
Tom Willma
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My research strides across the fields of media studies and science and technology studies, broadly conceived. I’m particularly interested in the relationships between creative labour and contemporary technologies (think generative AI, machine learning, metaverse, digital avatars, cloud technologies etc). My specialisation is on the music industry, targeting recent music-tech transformations and the commodification of ideological labour. I’m often working across UNSW and USYD on a range of projects and teaching courses including as a research assistant with A/Prof. Benedetta Brevini (USYD & NYU) on the ARC funded project ‘Online Hostilities in Australian Digital Cultures' (housed at RMIT).
I completed my Bachelor of Arts (Honours) with the University of Sydney and my Bachelor of Music Studies with the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I’m also a current member of UNSW’s Creative Technologies Research Lab, an Australian Postgraduate Representative for the Australian Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association and a joint HDR Rep (with the incredible Marcia Swaby) for UNSW’s school of Art & Design. I’m always happy to chat so feel free to reach out!
- Research area
- Research outputs
- Media studies
- Cultural industries
- Labour
- Generative artificial intelligence
- Machine learning
- Popular music
- Live music
Publications
- Willma, Tom. In press. Beyond Embodiment: Rethinking Avatars in Contemporary Digital Media. Media International Australia.
- Jovic, D., Butt, M.-A., Stanton, R., & Willma, T. 2023. . AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research, 2022.Â
Conference Presentations
- Willma, Tom. 2024. Beyond Embodiment: Rethinking Performer Avatars in the Virtual Creative Industry. Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association, Melbourne, Australia.
- Butt, Mahli-Ann, Ryan Stanton, Dhalia Jovic, and Tom Paul Willma. 2022. Why play when you can watch or listen? Multi-modal engagements in digital gaming. Association of Internet Researchers, Dublin, Ireland.
- Willma, Tom. 2022. When Game Music Tops the Charts: A Study on K/DA, Riot Games and Mixed Reality. Digital Games Research Association Australia, Virtual Conference, Australia.