Hugo Spiers Keynote Speaker

Professor Hugo Spiers is a world-leading cognitive neuroscientist who has pioneered the use of virtual reality and mobile technology to make major discoveries about human behaviour and brain function. He has given top-rated talks on how the brain gives rise to behaviour for more over 10 years at University College London (UCL).

Hugo has also worked with numerous companies as part of his research. Companies include large bands such as Google Deepmind, BBC, Saatchi & Saatchi, British Land, Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile). With this experience Hugo was recently appointed as Vice-Dean of Innovation and Enterprise for the Faculty of Brain Sciences in UCL where he oversees reach out to industry.

He has been the recipient of the Charles Darwin Award from British Association for the Advancement for Science and his recent collaborative research with a video games company received a BAFTA nomination and won 9 Cannes Lions at the Cannes Festival of Creativity. He has appeared in a wide range of BBC Radio 4 / World Service science programmes and BBC TV / Channel 4 Programmes. He has delivered numerous keynotes to a range of public audiences such as at the British Science Festival, British Library, British Neuroscience Festival, and WIRED health.

His research has focused on memory, sleep, imagination, human mobility and navigation. Recently he tested over 4 million people via his app Sea Hero Quest, with results last year featured on the front cover of Nature.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and a co-author of textbook Human Spatial Navigation (Princeton Press, 2018) and of the UK government guide Neuroscience for Cities (2016). Hugo was appointed Co-Chair of the UK arm of the USA based Academy for Neuroscience in Architecture and is actively collaborating with architects and designers to bring neuroscience methods into these disciplines.

Collaborating with artists via Wellcome Trust funding Hugo helped create two film installations (Neurotographics and Pattern Completion) and a theatre production (Reykjavik) that toured the UK. These projects explored the fragile nature of our memories and our brain’s reaction to architecture, provided a platform to engage the public with cutting edge neuroscience research.