Dan Hawes Ph.D

Dan is a writer, producer, and creator of television, film, and games, as well as a research professor specializing in emerging technologies. He has created and produced over $75M in animated film and television programs, games, AI, VR, and mobile applications worldwide. Early in his career, he evolved from software engineer to Internet content entrepreneur, building and successfully selling two Internet companies. In 1997, Dan co-created Chilly Beach, an Internet series and gaming site that is widely regarded as the first Canadian web property to transition to network television, airing on the CBC in 2003 after its web debut in 1997.

Dan is currently the CEO and Founder of Just Virtual (justvirtual.com), an AI/Metaverse company, and Toonrush (toonrush.com), an animation and gaming studio. Complementing his industry work, he teaches courses related to gaming, digital storytelling, and managing creative companies at Toronto Metropolitan University and Carleton University. He holds a Master’s degree in Digital Experience Innovation from the University of Waterloo and Ph.D. in Information Technology from Carleton University where he serves as an Adjunct Research Professor in the School of Information Technology. His research focuses on designing AI, VR, and metaverse experiences that intentionally reshape perspective and generate positive psychological outcomes, including reduced anxiety and improved cognitive functioning.

Dan is the author of two books, The Billion Dollar Metaverse Challenge and AI for Everyone, available on Amazon. He is currently preparing his third book, Primed: From Whispers to Waves – How Emerging Technologies Shape Our Minds and Our World, scheduled for release in 2026.

Over the past 25 years, he and his team have created and produced twelve animated TV series (350+ episodes), over fifty games, and nine movies with broadcast coverage in over 120 countries. Most notably, in 1997, he co-created Chilly Beach, an Internet TV series that lays claim as one of the first web properties in North America to make the jump to network TV (Web 1997 to CBC 2003). In 2003, he founded March Entertainment (rebranded as Toonrush in 2013) forming one of Canada’s leading animation and gaming studios.

dan's imdb

Academic Research Publications

Hawes, D. J. (2022). Using Virtual Reality to Improve Learning Mindsets and Academic Performance in Post-Secondary Students (Doctoral dissertation, Carleton University).

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2022, May). VR-based context priming to increase student engagement and academic performance. In 2022 8th international conference of the immersive Learning research Network (iLRN) (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2022, May). Comparing student-based context priming in immersive and desktop virtual reality environments to increase academic performance. In 2022 8th International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) (pp. 1-7). IEEE.

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2022, March). VR-based Context Priming to Increase Student Engagement and Academic Performance. 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW)

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2021, March). VR-based student priming to reduce anxiety and increase cognitive bandwidth. In 2021 IEEE Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (VR) (pp. 245-254). IEEE.

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2020, December). Assessing the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Gaming to Reduce Anxiety and Increase Cognitive Bandwidth. In 2020 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR) (pp. 323-326). IEEE.

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2023). Technology solutions to reduce anxiety and increase cognitive availability in students. IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies, 16(2), 278-291.

Hawes, D., & Arya, A. (2023). A VR-based Priming Framework and Technology Implementation to Improve Learning Mindsets and Academic Performance in Post-Secondary Students. arXiv preprint arXiv:2303.11547.

Hawes, D., Teather, R., Arya, A., & Krichenbauer, M. (2019, December). Assessing the value of 3d software experience with camera layout in virtual reality. In 2019 IEEE International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality (AIVR) (pp. 179-1793). IEEE.

Arya, A., Scavarelli, A., Hawes, D., & Nardon, L. (2025). VR-based Intervention for Perspective Change: A Case to Investigate Virtual Materiality. arXiv preprint arXiv:2504.16031.