student, Sarah Abdulkhalek, was named Valedictorian of the Class of 2025.
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EECS 2024 HDR awards: My PhD students, Vibhav Chitale and Achintha Abayasiri, were awarded the Most Innovative Thesis Topic (for a project on mobile games and mental health assessment) and Most Interesting Thesis Topic (for a project on VR visual illusions and balance) respectively.
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My thesis student, Andrew Wong (co-supervised by Dr Yinshu Zhao), won the Most Innovative Use of XR award at 2024 UQ innovation Showcase for his project on "Effects of Customised AI Shopping Assistant in Virtual Reality Shopping".
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Best Paper award - Honorable Mention for "Breaking the Isolation: Exploring the Impact of Passthrough in Shared Spaces on Player Performance and Experience in VR Exergames" IEEE VR (A*-ranked conference) 2024
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My PhD student, Yinshu (Claire) Zhao, won an Honorable Mention for best DC presentation at IEEE ISMAR 2023 (A*-ranked conference) for her project on "Impact of Avatars on Shoppers’ Perception and Behaviour in Immersive Virtual Stores".
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My thesis student, Suki Zhang, won the Most Innovative Use of XR award at 2023 Innovation Showcase for her thesis project on Juiciness in VR Exergames.
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Nominated for Best Paper award "Augmented Reality Applications in the Classroom: Teachers’ Experience", Al Omair, H., Mendoza, A., Boden, M., Baghaei, N., International Conference on Computers in Education (2022)
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Featured in Psychology today for VR and Mental Health project (published in JMIR 2021): New Research Finds Virtual Reality Can Help Treat Anxiety: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/202109/new-research-finds-virtual-reality-can-help-treat-anxiety https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/new-research-finds-virtual-reality-could-help-treat-anxiety/
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Nominated for Best Paper award "Persuasive Virtual Reality: Promoting Earth Buildings in New Zealand", Don Samarasinghe, Nilufar Baghaei and Lehan Stemmet, International Conference on Persuasive Technology (2020)
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Edu-games guru, Dr Baghaei talks to Careers with STEM about some of her research projects, challenges faced along the way and gives some advice to young women who want to learn about and pursue a career in ST (2018)
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Runner-up Award for leading a research project entitled “Feasibility of Diabetic Mario Mobile Game to Improve Diabetes Self-management”, funded by Health Research Council, in collaboration with the University of Auckland - Unitec (2017)
Works
Search Professor Nell Baghaei’s works on UQ eSpace
2022
Journal Article
Preface
Baghaei, Nilufar, Vassileva, Julita, Ali, Raian and Oyibo, Kiemute (2022). Preface. Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), 13213 LNCS, v-vi.
2022
Book
Persuasive Technology: 17th International Conference, PERSUASIVE 2022, Virtual Event, March 29–31, 2022, Proceedings
Nilufar Baghaei, Julita Vassileva, Raian Ali and Kiemute Oyibo eds. (2022). Persuasive Technology: 17th International Conference, PERSUASIVE 2022, Virtual Event, March 29–31, 2022, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-98438-0
2022
Conference Publication
Designing and implementing individualized VR for supporting depression
Halim, Ilona, Baghaei, Nilufar, Stemmet, Lehan, Billinghurst, Mark and Porter, Richard (2022). Designing and implementing individualized VR for supporting depression. IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR), Onnline, 12-16 March 2022. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/VRW55335.2022.00052
2022
Edited Outputs
Persuasive Technology : 17th International Conference, PERSUASIVE 2022, Proceedings
Baghaei, Nilufar, Vassileva, Julita, Ali, Raian and Oyibo, Kiemute eds. (2022). Persuasive Technology : 17th International Conference, PERSUASIVE 2022, Proceedings. 17th International Conference, PERSUASIVE 2022, Online, 29–31 March 2022. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
2021
Journal Article
Persuasion via gamification: Supporting positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) school-wide pedagogy
Reddy, Lou, Baghaei, Nilufar, Reinders, Hayo, Ahmed, Ali and Sardareh, Sedigheh Abbasnasab (2021). Persuasion via gamification: Supporting positive behaviour for learning (PB4L) school-wide pedagogy. Set: Research Information for Teachers (2), 20-25. doi: 10.18296/set.0200
2021
Journal Article
Contact tracing: ensuring privacy and security
Leeuwen, Daan Storm van, Ahmed, Ali, Watterson, Craig and Baghaei, Nilufar (2021). Contact tracing: ensuring privacy and security. Applied Sciences, 11 (21) 9977, 1-17. doi: 10.3390/app11219977
2021
Conference Publication
Designing games for stealth health and healthy lifestyle education
Baghaei, Nilufar, Halim, Ilona, Casey, John, Marsh, Samantha and Maddison, Ralph (2021). Designing games for stealth health and healthy lifestyle education. 29th International Conference on Computers in Education (ICCE), Online, 22-26 November 2021. Taoyuan City, Taiwan: Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.
