DrMike Seymour

BSc MBA, PhD (Sydney)

Dr Mike Seymour is a researcher in digital innovation, AI, human-computer interaction, and digital humans at the University of Sydney Business School. He holds a Bachelor of Science, MBA, and PhD from the University of Sydney.

Mike’s research focuses on the use of interactive, real-time, photorealistic digital humans as new forms of human-computer interface, communication, and education. His work examines how realistic computer-generated faces can be designed, deployed, trusted, and accepted in contexts ranging from media and entertainment to health, learning, and organisational communication. He has published in leading academic and practitioner outlets including Harvard Business Review, Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, and Communications of the ACM. He teaches Customer Experience (CX), user experience, digital innovation, and project management.

Before joining academia, Mike worked for many years in the media and entertainment industry across research and development, visual effects, and film production. He has won an AFI Award and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the United States. His industry experience includes work as a visual effects professional and as a second-unit director on television and film productions in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Mike is also widely known as a writer, consultant, and educator on fxguide.com, a leading industry platform that explores the technologies, practices, and people shaping visual effects, animation, virtual production, and screen innovation. Through fxguide, he has helped build an important bridge between the film and entertainment industries and the research communities that continue to push the boundaries of digital imaging and production technology.

He has lectured and presented at major academic and industry forums, including HICSS, ICIS, ACM SIGGRAPH, CVMP, and SMPTE. He regularly appears on fxguide’s podcasts and has contributed to media outlets and organisations including Warner Bros., Paramount, News Corp, the BBC, and WIRED magazine. Mike is based in Sydney and has previously worked in Hollywood and London.