3-D, Gaming, Robotics, Virtual Reality, VR Applications
Dr Roy Davies
Dr Roy C. Davies has been in the VR industry since the early days when the computers used were at least as big as large refrigerators and made by SGI, or if your budget didn't stretch that far, running VR applications on a PC meant a 200 Mhz Pentium running MSDOS. Starting as a Computer Scientist in Rehabilitation Robotics at Auckland University, he then spent 12 years at the University of Lund in Sweden in the department of Ergonomics, first to get a PhD in the Usability of Virtual Reality for Participatory Design and Brain Injury Rehabilitation, and then starting and running the multi-disciplinary VR centre, the Flexible Reality Centre which ties together 25 departments across the campus and has four large VR labs. On return to New Zealand Roy set up Nextspace, a collaboration between the hugely successful NZ- originated company, Right Hemisphere, and the government to build up the 3D-VR industry for New Zealand.
Branding, Communication Strategies, Corporate Identity, Graphic Design, Marketing, Media Arts, New Technology, Spatial Design, TV, Video, Virtual Reality, VR Applications
Pete Lipponen
Originally from Helsinki, Finland, Pete has been in New Zealand from April 2009. Since the early 90s when he gained
national prominence as director and editor on the weekly national TV program
Computer Watch and as events manager for Apple Events, Pete has
been a leading figure in new media in Finland. He has worked on the
leading New Media Agency’s in Stockholm and Helsinki and has lead the team which
conceptualized the world’s leading mobile phone content distribution platform
Zed.
Nokia has used Pete for: short films to promote their leading
phones, interactive demonstrations to educate the people about the key
characteristics of Nokia devices, global web services to attain the best talents
to work with Nokia. Some other players who have found Pete very useful to
promote and interact with their audiences include Toyota, Red Cross and
Roche.
Technology has been Pete’s inspiration from the first company he
founded in Helsinki 1992. WWW was introduced to the world a year later and Pete
transformed his business from database systems to web services. Data Cube Ltd in
New Zealand continues his quest for the ultimate user experience. One of the
current projects sets a new milestone - Digital Binocular Station close to
Wellington City Library will be available to the public this year.
Pete
has a strong passion, designing services and products for people as a Concept
Designer, Creative Director, Interactive Producer, Planner, Project Manager, New
Media Strategist, Commercial Interior Designer or any other role leading the
creative process.
Pete is passionate, dedicated and creative with
an exceptional ability to inspire and motivate people in his team. View his
public profile here web.me.com/pete.lipponen/
3D, Game development, iPhone development, mobile development, Serious Games, software development, Virtual Reality, web application development
Tarique Naseem
Tarique has a long history in interactive 3D development. Having worked initially in R&D for BAE Systems, developing systems for future fighter aircraft, he joined Virtuality, a pioneer in virtual reality entertainment systems, where he headed up the entertainments division. He was responsible for some of the company's most successful game titles.
During his tenure there, he moved the company into the emerging bespoke market (now more commonly known as Serious Games), developing virtual reality applications for clients such as Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, M&M Saatchi and Proctor & Gamble.
He later went on to form Maelstrom Virtual Productions, a specialist serious games development house, with clients ranging from Sony Entertainment, GKN Westland, UK Ministry of Defence, and numerous football clubs.
He developed a number of successful commercial titles, such as '3D Dinosaur Hunter' for Dorling Kindersley, and more recently, Pentaque Pro for the Nintendo Wii.
Since his move to New Zealand, he founded another startup, Carbon Imagineering Ltd, which is an emerging technologies think-tank, providing consultancy and incubating numerous technologies and concepts. The main areas of expertise is in game development, serious games, mobile (iPhone/Android) and social web application development.
Tarique has a keen interest in using gaming technology for education and heritage based projects, and has specialised in this area over the last few years. He is currently working on an educational title based around an ancient Maori Pa.
