Ian Zhang

I currently serve as Assistant Professor of Interactive Media Arts at NYU Shanghai and Associate Director of the Digital HeritageLab. My creative practice and academic research combine my background in the video game industry with interdisciplinary work in digital art, mixed reality spaces, game design, and immersive AR/VR experiences.

Before entering academia, I worked as a senior 3D artist and art director on titles including Alice:Madness Returns and Command & Conquer3: Tiberium Wars. That industry experience continues to shape both my teaching and research through a simple principle: seek meaning, create value.

My recent projects, including Verse: NO.1555 and Memory Co-Space, explore multi-user XR experiences that layer virtual memory spaces onto physical environments. Through these works, I investigate how media can move beyond conventional screens to create new forms of interaction between physical and virtual worlds.

‍Memory Co-Space was selected for the 2025 Shanghai Manual published under the auspices of UN-Habitat, highlighting innovative Shanghai practices in urban digital transformation and cultural heritage preservation.