Dr Daniele Giunchi PhD

Dr Daniele Giunchi

School of Computer Science
Assistant Professor in Scene Understanding and Smart Environments (HCI, Computer Vision, Robotics)

Contact details

Email
d.giunchi@bham.ac.uk
Address
School of Computer Science
University 麻豆精选
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Daniele Giunchi is Assistant Professor in Scene Understanding and Smart Environments at the University 麻豆精选. My research explores intelligent interaction in immersive environments, combining VR/AR, HCI, and deep learning—focusing on vocal interfaces, multimodal systems, and neural models for perception and collaboration.

Qualifications

  • Master in Optics and Quantum Information, Sapienza University of Rome, 2023
  • Ph.D. in Computer Science (Marie Curie Fellow), University College London, 2021
  • MSc in Astronomy, University of Bologna, 2004

Biography

Daniele Giunchi is an Assistant Professor in Scene Understanding and Smart Environments at the University 麻豆精选. His research focuses on immersive technologies, exploring how VR/AR, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and Artificial Intelligence—particularly deep learning and large language models—can enable more intuitive and adaptive user interaction. He is especially interested in vocal and multimodal interfaces for collaborative environments and perceptual scene understanding.

Daniele earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from University College London (UCL) as a Marie Curie Fellow, where he developed neural network-based methods for artifact detection and 3D model retrieval in virtual environments. He also holds a Master’s in Optics and Quantum Information from Sapienza University of Rome, where he worked on quantum algorithms for holography, and a MSc in Astronomy from the University of Bologna, focusing on numerical simulation of cosmic structures.

His academic research is grounded in over a decade of industrial experience, having developed simulation, tracking, and 3D visualization systems in biomedical and aerospace domains. Prior to joining Birmingham, he held research roles at UCL and the CYENS Centre of Excellence, contributing to EU-funded projects on collaborative VR, smart cities, and immersive content generation.

Postgraduate supervision

AI applied to XR

Research

Daniele Giunchi’s research explores how intelligent systems can enable more natural, expressive, and adaptive interaction in extended reality (XR). His recent work focuses on the integration of large language models and speech-driven interfaces to support dynamic behavior design and real-time storytelling in immersive environments. By leveraging AI to interpret voice, gaze, and gesture, he develops advanced multimodal systems that make XR experiences more responsive and intuitive.

A central theme in his work is collaborative interaction—designing interfaces that enhance mutual awareness and coordination in distributed or co-located VR/AR settings. He investigates how behavioral cues, such as locomotion patterns and visual focus, can be used to facilitate shared understanding and narrative engagement in group tasks and exploratory scenarios.

His research also addresses the technical and design challenges of remote and asynchronous XR collaboration, building frameworks that maintain immersion and continuity across physical and virtual boundaries. Through projects that span from generative storytelling to predictive user modeling and foveated rendering, he advances the field of intelligent immersive interfaces.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Steed, A, Archer, D, Brandst盲tter, K, Congdon, B, Friston, S, Ganapathy, P, Giunchi, D, Izzouzi, L, Woo Park, G, swapp, D & thiel, FJ 2023, '', Frontiers in Computer Science, vol. 4, 966319.

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Alebri, M, Steed, A, Costanza, E & Heinis, T 2022, '', Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, vol. 6, no. CSCW2, 502.

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Costanza, E, Steed, A & Heinis, T 2022, '', Frontiers in Computer Science, vol. 4, 928269.

Conference contribution

Gatti, E, Giunchi, D, Numan, N & Steed, A 2025, . in 2025 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and eXtended and Virtual Reality (AIxVR)., 10896202, IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, IEEE, pp. 136-141.

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Cascarano, P, Gonzalez, EJ & Franco, MG 2025, . in arXiv preprint.

Cascarano, P, Loretti, A, Zanuttini, L, Giunchi, D, Bovo, R, Hajahmadi, S, Vallasciani, G, Martinoni, M & Marfia, G 2025, . in A Batmaz, MB Machuca, F Ortega, D Zielasko, K Kim, R Skarbez, L Plabst, A Bani膰 & M Stroppa (eds), VRST '25: Proceedings of the 2025 31st ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology., 26, VRST: Virtual Reality Software and Technology, Association for Computing Machinery .

Giunchi, D, Numan, N, Gatti, E & Steed, A 2024, . in 2024 IEEE Conference Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR). IEEE Annual International Symposium Virtual Reality, IEEE, pp. 579-589.

Friston, S, Congdon, B, Numan, N, Brandst盲tter, K, Izzouzi, L, Thiel, FJ, Zhang, J, Giunchi, D, Swapp, D & Steed, A 2023, . in A Moreno, A Jaspe-Villanueva, I Mu帽oz-Pandiella & J Posada (eds), Web3D '23: Proceedings of the 28th International ACM Conference on 3D Web Technology., 5, Proceedings of the International ACM Conference on 3D Web Technology, Association for Computing Machinery , pp. 1-9, The 28th International ACM Conference on 3D Web Technology, San Sebastian, Spain, 9/10/23.

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Sidenmark, L, Newn, J, Gellersen, H, Costanza, E & Heinis, T 2023, . in A Schmidt, K V盲盲n盲nen, T Goyal, PO Kristensson, A Peters, S Mueller, JR Williamson & ML Wilson (eds), CHI '23: : Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems., 162, Association for Computing Machinery , CHI '23, Hamburg , Germany, 23/04/23.

Numan, N, Lu, Z, Congdon, B, Giunchi, D, Rotsidis, A, Lernis, A, Larmo, K, Kourra, T, Charalambous, P, Chrysanthou, Y, julier, S & Steed, A 2023, . in 2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)., 10108714, Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), IEEE Conference on, IEEE, pp. 113-118, 30th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, Shanghai, China, 25/03/23.

Numan, N, Giunchi, D, Congdon, B & Steed, A 2023, . in 2023 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)., 10108835, Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW), IEEE Conference on, IEEE, pp. 497-501, 30th IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces, Shanghai, China, 25/03/23.

Giunchi, D, James, S, Bovo, R, Degraen, D & Steed, A 2022, . in Proceedings of 2022 International Conference on Interactive Media, Smart Systems and Emerging Technologies (IMET).

Giunchi, D, Sztrajman, A & Steed, A 2022, . in 2022 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN).

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Sidenmark, L, Gellersen, H, Costanza, E & Heinis, T 2022, . in F Shic, E Kasneci, M Khamis, H Gellersen, K Krejtz, D Weiskopf, T Blascheck, J Bradshaw, H Vrzakova, K Binaee, M Burch, P Kiefer, R Bednarik, D Mardanbegi, C Clarke, R Kothari, V Rajanna, S Jayarathna, A Villanueva, A Atyabi & S Eivazi (eds), ETRA '22: 2022 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications., 6, ETRA: Eye Tracking Research and Applications, Association for Computing Machinery , pp. 1-8, ETRA '22: 2022 Symposium on Eye Tracking Research and Applications , Seattle, United Kingdom, 8/06/22.

Bovo, R, Giunchi, D, Costanza, E, Steed, A & Heinis, T 2022, . in Proceedings of 20th European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work.