Anna Borou YuResearch Affiliate
Anna Borou Yu is a new media artist, interdisciplinary researcher, and performer whose practice bridges media art, performance, artificial intelligence, mixed reality, cognitive science, and
cultural heritage. She is currently a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and MIT Theater
Arts, Co-Chair of the MIT AI Film Hack, and Co-Founder and Creative Director of MYStudio.
She holds degrees in architecture from Tsinghua University and the Yale School of Architecture,
and is currently a PhD Candidate in Media Arts and Technology, with an emphasis in Cognitive
Science, at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Yu creates responsive and performative media systems that explore embodiment, presence,
cognition, agency, and evolving questions of humanity in technologically mediated
environments. Her artistic and scholarly research focuses on embodied cognition, multisensory
dramaturgy, and cultural expression.
Yu’s work has received international recognition, including the Arte Laguna Prize, the Lumen
Prize Longlist, the ACM Multimedia Best Interactive Art Award, the Hermes Creative Awards,
the Rising Star Award from the Association of British Chinese Professors, the International
Animation Art Award, and the American Filmatic Arts Awards. In 2023, she was named to the
AACYF Top 30 Under 30 in the United States.
Her installations, performances, and media works have been presented internationally at the
Venice Biennale of Architecture, Ars Electronica, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance
Design and Space, SXSW, ACM SIGGRAPH Asia, CVPR Art Gallery, ECCV Art Gallery, IEEE
AIART, MIT Artfinity Art Festival, Common Senses Festival, Pingyao International Film Festival,
MIT Theater, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, Chengdu
Biennial, Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, and Historic New England Headquarters.
From 2021 to 2023, Yu served as a Fellow at Harvard University. She has lectured at institutions
including Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design,
New England Conservatory of Music, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology, China Academy of Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Communication University of China, and Beijing Dance Academy. She has also served as
Co-Chair of the IEEE AIART Gallery, an XR Track Member at NEW INC, an Ambassador for the
Arte Laguna Prize, and a judge for MIT Reality Hack. From 2023 to 2025, she served as
Multimedia Director for the Ivy League Spring Festival Gala.
Yu serves as a reviewer for international journals and conferences including the ACM Journal
on Computing and Cultural Heritage, VINCI, and ISEA. Her research has been published and
presented at international academic and cultural venues including ACM SIGGRAPH
Asia,CVPR, Eurographics, IRCAM, the Historic New England Summit, and the NYU Shanghai
Digital Heritage Symposium.
Yu’s work and research have been featured and interviewed by media and cultural platforms
including Harper’s BAZAAR, Artron, CanvasRebel Magazine.
For more about Yu’s research and projects, visit MYStudio at www.mystudio.design.
cultural heritage. She is currently a Research Affiliate at the MIT Media Lab and MIT Theater
Arts, Co-Chair of the MIT AI Film Hack, and Co-Founder and Creative Director of MYStudio.
She holds degrees in architecture from Tsinghua University and the Yale School of Architecture,
and is currently a PhD Candidate in Media Arts and Technology, with an emphasis in Cognitive
Science, at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Yu creates responsive and performative media systems that explore embodiment, presence,
cognition, agency, and evolving questions of humanity in technologically mediated
environments. Her artistic and scholarly research focuses on embodied cognition, multisensory
dramaturgy, and cultural expression.
Yu’s work has received international recognition, including the Arte Laguna Prize, the Lumen
Prize Longlist, the ACM Multimedia Best Interactive Art Award, the Hermes Creative Awards,
the Rising Star Award from the Association of British Chinese Professors, the International
Animation Art Award, and the American Filmatic Arts Awards. In 2023, she was named to the
AACYF Top 30 Under 30 in the United States.
Her installations, performances, and media works have been presented internationally at the
Venice Biennale of Architecture, Ars Electronica, the Prague Quadrennial of Performance
Design and Space, SXSW, ACM SIGGRAPH Asia, CVPR Art Gallery, ECCV Art Gallery, IEEE
AIART, MIT Artfinity Art Festival, Common Senses Festival, Pingyao International Film Festival,
MIT Theater, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Museum, Chengdu
Biennial, Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, and Historic New England Headquarters.
From 2021 to 2023, Yu served as a Fellow at Harvard University. She has lectured at institutions
including Harvard University, Yale University, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design,
New England Conservatory of Music, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology, China Academy of Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts,
Communication University of China, and Beijing Dance Academy. She has also served as
Co-Chair of the IEEE AIART Gallery, an XR Track Member at NEW INC, an Ambassador for the
Arte Laguna Prize, and a judge for MIT Reality Hack. From 2023 to 2025, she served as
Multimedia Director for the Ivy League Spring Festival Gala.
Yu serves as a reviewer for international journals and conferences including the ACM Journal
on Computing and Cultural Heritage, VINCI, and ISEA. Her research has been published and
presented at international academic and cultural venues including ACM SIGGRAPH
Asia,CVPR, Eurographics, IRCAM, the Historic New England Summit, and the NYU Shanghai
Digital Heritage Symposium.
Yu’s work and research have been featured and interviewed by media and cultural platforms
including Harper’s BAZAAR, Artron, CanvasRebel Magazine.
For more about Yu’s research and projects, visit MYStudio at www.mystudio.design.