Heide Lukosch received the master's degree from Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany, in 1999 and the Dr.rer. soc. in sociology from FernUniversitat in Hagen, Hagen, Germany, in 2006. She is currently an Associate Professor with HIT Lab NZ, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. With her research, she aims to understand how applied immersive games, games that have a specific purpose such as training and learning, and use technologies like virtual or augmented reality, have to be designed to achieve an intended effect. She investigates how realistic in terms of representation, social interaction, and experience these games have to be to be valid and engaging. She applies games to domains such as education, safety and security, and disaster management. She works together with local and international academics, as well as with organizations and game developers to answer her research questions, and to support organizations with game-based solutions on the interplay with the games industry.