Hi, I am Eira Solvang

I am a speculative designer and spatial computing researcher crafting worlds where data, nature, and narrative intertwine. I prototype inhabited futures — drifting maps, sensing rooms, and climate fictions — and care most about making the imaginary feel livable.

Education

Aug 2025

University of Nordhavn

School of Synthetic Environments

MFA in Speculative Worldbuilding

Aug 2023 - May 2025

Aalto Verge Institute

Department of Spatial Computing

MSc in Spatial Computing

Thesis: Drifting Atlases for Fictional Cities

GPA: 4.0/4.0

Aug 2019 - Aug 2023

Lumen College of Design

Program in Interaction & Environment

BDes in Interaction Design

GPA: 3.9/4.0 (with distinction)

Sep 2016 - Jul 2019

Crest Academy of Arts

Studio for Spatial Arts

Diploma in Spatial Arts

Thesis: Rooms That Rewrite Themselves

GPA: 3.7/4.0

Research

Jul 2024 - Present

Atlas Mira Lab

Living Cartographies

Researcher, Living Cartographies

Building drifting map-tools that learn from how people move through fictional cities, blending real-time sensing with generative place-making.

atlas-mira.studio/drifting-atlases

Apr 2024 - Present

Hollowlight Studio

Tidewave VR

Design Researcher

VR studies of memory and place; co-authored three papers on shared presence and attention in networked virtual rooms.

hollowlight.studio/rooms-that-remember

Aug 2024 - Nov 2025

Tidewave Collective

Research Fellow

Social VR narration across networks, traced through attention and gentle behavioral signals rather than surveillance.

tidewave.collective/narration

Aug 2024 - Nov 2025

Climate Fictions Group

Research Assistant

IoT story-sensors for climate-adapted worlds and soft, respectful evaluation of their thermoluminance impact.

climatefictions.group/story-sensors

Publications & Conferences

• Solvang, E. & Okonkwo, T. (2025) Drifting Atlases: authoring cities that refuse to stay still. Connecting generative mapping to architectural studio: a focus on cross-nature continuum. Proceedings of Imaginary Systems.
Reyes, M., Vance, L., Solvang, E. Lind, J., & Park, H. (2025) Effects of designed green spaces on inner weather. Proceedings of the ACM Human-Computer Interaction Conference. imaginary-systems.org/inner-weather
Lind, A., Xu, T., Solvang, E. Okonkwo, T., & Hamann, R. (Submitted) "GreenSKIN": an AI-based forest-species oracle to guide eco-aware computing systems (EAIS 2025)
Zhang, X., Yu, J., Solvang, E. Chen, Y., & Osterlund, R. (Submitted) Mobile Mirrors: visualizing the self in the metaverse — a digital approach to spatial self-understanding. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2025)
Park, J., Qu, Z., Yi, R., Solvang, E. & Kirkentun, M. (Submitted) Designing Interfaces: writing narrative on surface for wayfinding in impossible cities. ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2025)
Gaia, L., Xu, W., Li, X., Solvang, E. Hoffman, E., Caruso, P., & Bueno-Watts, I. (Submitted) Climate-integrated machine learning for 3D parking maps: environmental and area resource of the world. Annual Interdisciplinary Society Conference (AIS ITSEC)
• Solvang, E. (2025) Oral presentation at the Fictions Summit: Layered Geo-Stories — urban networked spaces. Reykjavík, Iceland

Skills

Programming: Lua, Rust, GLSL, Python
XR & Visualization: Unity, TouchDesigner, Blender, Unreal
Mapping & Analysis: QGIS, Mapbox Studio, Houdini
Fabrication: CNC, 3D Printing, E-textiles