Anna Jafarpour

Portrait of Anna Jafarpour

Through scientific inquiry, artistic practice, and computational systems, I investigate the spaces between measurement and meaning in human experience.

My work explores how humans perceive, remember, narrate, move, and belong.

I also create visual narratives and objects that preserve stories, memories, and moments people want to hold on to.

How I Got Here

Observed and quantified the shape of droplets under controlled experimental conditions.
Made lifelong friends and received a national high school physics award for the study.
Became fascinated by human perception and memory.
Earned a Ph.D. in computational cognitive neuroscience.
Studied how memories could be decoded from brain activity.
Shared research at international conferences, saw the world, made many friends, and published research on how people remember.
Enjoyed meeting artists as much as scientists.
Founded a local art club, participated in exhibitions, and organized creative practice events.
Investigated aspects of human cognition that are not directly captured through brainwaves, expressions, or language.
Discovered systematic distortions in cognitive maps through sketches, curated an exhibition around the findings, and received media coverage.
Explored dance and movement as tools for studying cognition.
Performed at Anna Halprin’s 95th birthday in San Francisco.
Became curious about how people perceive life as it unfolds over time.
Built a research program and documented differences in how people perceive and remember movies.
Saw potential in studying information previously not tractable with existing quantitative tools.
Collaborated with experts and used Large Language Models to analyze autobiographical narratives.
Built a new home and became a mother.
Deepened a long-standing practice of creating visual narratives around stories, memory, and meaningful moments.
Applied quantitative research at scale.
Researched population head and face morphology to predict the wearability of smart glasses.
Built AI judge assistants for music lyric translations.
Scaled qualitative evaluations beyond what was previously feasible through human effort alone.
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Current Investigations

Evaluation Systems

Designing AI-assisted evaluation frameworks that reduce labor and scale human judgment.

Human Experience

Studying memory, perception, stories, and qualitative human experience through computational and mixed methods.

Memory, Storytelling & Belonging

Creating installations and visual work around migration, identity, and cultural memory.

Collaborating with people to preserve stories, joyful experiences, and memories through visual narratives that help people feel seen and connected.

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Collaboration

I collaborate across research, art, AI systems, storytelling, and human-centered inquiry.

My work includes research strategy, evaluation systems, interdisciplinary investigations, creative collaborations, and mentorship for researchers and creatives navigating paths across science, technology, and artistic practice.

I also take on selected storytelling and illustration commissions inspired by personal memories, cultural narratives, and meaningful moments.

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