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Paulo Bala is an Auxiliary Researcher at the Interactive Technologies Institute (ITI/LARSyS) and ARDITI (Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation) since 2025. He holds a Ph.D. in Digital Media from FCT-UNL, Lisbon (2022), where he specialized in 360° video and eXtended Reality (XR). He also holds a Dual Master's in Entertainment Technology from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Madeira, and BSc/MSc degrees in Informatics Engineering from the University of Madeira. Dr. Bala has contributed to multiple EU- and FCT-funded research projects and is actively involved in supervising MSc students (9 ongoing, 5 completed). His research focuses on Human-Computer Interaction and XR, with a strong emphasis on cultural heritage, health and sustainability. His research work has been published in top peer-reviewed venues in Human-Computer Interaction (such as CHI, CSCW, DIS, and ISMAR).
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Paulo Bala

Citation names

  • Bala, Paulo

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
911F-BB1A-C970
ORCID iD
0000-0003-1743-0261
Google Scholar ID
IkF3sn4AAAAJ
Scopus Author Id
57055357200

Email addresses

  • paulo.bala@gmail.com (Professional)
  • paulo.bala@iti.larsys.pt (Professional)
  • paulo.bala@tecnico.ulisboa.pt (Professional)

Telephones

Mobile phone
  • (+351) 964264309 (Personal)

Addresses

  • ITI – Interactive Technologies Institute, Polo Científico e Tecnológico da Madeira, Caminho da Penteada, piso -2, 9020-105, Funchal, Funchal, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
English Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2)
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
Education
Degree Classification
2016/09 - 2022/03
Concluded
 Media Digitais (Doutoramento)
Major in Tecnologia
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
"Leveraging eXtended Reality & Human-Computer Interaction for User Experience in 360 Video" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18
2013/08 - 2015/05
Concluded
 Dual Masters in Entertainment Technology (Master)
Carnegie Mellon University, United States

Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
19
2010 - 2013
Concluded
 Engenharia Informática (Mestrado)
Universidade da Madeira Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia, Portugal
"TCAD. A 3D Modeling Application on a Depth Enhanced Tabletop Computer" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 19
2007/09 - 2010/07
Concluded
 Engenharia Informática (Licenciatura)
Universidade da Madeira Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia, Portugal
 18
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2025/05/01 - Current Auxiliary Researcher (Research) Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
2022 - 2025/04/30 Postdoc (Research) Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2021/04 - 2022/05 Research Assistant (Research) Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2015/12 - 2016/12 Research Assistant (Research) Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Teaching in Higher Education

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023/09/01 - 2024/12 Invited Assistant (University Teacher) Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2021/12 - 2023/05/31 Invited Assistant (University Teacher) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2012/11 - 2013/06 Junior Developer for Backend and Frontend AppSalad Lda, Portugal
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2021/01/01 - 2025/12/31 LARSyS - Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia
LA/P/0083/2020
10.54499/LA/P/0083/2020
Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2023/05/01 - 2025/04/30 eGames Lab
C645022399-00000057
Post-doc Fellow
European Commission
Ongoing
2020/01/01 - 2023/12/31 Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia
UIDP/50009/2020
10.54499/UIDP/50009/2020
Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2020/01/01 - 2023/12/31 Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia
UIDB/50009/2020
10.54499/UIDB/50009/2020
Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal

Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2022/05/01 - 2022/11/30 MEMEX: MEMories and EXperiences for inclusive digital storytelling
870743
Post-doc Fellow
European Commission
Concluded
2021/05/01 - 2022/05/31 MEMEX: MEMories and EXperiences for inclusive digital storytelling
870743
Research Fellow
European Commission
Concluded
2021/03 - 2021/03 MAC2/1.1a/385 -INTERTAGUA - Interfaces Aquáticas Interativas para Detecção e Visualizacão da Megafauna Marinha Atlântica e Embarcações na Macaronésia usando Marcadores Rádio-transmissores
MAC2/1.1a/385
Consultant
European Commission
Concluded
2019/01/01 - 2019/12/31 Laboratório de Robótica e Sistemas de Engenharia
UID/EEA/50009/2019
Associação do Instituto Superior Técnico para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2014/07 - 2014/09 Future Fabulators
2013-1659/001-001 CU7 COOP7
Developer and Experience Designer
Universidade da Madeira Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Portugal
 European Commission Creative Europe
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2021/04 - 2021/07 Maré: Mobilização Anónima de Regresso à normalidade para mitigar a Epidemia de COVID-19
613213479
Consultant
2015/12 - 2016/12 MADEIRA 14-20 FEDER funded project Beanstalk
M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000002
Research Fellow
Universidade da Madeira Madeira Interactive Technologies Institute, Portugal
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Book chapter
  1. Constança Freitas; Ana Santos; Paulo Bala; Pedro F. Campos; Mara Dionísio. "Where’s the Finance?: A Transmedia Storytelling Experience to Engage Young Adults in Financial Educational Content". 2025.
    10.1007/978-3-031-78450-7_3
  2. Rafaela Nunes; Terhi Marttila; Andrés Isaza-Giraldo; Paulo Bala; Pedro F. Campos. "Being Water: Collaborating with an LLM in an Interactive Digital Narrative (IDN) as Speculative Aesthetics". 2025.
    10.1007/978-3-031-78450-7_19
  3. Valentina Nisi; Paulo Bala; Miguel Pessoa; Stuart James; Nuno Jardim Nunes. "Interactive Digital Storytelling Navigating the Inherent Currents of the Diasporic Mind". 2025.
    10.1007/978-3-031-78453-8_5
  4. Nisi, Valentina; James, Stuart; Bala, Paulo; Del Bue, Alessio; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Inclusive Digital Storytelling: Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality to Re-centre Stories from the Margins". In Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 117-137. Springer Nature Switzerland, 2023.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-031-47655-6_8
  5. Paulo Bala; Stuart James; Alessio Del Bue; Valentina Nisi. "Writing with (Digital) Scissors: Designing a Text Editing Tool for Assisted Storytelling Using Crowd-Generated Content". 2022.
    10.1007/978-3-031-22298-6_9
  6. Dionísio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Xin, Jin; Bala, Paulo; James, Stuart; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Amnesia in the Atlantic: An AI Driven Serious Game on Marine Biodiversity". In Entertainment Computing – ICEC 2021, 427-432. Springer International Publishing, 2021.
    10.1007/978-3-030-89394-1_35
  7. Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Oliveira, Sarah; Andrade, Tânia; Nisi, Valentina. "Tell a Tail: Leveraging XR for a Transmedia on Animal Welfare". In Entertainment Computing – ICEC 2020, 223-239. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-030-65736-9_19
  8. Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Oliveira, Sarah; Nisi, Valentina. "Tale of T(r)ails: The Design of an AR Comic Book for an Animal Welfare Transmedia". In Interactive Storytelling Vol. 12497 Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 281-284. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
    10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_25
  9. Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Mara; Andrade, Tânia; Nisi, Valentina. "Tell a Tail 360º: Immersive Storytelling on Animal Welfare". In Interactive Storytelling Vol. 12497 Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 357-360. Springer International Publishing, 2020.
    10.1007/978-3-030-62516-0_35
  10. Mara Dionísio; Paulo Bala; Valentina Nisi; Ian Oakley; Nuno Nunes. "Step by Step: Evaluating Navigation Styles in Mixed Reality Entertainment Experience". 32-45. Springer International Publishing, 2018.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-319-76270-8_3
  11. Bala, Paulo; Masu, Raul; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Cue Control: Interactive Sound Spatialization for 360º Videos". In interactive Storytelling Vol. 11318 Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 333-337. Springer International Publishing, 2018.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-030-04028-4_36
  12. Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Evaluating User Experience in 360º Storytelling Through Analytics". In Interactive Storytelling Vol. 10690 Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 270-273. Springer International Publishing, 2017.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-319-71027-3_23
  13. Dionisio, Mara; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno; Bala, Paulo. "Transmedia Storytelling for Exposing Natural Capital and Promoting Ecotourism". In Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 351-362. Springer International Publishing, 2016.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-319-48279-8_31
Conference paper
  1. Andrés Isaza-Giraldo; Paulo Bala; Anna Jiskrová; Luiz Sachser; Pedro Campos; Lucas Pereira. "Meta-evaluating the Effects of Social Preferences on NPC-evaluators in an Energy Community Game". 2025.
    10.1145/3706599.3720218
  2. Constança Freitas; Ana Santos; Pedro F. Campos; Paulo Bala; Mara Dionisio. "Exploring the Impact of Transmedia Storytelling on Financial Literacy: A Pilot Evaluation with Young Adults". 2025.
    10.1145/3706599.3719934
  3. Eva Freitas; Hildegardo Noronha; Cíntia França; Élvio Gouveia; Paulo Bala; Pedro Campos; Mara Dionísio. "FitFest: Designing a Narrative-driven Exergame to Engage Active Seniors in Physical Activity". 2024.
    10.1145/3681716.3689453
  4. José Pedro Vieira Sousa; Pedro Campos; Paulo Bala. "College Tales: Pilot Study on Large Language Models Generated Narratives for Mental Health Literacy". 2024.
    10.1145/3681716.3689447
  5. Ana Santos; Constança Freitas; Paulo Bala; Pedro Campos; Mara Dionisio. "Financial DreamScape: Puzzle Narrative Games for Financial Education". 2024.
