Neil McDonnell

Neil McDonnell's research focusses on the questions within philosophy, and beyond, concerning the new Immersive Technologies of Virtual and Augmented Reality (XR), and on the practical and commercial application across a range of sectors. He is Principal Investigator on the Museums in the Metaverse project - a Levelling Up Innovation Accelerator project, and he chairs the board that manages the University of Glasgow's central XR facilities (teaching and research).

Neil has an academic background in philosophy - particularly the philosophical issues around causation and virtual ontology. He has earned his PhD jointly from the University of Glasgow and Macquarie University. He has held postdoctoral research posts in Glasgow and Hamburg before returning to Glasgow philosophy in 2016.

His industry background is in 3D visualisation and associated technologies. He was a commercial lead for The Soluis Group, and co-founded the software arm of the company, between 2005 and 2010. He has continued to consult into industry around commercial strategy as the immersive tech revolution has taken hold.