Yuji Sone

Yuji Sone is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Humanities, Macquarie University, specializing in performance research that bridges technology, culture, and cross-disciplinary analysis.

His academic journey includes a Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of New South Wales (2003–2006) and significant contributions as a board member of Artspace Sydney (1995–1998). He has participated in policy roundtables (e.g., New Media Arts/Arts in a Multicultural Australia Policy Roundtable, 2002) and grant assessments for the Australia Council.

Yuji’s research focuses on

• Nonhuman performance and technoculture
• Cross-cultural performance studies
• Robotics and artificial intelligence in the performing arts
• Theatrical integration of digital systems

His work interrogates how technology mediates cultural representation, particularly in Japanese and global contexts.

Publications like Japanese Robot Culture: Performance, Imagination, and Modernity (Palgrave, 2017) and 2025’s Cultural Technologies anthology reflect his expertise in

• Robot avatars
• Android opera
• Digital ethnography
• Posthuman performance

Scientific Awards & Grants:

• Vice-Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship (UNSW, 2003–2006)
• MQNSRGS Grant (2008)
• The Japan Foundation Grants (2009, 2017)
• Australia Council for the Arts Grants (2006, 2002, 2001, 2000, 1997, 1996, 1994, 1992)

Yuji’s collaborative projects include MQRIS: Virtual Reality Fieldwork Research System (2021–present) and MQRIS: Observational Documentary Fieldwork Kit (2019–present). He also led the Toshiba International Foundation-funded International Seminar Series on Programming Japanese Affinity for Robots (2021–2023).