Dr Stuart Favilla

Biography

Dr Favilla's research activities have covered a diverse range of design related fields including Defence Systems, Medical Technologies, Wildlife Conservation and STEM education for blind and low vision communities. Together with Sonja Pedell at the Swinburne University Future Self and Design Living Lab Stu has applied his knowledge and love for music co-creating tablet apps, social and music interactions for people living with dementia. An innovator in the area of spatial sound and immersive audio, Stu currently heads the Swinburne Sonic Research group.

As an audio designer Stu Favilla has been recognised internationally for three decades, contributing to computer music, interaction design and instrument design. Winner of notable international prizes including the Karl Szucka Preis and finalist for the Bourges Electroacoustique Prize, Stu Favilla has developed digital music instruments and interactions rich in creative possibilities and skill-developing affordances. His work has been profiled by the Qantas in-flight Magazine, International and Australian Television, featured by the DK Books’ Cool Stuff series and in numerous academic books including the recent publication "Body as Instrument" by Mary Mainsbridge (Bloomsbury, Academic). He has performed complete concert programs for the European main stage including Festival deBase (Basel Art Fair, Switzerland), Festival Resonances (Pompidou, Paris), AudioArt (Krackow) and twice at Earzoom (Ljubljana).  A specialist in software development and audio and video signal processing, Stu was a silver medallist at the 2020 International Design Awards for his efforts developing data driven and generative life video wall projections.