USC Interactive Media Division
Encyclopedia
The University of Southern California
's School of Cinematic Arts
's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive media
, mobile media
, and video games. The IMD has a group weblog edited by the students and faculty, sharing the results of their research.
Major funders of the USC IMD include Electronic Arts
, whose Bing Gordon
took a faculty chair at the school in 2005.
, a pioneer in virtual reality
research, with help from Jen Stein, a media and communications scholar and Marientina Gotsis, a new media artist and lab manager for the division. Faculty have included Steve Anderson, Anne Balsamo, Julian Bleecker
, Mark Bolas
, Peter Brinson
, Tracy Fullerton
, Perry Hoberman
, Michael Lew
, Erik Loyer
, Jacki Morie, Michael Naimark
, Eddo Stern, Chris Swain
, Peggy Weil
.
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
's School of Cinematic Arts
USC School of Cinematic Arts
The USC School of Cinematic Arts, until 2006 named the School of Cinema-Television , is a film school within the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California. It is the oldest and largest such school in the United States, established in 1929 as a joint venture with the Academy of...
's Interactive Media Division first accepted students in 2002. In addition to coursework in film production, screenwriting, and animation, students in the division study across three disciplines within interactive media: immersive media
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, mobile media
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
, and video games. The IMD has a group weblog edited by the students and faculty, sharing the results of their research.
Major funders of the USC IMD include Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, whose Bing Gordon
Bing Gordon
William "Bing" Gordon is an executive in the video game industry. He served ten years as Chief Creative Officer of video game publisher and developer Electronic Arts prior to his current partnership with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers...
took a faculty chair at the school in 2005.
Projects
- Projects Gallery
- Cloud - an experimental computer game from 2005, funded in part by a grant from Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. - flOwFlOwFlow is an indie video game created by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark. Originally released as a free Flash game in 2006 to accompany Chen's master's thesis, it was reworked into a 2007 PlayStation 3 game by his development studio, Thatgamecompany. SuperVillain Studios released a PlayStation...
- Darfur is DyingDarfur is DyingDarfur is Dying is a flash-based browser game about the crisis in Darfur, western Sudan. The game won the Darfur Digital Activist Contest sponsored by mtvU. Released in April 2006, more than 800,000 people had played by September...
- PMOGPMOGThe Nethernet is an online game in which players "passively" participate in while browsing web pages...
- A vast social meta-game that can be played by completing missions on the Web. - The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom - A game set in an early silent film world that plays with temporal space.
- The Night Journey - A video game/art project based on the universal story of an individual mystic's journey toward enlightenment.
- The Redistricting Game - A video game designed to educate, engage, and empower citizens around the issue of political redistricting.
- Journey of Jin
Faculty & Staff
Currently, the division is headed by Scott FisherScott Fisher
Scott Fisher may refer to:*Scott Fisher *Scott Fisher See also*Scott Fischer, American climber*Scott Fischer, Author...
, a pioneer in virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
research, with help from Jen Stein, a media and communications scholar and Marientina Gotsis, a new media artist and lab manager for the division. Faculty have included Steve Anderson, Anne Balsamo, Julian Bleecker
Julian Bleecker
Julian Bleecker is an artist and technologist with a history developing innovative mobile research projects.Bleecker holds a Ph.D. from the History of Consciousness Program at University of California, Santa Cruz...
, Mark Bolas
Mark Bolas
Mark Bolas is a researcher exploring perception, agency, and intelligence. He is an Associate Professor of Interactive Media in the USC Interactive Media Division, USC School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California, Director of their Interactive Narrative and Immersive...
, Peter Brinson
Peter Brinson
Peter Neilson Brinson was a British writer and lecturer on dance. At various times he was a film-maker, writer, and academic, and did much to raise the profile of dance education in Britain and elsewhere.-Life:...
, Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton
Tracy Fullerton is an American game designer, educator and writer. She is currently an Associate Professor in the USC Interactive Media Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Director of the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab. In December of 2008, she was installed as the holder of...
, Perry Hoberman
Perry Hoberman
Perry Hoberman , is an installation artist who has worked extensively with machines and media. His career has included stints with Laurie Anderson and the USC Interactive Media Division....
, Michael Lew
Michael Lew
Prof. Michael S. Lew is a scientist in multimedia information search and retrieval at Leiden University, Netherlands. He has published over 7 books and 100 scientific articles in the areas of multimedia search, computer vision, human computer interaction, and information retrieval...
, Erik Loyer
Erik Loyer
Erik Loyer is a digital artist whose work examines identity and memory in the context of new modes of communications afforded by media technologies....
, Jacki Morie, Michael Naimark
Michael Naimark
Michael Naimark is a media artist and researcher who often explores “place representation.”- Biography :Naimark helped found a number of prominent research labs including the MIT Media Laboratory , the Atari Research Lab , the Apple Multimedia Lab , Lucasfilm Interactive , and Interval Research...
, Eddo Stern, Chris Swain
Chris Swain
Chris Swain is an American game designer, entrepreneur, and professor. He is the founder and CEO of , a venture-funded game developer creating a transmedia social games...
, Peggy Weil
Peggy Weil
Peggy Weil is an artist working in digital media.She graduated from Harvard in 1976 and received a Masters Degree from MIT in 1982. There she was a part of the Architecture Machine Group where she worked under Nicholas Negroponte....
.