Robots and Representation


Brenda Laurel


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Brenda Laurel is a designer, researcher and writer whose work focuses on interactive narrative, human-computer interaction, and the cultural aspects of technology. She holds an M.F.A. and Ph.D. in theatre from the Ohio State University. Her career in human-computer interaction spans over twenty-five years. In her early work at Interval Research Corporation in Palo Alto, California, she coordinated research activities exploring gender and technology, and co-produced and directed the Placeholder Virtual Reality project. She was co-founder and VP/Design of Purple Moon, which was later acquired by Mattel. In 1990 she co-founded Telepresence Research, Inc. to develop virtual reality and remote presence technology and applications. She was Senior Director and Distinguished Engineer at Sun Microsystems Labs in Menlo Park, California, and has worked as a software designer, producer, and researcher for companies including Atari, Activision, and Apple.

Dr. Laurel is currently Chair of the Graduate Program in Design at California College of the Arts, and formerly served as Chair and graduate faculty member of the graduate Media Design Program at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. She has published extensively on interactive fiction, computer games, autonomous agents, virtual reality, and political and artistic issues in interactive media. She has authored numerous books including The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design [1990]; Computers as Theatre [1993]; Severed Heads; and a narrative of her start-up adventure of "games for girls", Utopian Entrepreneur [2001]. Her most recent book is Design Research [2004].

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