Dean Brown

Senior Research Fellow

School: Design Arts and Creative Industries

Dean Brown is a 3D designer and researcher based in London. As a member of the Interaction Research Studio, he pursues practice-based research exploring the design of computational systems for everyday life. His projects include the EPSRC-funded MyNaturewatch, Yo-Yo Machines, ProbeTools and More-than-Human Data Interactions in the City (MoTH). Dean is currently working as a co-investigator on the Room of the Future project— a fully immersive, permanent, room-sized exhibit at the Museum of the Home that explores the future of home life in East London in response to societal and technological change. He is adept at creating engaging designs from humble materials and has used his network to create links between the Studio and the wider design community.

In parallel with his research, Dean is the founder of Brown Office — a design studio with a narrative-driven approach to creating installations and objects for clients including Google, V&A, Campari, Sèvres and Schloss Hollenegg. Founded in 2014, Brown Office draws on Dean’s interdisciplinary design background, which includes studying product design at DJCAD, University of Dundee (2003–2007), followed by a residency scholarship at the Fabrica Research Centre in Italy (2010–2014).

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Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Portfolio Exhibition of Research Products: Two Decades of Creative Practice at the Interaction Research Studio, Boucher, A., Gaver, W., Brown, D., Matsuda, N., Ovalle, L., Sheen, A., Vanis, M. 8 May 2026, Creativity & Cognition 2026
A Converted Flat in 2049: The Room of the Future, Boucher, A., Gaver, W., Brown, D., Ovalle, L., Sheen, A., Matsuda, N., Vanis, M. 18 Jul 2024
Exploring More-than-Human Smart Cities: The Emergent Logic of a Design Workbook, Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Brown, D., Matsuda, N., Ovalle, L., Sheen, A., Vanis, M. 3 May 2024, Designing More-than-Human Smart Cities, Oxford, Oxford University Press
A Practice-Based Approach to Post-Human Computer Interaction: Design Notes from Nature Scenes, Brown, D., Ovalle Piedra, L., Matsuda, N. 26 Feb 2023, TEI '23, New York, US, ACM
Nature Scenes: Warsaw 2023, Brown, D., Ovalle, L., Matsuda, N. 26 Feb 2023
Yo-Yo Machines: Speed Dial exhibited as part of the Saint-Étienne Design Biennial 2022, Boucher, A., Gaver, W., Brown, D., Vanis, M., Sheen, A., Ovalle Piedra, L., Matsuda, N., Chatting, D. 6 Apr 2022
Yo–Yo Machines: Self-Build Devices that Support Social Connections During the Pandemic , Gaver, B., Boucher, A., Brown, D., Chatting, D., Matsuda, N., Ovalle Piedra, L., Sheen, A., Vanis, M. 29 Apr 2022, CHI 2022 - Proceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, US, ACM
My Naturewatch Camera, Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Brown, D., Matsuda, N., Molinera, J., Ovalle, L., Sheen, A., Vanis, M., Phillips, R., Abbas-Nazari, A., Growing, B., Anderson, R. 3 Jun 2021
Yo-yo machines: self-build peripheral awareness communication devices, Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Brown, D., Chatting, D., Matsuda, N., Molinera, J., Ovalle Piedra, L., Sheen, A., Vanis, M. Nov 2021
Design and Deploying Tools to ‘Actively Engaging Nature’: The My Naturewatch Project as an Agent for Engagement, Phillips, R., Abbas-Nazari, A., Tooze, J., Gaver, W., Boucher, A., Ovalle, L., Sheen, A., Brown, D., Matsuda, N., Vanis, M. 8 Jun 2019, HCII 2019: Human Aspects of IT for the Aged Population. Design for the Elderly and Technology Acceptance, Cham, Switzerland, Springer

Professional Activity

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Invited talk: Designing The Room of the Future 2025
Invited talk: A Practice-Based Approach to Post-Human Computer Interaction: Design Notes from Nature Scenes 2023