    10.1145/3639701.3663647
  6. Élton Camacho; Pedro Campos; Paulo Bala. "CBT-Darts: Identifying Cognitive Distortions in an Immersive VR Game". 2024.
    10.1145/3639701.3661086
  7. Andrés Isaza-Giraldo; Paulo Bala; Pedro F. Campos; Lucas Pereira. "Prompt-Gaming: A Pilot Study on LLM-Evaluating Agent in a Meaningful Energy Game". 2024.
    10.1145/3613905.3650774
  8. Nisi, Valentina; Bala, Paulo; Bostock, Hollie; Cesário, Vanessa; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Before gentrification, we claim for habitation: Eliciting Values and Assets through Cultural Heritage Storytelling". Paper presented in Designing Interactive Systems (DIS), 2023.
    Published • 10.1145/3563657.3596124
  9. Ma, Shuhao; Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Zimmerman, John; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Uncovering Gig Worker-Centered Design Opportunities in Food Delivery Work". Paper presented in Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS), 2023.
    Published • 10.1145/3563657.3596123
  10. Bala, Paulo; Sanches, Pedro; Cesário, Vanessa; Leão, Sarah; Rodrigues, Catarina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; Nisi, Valentina. "Towards Critical Heritage in the wild: Analysing Discomfort through Collaborative Autoethnography". Paper presented in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2023.
    Published • 10.1145/3544548.3581274
  11. Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara; Nunes, Nuno Jardim; James, Stuart. "Square peg, round hole: A case study on using Visual Question & Answering in Games". Paper presented in Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, 2021.
    Published • 10.1145/3450337.3483466
  12. Bala, Paulo; Oakley, Ian; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Dynamic Field of View Restriction in 360° Video: Aligning Optical Flow and Visual SLAM to Mitigate VIMS". Paper presented in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2021.
    Published • 10.1145/3411764.3445499
  13. Bala, Paulo; Oakley, Ian; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Staying on Track: a Comparative Study on the Use of Optical Flow in 360° Video to Mitigate VIMS". Paper presented in International Conference on Interactive Media Experiences, 2020.
    Published • 10.1145/3391614.3393658
  14. Bala, Paulo; Masu, Raul; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. ""When the Elephant Trumps": A Comparative Study on Spatial Audio for Orientation in 360º Videos". Paper presented in CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2019.
    Published • 10.1145/3290605.3300925
  15. Nisi, Valentina; Dionísio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Gross, Tom; Nunes, Nuno J.. "DreamScope: Evaluating Interactive 360° Virtual Reality in a Physical Narrative Art Installation". Paper presented in ARTECH, 2017.
    Published • 10.1145/3106548.3106601
  16. Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Fragments of Laura: incorporating mobile virtual reality in location aware mobile storytelling experiences". Paper presented in International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM), 2017.
    Published • 10.1145/3152832.3152868
  17. Bala, Paulo; Dionisio, Dina; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Visually Induced Motion Sickness in 360° Videos: Comparing and Combining Visual Optimization Techniques". Paper presented in International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality, Munich, 2017.
    Published • 10.1109/ismar-adjunct.2018.00077
  18. Paulo Bala; Mara Dionisio; Valentina Nisi; Nuno Nunes. "IVRUX: A tool for analyzing immersive narratives in virtual reality". Paper presented in International Conference on Interactive Digital Storytelling, 2016.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-319-48279-8_1
  19. Bala, Paulo; Dionísio, Mara; Trindade, Rui; Olim, Sandra; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno. "Evaluating the influence of location and medium applied to mobile VR storytelling". Paper presented in International Conference on Mobile and Ubiquitous Multimedia (MUM), 2016.
    Published • 10.1145/3152832.3156617
  20. Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Trindade, Rui; Nisi, Valentina; Hanna, Julian; Up, Time's. "Lucid Peninsula: DreamScope -- An Interactive Physical Installation". Paper presented in ACM SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition, 2015.
    Published • 10.1145/2757226.2757382
  21. Dionisio, Mara; Bala, Paulo; Trindade, Rui; Nisi, Valentina; Nunes, Nuno; Time's Up. "DreamScope Catcher: a Touch Sensitive Interface to Catch Dreams". Paper presented in International Conference on Interactive Tabletops & Surface, 2015.
    Published • 10.1145/2817721.2823481
  22. Bala, Paulo; Nóbrega, Lucilia; Neves, Guilherme; Lopes, Lais; Morna, Joana; Camacho, João; Freitas, Cristina. "Keyewai: Looking at Cooperation in a Holographic Projection Screen". 2015.
    Published • 10.1145/2702613.2728652
Journal article
  1. Paulo Bala; Valentina Nisi; Nuno Jardim Nunes. "Stories as Boundary Objects: Digital Storytelling with Migrant Communities for Heritage Discourses". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction (2024): https://doi.org/10.1145/3641016.
    10.1145/3641016
  2. Nisi, Valentina; Bala, Paulo; Cesário, Vanessa; James, Stuart; Del Bue, Alessio; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. ""Connected to the people": Social Inclusion & Cohesion in Action through a Cultural Heritage Digital Tool". Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 7 CSCW2 (2023): 1-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3610168.
    Open access • 10.1145/3610168
  3. Nisi, Valentina; Dionisio, Mara Sofia; Bala, Paulo; Gross, Tom; Up, Time's; Nunes, Nuno Jardim. "Lucid Peninsula, a Physical Narrative Art Installation Comprising Interactive 360° Virtual Reality Components". International Journal of Creative Interfaces and Computer Graphics 10 1 (2019): 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijcicg.2019010101.
    Published • 10.4018/ijcicg.2019010101
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Leveraging eXtended Reality & Human-Computer Interaction for User Experience in 360º Video". PhD, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/10362/148908.
  2. Bala, Paulo Alexandre Câmara. "tCAD: a 3D modeling application on a depth enhanced tabletop computer". Master, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/555.
Activities

