Learn more about our team
Matthew Floyd
Matthew’s background is primarily in film production. He is interested in transferring his knowledge of film into the VR space, and is excited to learn more about how to edit in VR. On the project, he will be working as a writer, playtesting director, and one of two narrative designers.
Shana Joseph
Shana has a background in Computer Science and Studio Art (Photography Concentration). She is interested in layout and composition, and how to create spaces in VR. She enjoys watching films, playing games, learning about new technology, and she loves trying new things. On Cutting Edge, she will be working as an environmental and layout artist.
Liam Philiben
Liam has a background in film studies and film production (specifically sound mixing and sound design). An avid fan of cinema, games, and anything remotely interactive, Liam is looking forward to applying his knowledge of film and his newfound interest in experience design to the medium of VR. On Cutting Edge, he will be working as a sound designer, narrative designer, and one of two producers for the team
Hongzhu Zhao
Hongzhu is an effects artist and programmer with a background in computer science. He loves using technology to help realize an artist’s vision, and is looking forward to using his knowledge of programming and existing software to help bring the project’s cuts and transitions to life. On Cutting Edge, he is working as both tech lead and effects programmer.
Faculty Advisors
Heather Kelley
Named in 2013 as one of the five most powerful women in gaming by Inc. magazine, and in 2011 by Fast Company as one of the most influential women in technology, Ms. Kelley co-curated the groundbreaking 2012 exhibition Joue le jeu / Play Along at La Gaîté lyrique in Paris, France. She is co-founder of Kokoromi, an experimental game collective, with whom she has produced and curated the renowned GAMMA event promoting experimental games as creative expression in a social context.
Heather’s extensive career in the games industry has included design and production of AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, handheld games, research games, and web communities for girls. In 2008, she was Kraus Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, and Adjunct Faculty at the Entertainment Technology Center, at Carnegie Mellon University, where she organized The Art of Play symposium and art game arcade. Her biographical sex game concept with Erin Robinson, entitled “Our First Times,” won the 2009 GDC Game Design Challenge, and her game concept “Lapis” based on female orgasm won the 2006 MIGS Game Design Challenge. Her newest sex-related piece is the OhMiBod iPhone application, which uses the iPhone touch screen to control a connected OhMiBod brand vibrator.
As moboid, Heather has created interactive projections using game engines such as Quake and Unreal. Her experimental art game work with Lynn Hughes, “Fabulous/Fabuleux,” was created at Montreal’s Hexagram Institute and integrates gameplay into a full-body interactive installation using custom “squishy” interface hardware. For seven years, Heather served as co-chair of the IGDA’s Women in Game Development Special Interest Group. She holds an MA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she is an alumna of the Advanced Communications Technologies Laboratory.
Ralph Vituccio
Ralph Vituccio is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon and an Independent filmmaker. At the ETC Ralph lead a number of award winning student interactive projects dealing with social issues such as an interactive graphic novel addressing sexual assault on college campus and a Virtual Reality interactive experience exploring racial profiling which was presented at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival.
As an independent artist, Vituccio has received numerous grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Mid-Atlantic Region Media Arts Fellowship Program and the National Endowment for the Arts. Vituccio’s documentary, “PERFORMANCE: The Living Art,” won an Artist Distinction Award at the 1990 Berlin International Film Festival and has aired nationally on several PBS stations and internationally in several countries. His documentary, “When The Video Came,” considers the early formation of video as an art form and profiles many of the original pioneers in the field and has been shown internationally.
His 2010 documentary, “IN SERVICE: Iraq to Pittsburgh,” explored a different facet of the Iraq War as seen through the eyes of local soldiers, government officials and journalists. It tells the story of 15 men and women who served, survived, and returned from the battlefields in and around Baghdad. The film weaves war footage shot by soldiers themselves, interviews, and still photography into a cohesive narrative of how world events affect communities.
His film “Shipbreakers” (2014) takes place on the beaches of Alang, India where over 300 supertankers and cruse ships are run aground and torn apart by hand by thousands of impoverished workers. The film looks at the devastating impact ship recycling has on the environmental and the health of the workers. It asks the question should less developed countries be a dumping ground for the hazardous waste and pollution of developed countries. “Shipbreakers” won The Best Feature Documentary Award at the Global International Film Festival in San Francisco. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Madrid and Lucerne International Film Festivals and won the Best Editing Award at the Global Film Festival of Boston.
In 2015, Vituccio and Andres Tapia-Urzua were invited to present their interactive video art installation, “El Oraculo Caracol,” at the Havana International Biennale in Cuba. The Havana International presents artists from all over the world and “El Oraculo Caracol” was the only accepted entry representing the United States.