Hanieh Khaleghian

HCI Researcher · Product Designer

Hanieh
Khaleghian

I envision futures where emergent technologies (XR, Spatial Computing, AI, and beyond) augment human creativity and unlock our collective imagination. Working at the intersection of research, design and technology, I craft products, worlds, and experiences to experiment with how we live, learn, and dream.

Pozzo: I am blind. (Silence.)
Estragon: Perhaps he can see into the future.
— Beckett, Waiting for Godot
Hanieh Khaleghian

Biography

I'm Hanieh Khaleghian, a PhD design researcher and creative designer who treats imagination as a tool for prototyping futures. Raised in the Middle East, I learned to escape constraints by closing my eyes and inventing unseen worlds; today, I turn those visions into extended-reality products, learning platforms, and immersive experiences powered by spatial computing and generative AI. I led Career XRcade — 50+ Verizon-backed VR mini-games that measurably boosted students' imaginative thinking. I lead multidisciplinary teams, fuse storytelling with deep technology, and build products to prototype the next generation of imagination machines. My mission: invite everyone to co-author the futures we once only dreamed.

Design Practice Toolkit

My design toolkit is a living experiment: aspirational yet measured, while imperfect. Some fail, others succeed, but each design iteration teaches me something new about the human experience.

Speculative Fiction
Asking 'what-if' to expose hidden assumptions and open alternate futures.
Spatial Storytelling
Choreographing physical and virtual space so that environments speak, move, and invite reflection.
Gameful Design
Embedding play and game mechanics so exploration and learning feel like joyful discovery.
Imagination Catalyst Design
Designing experiences intended to spark imagination and inviting us to rethink, reframe and rebuild.
Human-AI Co-Creation
Designing Human-AI collaboration where humans design the systems that design the artifact - for humans.
Radical Collaboration
Building inclusive design frameworks where students, experts, and algorithms co-design new possibilities.

Skill Sets

Game TechUnity · Level Design · MR/VR Prototyping
3D & VisualisationMaya · ZBrush · Substance Painter · Rhino / Grasshopper · V-Ray
AI-Assisted DevelopmentVS Code · Lovable · Google AI Studio · App & Web Development
ResearchMixed Methods Studies · User Behaviour · Rapid Prototyping
Design Tools & WorkflowFigma · Adobe CC · Agile/Scrum · Git · Jira · Miro

Available for select collaborations and speaking engagements.

hanieh.khaleghian@gmail.com