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2024/11/15 - Current Upgrading Museum Engagement by Enhancing Visitor Experience Using Virtual Reality
Co-supervisor
 Interactive Media Design (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2024/10/01 - Current Using Virtual Environments For Sports Performance Optimization In Stressful Situations
Supervisor
 Informatics Engineering (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2024/10/01 - Current Martial Arts Practice through Technology Interventions
Supervisor
 Informatics Engineering (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2024/10/01 - Current Design and Development of an Exergame for Flexibility Training
Supervisor
 Informatics Engineering (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2024/06/01 - Current ”Looks of Desire”: Leveraging Gaze to Explore Consent in a Dating Simulator
Co-supervisor
 Interactive Media Design (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2023/10/01 - Current Leveraging LLM Generated Narratives in Visual Novel Games for Mental Health Literacy
Co-supervisor of José Pedro Sousa
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2023/10/01 - Current Social Anxiety in VR-CBT: Transformative Insights for College Students
Co-supervisor of Élton Camacho
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2022/03 - Current Augmented Reality for Critical Cultural Heritage Practices
Co-supervisor of Manuel Rêgo
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2021/09 - Current Digital Tools for LGBTQ Cultural Heritage Curation
Co-supervisor of Sarah Leão
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2023/10/01 - 2024/04 Fostering Climate Change Awareness: Harnessing Adult-Child Interactions in an Educational Game
Co-supervisor of Joana Spínola
 Informatics Engineering (Master)
Universidade da Madeira, Portugal
2022/02 - 2023 Engaging Gentrification Through Service Design: Human-Centered Design for a Social Justice Issue
Co-supervisor of Pedro Carlos
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2021/09 - 2023 MEMEX application: Storytelling application user study for the cultural inclusion of the migrant population
Co-supervisor of Miguel Pessoa Antunes
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2021/09 - 2022 Digital Tools for Critical Cultural Heritage
Co-supervisor of Catarina Rodrigues
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
2019/09 - 2020/02 Tell a Tail: the design of an AR comic book for an animal welfare transmedia
Co-supervisor of Sarah Oliveira
 Design de Media Interativos (Master)
Universidade da Madeira Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia, Portugal
2018/09 - 2020/02 Tell a Tail: the design of an interactive cinematic VR for an animal welfare transmedia
Co-supervisor of Tânia Andrade
 Design de Media Interativos (Master)
Universidade da Madeira Faculdade de Ciências Exatas e da Engenharia, Portugal
Distinctions

Award

2020 Honorable Mention, full paper at ACM IMX 2020
Association for Computing Machinery, United States
2019 Honorable Mention, full paper at ACM CHI 2019
Association for Computing Machinery, United States
2015 Winner of CHI 2015 Student Game Design Competition ("Innovative Interfaces" category)
Association for Computing Machinery, United States