Philip van Allen

Philip van Allen is an interactive designer, educator, researcher, and technologist with 30 years experience at the intersection of technology and the creative arts in fields ranging from sound recording to interactive media installations. He is a Professor and Core Faculty member in the Graduate Media Design Program at Art Center College of Design with research interests in experimental information systems, interactive objects and spaces, ubiquitous computing, and tools for designers including the NETLab Toolkit. He founded his interactive production company, Commotion, in 1993 and has worked on CD-ROM, Web, mobile, and interactive exhibitions with a range of clients including USC, George P. Johnson, The Huntington Art Collections, Interval Research, Philips, Yahoo, Nestlé, U2 and Yoko Ono. In 1996 van Allen founded the Web magazine ArtCommotion.com that focused on the contemporary visual and literary arts in Los Angeles. Recent projects include interactive data mining on charter school performance, museum kiosks, and award winning interactive exhibitions installed at the major auto shows for Infiniti and Acura. Philip is also the lead author of the transmedia publication (book, website, mobile phone content and a poster) The New Ecology of Things. As part of van Allen’s ongoing research, the publication explores the emerging world of ubquitous networks, smart objects & spaces, and approaches to design practice that embrace mythology, meaning making, and embodiment.