Semi Ryu

Dr. Semi Ryu is a Professor in the Kinetic Imaging department at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, with affiliate appointments in the School of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine and the Media, Art and Text PhD program. She holds a PhD from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, MFA from Carnegie Mellon University, and BFA from Korea National University of Arts.

Her interdisciplinary research explores experimental 3D animations, Avatar performance, and Extended Reality (XR) projects inspired by Korean healing rituals. Current projects include 'SentimentVoice', which integrates Emotion AI and VR to amplify immigrant narratives. Ryu has exhibited in 23 countries and published in journals including International Journal of Performance Arts and Digital Media, Journal of Palliative Medicine, and Arts & Health.

Her research has been supported by grants from NEH, NSF, VCU Presidential Research Quest Fund, VCU Breakthrough, Massey Cancer Center, and Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. Ryu received the Hamilton International Arts in Health award (2020) and VCU Arts Faculty Research Achievement Award (2017), and delivered a TEDxRVA talk on 'Virtual Reality for Han'.