Dr Heemsbergen researches socio-technological futures at Deakin University, Australia, where he teaches in the School of Communication and Creative Arts. He co-leads the Deakin Digital Life Lab , guides research in Immersive Realities for Deakin Motion Lab, and is a member of the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Science and Society Network and the Cyber Research and Innovation Centre. He was appointed to the ARC funded Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child as an Associate Investigator in 2023 to study on how children are growing up with AR and AI in their midst. 

In 2026 he was appointed to be the Director of Deakin’s Masters of AI for Creative Practice and Design.

His teaching and research focus on intersections of emerging technology and everyday life that form new cultures, norms, and ways that humans govern themselves and each other. He asks what emerging digital media make visible in our lives – including how Generative AI, Augmented Reality, 3D printing, and radical networked transparency have changed personal, political, and professional lives.

His research findings are published in top tier academic journal (NMS, IJOC, IPR, Futures, Nature’s HSSC, etc.). His work is also drawn upon in leading news organisations (The New York Times, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (TV and online), News Corp, Australian Financial Review, Wired, etc.) for wide ranging topics from NFTs to WeChat to WikiLeaks. His first book “Radical transparency and digital democracy: Wikileaks and beyond” is published by Emerald, with a softcover reprint in 2025.

His award winning collaborative works have been curated by Melbourne Design Week, Melbourne Knowledge Week, and the European Cultural Centre during the 2024 Venice Biennale.

Before receiving a PhD from the University of Melbourne he worked with Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, and previous to that, worked in proliferation risk in Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and the in the private sector.