The Fall 2015 Quarter of the Interactive Media & Games Seminar Series concludes on December 1st at 12pm in Herrin Hall RM T175.

The final speaker this quarter will be Vander Caballero, VR- The Ultimate Storytelling Tool. Having managed to make players experience an emotional journey of change in Papo & Yo, Minority Media is adept at triggering empathic feelings in players. Now that VR technology is poised to enter the market, Minority Media is using VR as a storytelling tool. In this talk, Vander discusses the implications of bringing VR tech into our development process as a means to deepen empathy.

Vander Caballero established himself as a leading figure in Canadian video game innovation as EA Montreal’s design director from the studio’s opening in 2004. In 2010, he left the company to pursue an independent career where he could explore new directions in game concept and design, particularly the development and application of emotional mechanics for meaningful gameplay. His game, Papo & Yo, available on Playstation 3, Windows, OS X and Linux, was critically acclaimed for its innovation as an empathy game. Caballero has extensive experience with VR technology.

After completing his studies in industrial design in Milan at the IED Istituto Europeo di Design. In 1998 he moved to Canada and joined Daniel Langlois (founder of Softimage) and founded 4 Elements, a startup company devoted to developing virtual reality technology for the architecture industry. He is currently the CEO of Minority Media Inc. and Creative Director of Cali (the spiritual successor of Papo & Yo) and Time Machine VR.

Interactive media and games increasingly pervade and shape our society. In addition to their dominant roles in entertainment, video games play growing roles in education, arts, science and health. This seminar series brings together a diverse set of experts to provide interdisciplinary perspectives on these media regarding their history, technologies, scholarly research, industry, artistic value and potential future. Talks will resume in the Winter.

Image Minority Media.