2021
Journal Article
Effects of an immersive virtual reality exergame on university students’ anxiety, depression, and perceived stress: pilot feasibility and usability study
Xu, Wenge, Liang, Hai-Ning, Baghaei, Nilufar, Ma, Xiaoyue, Yu, Kangyou, Meng, Xuanru and Wen, Shaoyue (2021). Effects of an immersive virtual reality exergame on university students’ anxiety, depression, and perceived stress: pilot feasibility and usability study. JMIR Serious Games, 9 (4) e29330, 1-9. doi: 10.2196/29330
2021
Journal Article
Virtual reality for supporting the treatment of depression and anxiety: scoping review
Baghaei, Nilufar, Chitale, Vibhav, Hlasnik, Andrej, Stemmet, Lehan, Liang, Hai-Ning and Porter, Richard (2021). Virtual reality for supporting the treatment of depression and anxiety: scoping review. JMIR Mental Health, 8 (9) e29681, 1-14. doi: 10.2196/29681
2021
Journal Article
Games for Mental Health (Special Issue)
Baghaei, Nilufar, Liang, Hai-Ning, Naslund, John and Porter, Richard (2021). Games for Mental Health (Special Issue). Games for Health Journal, 10 (4), 205-206. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2021.7021.cfp
2021
Conference Publication
Designing individualised virtual reality applications for supporting depression: a feasibility study
Baghaei, Nilufar, Stemmet, Lehan, Khaliq, Imran, Ahmadi, Atefeh, Halim, Ilona, Liang, Hai-Ning, Xu, Wenge, Billinghurst, Mark and Porter, Richard (2021). Designing individualised virtual reality applications for supporting depression: a feasibility study. ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, Virtual (Netherlands), 8-11 June 2021. New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3459926.3464761
2021
Conference Publication
Playbook: an animation-based game for improving children's creativity and problem solving skills
Farzinnejad, Forouzan, Habibi, Jafar and Baghaei, Nilufar (2021). Playbook: an animation-based game for improving children's creativity and problem solving skills. EICS '21: ACM SIGCHI Symposium on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems, Virtual, 8-11 June 2021. New York, NY USA: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3459926.3464748
2021
Conference Publication
Effect of gameplay uncertainty, display type, and age on virtual reality exergames
Xu, Wenge, Liang, Hai-Ning, Yu, Kangyou and Baghaei, Nilufar (2021). Effect of gameplay uncertainty, display type, and age on virtual reality exergames. CHI '21: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Yokohama, Japan, 8-13 May 2021. New York, NY USA: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/3411764.3445801
2021
Conference Publication
Individualised virtual reality for supporting depression: feedback from mental health professionals
Baghaei, Nilufar, Ahmadi, Atefeh, Khaliq, Imran and Liang, Hai-Ning (2021). Individualised virtual reality for supporting depression: feedback from mental health professionals. IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct), Bari, Italy, 4-8 October 2021. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct54149.2021.00022
2021
Conference Publication
Effect of input-output randomness on gameplay satisfaction in collectable card games
Zhang, Yiwen, Monteiro, Diego, Liang, Hai-Ning, Ma, Jieming and Baghaei, Nilufar (2021). Effect of input-output randomness on gameplay satisfaction in collectable card games. IEEE Conference on Games (IEEE CoG), Electr Network, 17-21 August 2021. New York, NY USA: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/cog52621.2021.9619020
2021
Conference Publication
Supporting decision-making in the construction and property sectors through persuasive virtual reality: a pilot study
He, Peijin, Samarasinghe, Don, Liu, Cyrus, Jelodar, Mostafa Babaeian, Playne, Daniel and Baghaei, Nilufar (2021). Supporting decision-making in the construction and property sectors through persuasive virtual reality: a pilot study. The Australasian Universities Building Education Association (AUBEA 2021), Melbourne, VIC Australia, 27-29 October 2021.
