Luke Heemsbergen

Luke Heemsbergen is a Senior Lecturer in Communication at Deakin University's School of Communication and Creative Arts and the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation. His research explores the intersection of digital technologies and societal power structures, focusing on how emerging media reshape political communication, human-computer interaction, and cultural practices. He co-leads the Immersive Realities Theme at Deakin Motion Lab and coordinates the Critical Digital Interfaces and Infrastructures research group.

Research interests include:

• Digital media's role in political engagement and activism
• Augmented/extended reality as tools for environmental and health communication
• Algorithmic governance in institutional contexts
• Critical approaches to synthetic media and AI creativity

His recent publications demonstrate sustained focus on platform politics, with 9/15 articles analyzing social media's role in elections, activism, and misinformation. Methodologically, he employs innovative digital approaches like 'backend-in' platform analysis and multimodal data visualization. Thematically, articles cluster around: 1) Pandemic technologies and surveillance, 2) Algorithmic management in institutions, and 3) Immersive media design.

Supervision includes 8 doctoral students working on projects like embodied human-machine interfaces, EdTech supply chains, and surveillance law reform. Funded projects include:

• Defining Communication in a Digital Era (ACCAN grant)
• Techno-Totalitarianism vs. Disruptive Technologies (Gerda Henkel Stiftung)
• VR Wayfinding Visitor Experience Model (ID Laboratory)