2021
Conference Publication
Assessing telepresence, social presence and stress response in a virtual reality store
Zhao, Yinshu, Baghaei, Nilufar, Schnack, Alexander and Stemmet, Lehan (2021). Assessing telepresence, social presence and stress response in a virtual reality store. IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality Adjunct (ISMAR-Adjunct), Bari, Italy, 4-8 October 2021. Piscataway, NJ, United States: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. doi: 10.1109/ISMAR-Adjunct54149.2021.00020
2020
Journal Article
Studying the effect of display type and viewing perspective on user experience in virtual reality exergames
Xu, Wenge, Liang, Hai-Ning, Zhang, Zeying and Baghaei, Nilufar (2020). Studying the effect of display type and viewing perspective on user experience in virtual reality exergames. Games for Health Journal, 9 (6), 405-414. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2019.0102
2020
Journal Article
Supporting disease prevention and lifestyle changes through gaming
Baghaei, Nilufar, Fowler, Allan and Maddison, Ralph (2020). Supporting disease prevention and lifestyle changes through gaming. Games for Health Journal, 9 (6), 387-388. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2020.0161
2020
Journal Article
Health benefits of digital videogames for the aging population: a systematic review
Xu, Wenge, Liang, Hai-Ning, Baghaei, Nilufar, Wu Berberich, Bing and Yue, Yong (2020). Health benefits of digital videogames for the aging population: a systematic review. Games for Health Journal, 9 (6), 389-404. doi: 10.1089/g4h.2019.0130
Funding
Current funding
Supervision
Availability
- Dr Nell Baghaei is:
- Available for supervision
Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.
Available projects
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Virtual Reality & Serious Games projects
- Virtual Reality and Mental Health - The goal of this project is to enhance self-compassion in people with depression using individualised virtual reality. Example (built in Unity): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po3GpcDLUpQ
- Virtual Reality and Education - The goal is to enhance people's education (in Construction, Australian history, maths or other fields) using virtual reality. A sample project (built using Unity): https://youtu.be/axpDf1d4X5k
- Games for Health - The goal of this project is to create mobile games (or build further on top of existing ones) to support people with different health conditions. Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4zk6M3Ec5U
- Virtual Reality and shopping habits - The idea of this project is to use virtual reality to examine and experiment with people's shopping habits. Example (built in Unreal engine): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K32qXuUrE8Y
Supervision history
Current supervision
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Doctor Philosophy
The Impact of AI-enabled Avatars on Body Ownership within Individualised Virtual Reality for Mental Health
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor James Kirby, Professor Julie Henry, Dr Jarrod Knibbe
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Doctor Philosophy
Artificial Intelligence for Educational Feedback
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Marie Boden, Dr Hassan Khosravi, Professor Jason Lodge
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Doctor Philosophy
Effects of Virtual Perturbations and Visual Illusions on Gait and Balance
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Taylor Dick, Dr Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo
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Doctor Philosophy
Enhancing Auditory Immersion in Interactive Virtual Reality Environments
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Eve Klein
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Master Philosophy
Experience Saturation: Quantifying Demotivation and Disengagement
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry, Dr Alina Bialkowski
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Doctor Philosophy
Assessing prospective memory function in the actual and virtual world.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry, Dr Lena Oestreich, Dr Sarah Coundouris, Associate Professor James Kirby
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Master Philosophy
Influence of Healthcare Message Framing on Self-Directed Ageism and Emotional Wellbeing
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Sarah Grainger, Dr Sarah Coundouris, Professor Julie Henry
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Doctor Philosophy
The Use of Ethnochemistry Based Augmented Reality to Integrate Multiple Representations in Chemistry Classes and Its Influence on Indonesian Students' Mental Models
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Jack Wang, Professor Gwendolyn Lawrie
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Doctor Philosophy
Augmented Reality applications in the classroom
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Marie Boden
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Doctor Philosophy
NAVIGATEVR. Understanding age-related differences in hazard perception by leveraging insights from the virtual world.
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor James Kirby, Dr Sarah Coundouris, Professor Julie Henry
Completed supervision
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
The Impact of Avatar Design on User Experience and Shopping Behaviour in Immersive Virtual Stores
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Marie Boden
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2025
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring Mobile Games as Tools for Screening Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: A Game Analytics Approach
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Ben Matthews, Professor Julie Henry
Media
Enquiries
Contact Dr Nell Baghaei directly for media enquiries about:
- Games for Health
- Immersive Technologies for Education
- Immersive Technologies for Health
- Persuasive Technology
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