C.V.
Philip van Allen Profile
Interactive designer, producer, and entrepreneur with over 20 years experience developing commercial and experimental interactive works. Focus on projects related to sound/music, physical interfaces, and ubiquitous / pervasive computing. Innovator of interactive music/sound applications, tools for designers, multi-user interfaces.
Educator experienced in teaching, administration and curriculum development. Active in both graduate and undergraduate programs.
Technologist with over thirty years experience in diverse fields ranging across physical computing, software engineering, sound recording and engineering, electronics, Internet databases.
Publications
The New Ecology of Things (NET)
Thinking About Interaction Design for Online News Delivery (USC Annenberg Online Journalism Review 2004)
Productive Interaction research paper presented to Southern California Digital Culture Group, hosted at the Annenberg Center for Communication, University of Southern California (2004).
Designing the future: writing, design and research on NOT-linear interaction - Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems, (ACM ISBN:1-58113-787-7 2004)
ArtCommotion.com - A website devoted to the literary and visual arts on Los Angeles. Publisher (1995-1996)
Selected Projects, Exhibitions, Products
NET Lab Designer Toolkit - Part of the New Ecology of Things research program in the MDP, the toolkit is an integrated set of tools for designers that enable them to create interactive projects with sensors, effectors, and media in a simple to use, drag-and-drop environment. Designer, programmer.
Acura Oracles - Interactive Multi-touch tables. I consulted for GPJ on the interactive and technical aspects of the project. The Oracle was also loaned and then donated to the MDP for use in our research and courses.
Infiniti Interactive Mirror - Interactive life-sized interactive system composed of 3 mirrored glass panels with 20,000 lumen rear projections for each panel. I developed the touch-less sensor system that detected when a user selected a link on-screen. In addition, I provided interactive design consultation.
Corporate Delicti - Interactive sound work (multi-user, multi-channel) with office machines within a group exhibition at Nucleus Gallery (2005)
Information Explorers - A series of experimental screen based projects that explored new modes of interacting with complex sets of information using ideas from my Productive Interaction paper (2005).
Interactive Music Project - A series of experimental physical projects that explored the potentials for making consumer products that would enable non-musicians to create and play with music (2001-2004).
SoundBreak.com - A project of Acacia Research, SoundBreak.com was an early internet radio station. I helped develop the initial prototype and attitude and hired the creative director and other staff (2002-2003).
Internet & Interactive Music - At Interval Research I helped lead a team developing internet and interactive music projects with Joy Mountford as the principle investigator. One of these projects is mentioned in Bill Moggridge’s Designing Interactions
Launch Magazine - An interactive CD-ROM magazine about music. The publisher hired my company Commotion to design and produce the inaugural 6 issues. We also created some of the first ever interactive advertisements for a Nestle Butterfinger campaign within the magazine. (Launch Media/Yahoo 1994-1996)
Music CDi Discs - While at Philips, I created a series of the first hybrid music CDs (called CDi-Ready) that also had interactive content on them - included titles profiling James Brown, Luciano Pavarotti, and Mozart. In addition, I created a working prototype of an application that enabled the user to remix the classic rock song Layla.
The Germs - Recorded The Germs and other seminal Los Angeles punk bands in my garage studio (1978-1980).
Selected Talks, Presentations & Awards
USC Interactive Media Arts and Practice Program - Talk and live webcast on The New Ecology of Things publication for an iMAP/Adobe Panel, 2008
Art Center Faculty Enrichment Grant (2007)
Maker Faire - Introduced N.E.T. Lab Connect, and demoed re.moto, a wireless sensor system with Moto Development (2007)
UCSD Cal-IT 2 - Talk on N.E.T. Lab Connect, a tool for designers to make physical computing projects without programming (2007)
Up Next - Coordinator for the MDP conference at Art Center, Pasadena (2005)
Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) - Moderator and author for “Designing the Future” panel & position paper, and ACM Conference proceedings (2004)
Invision Award, Best Interactive Magazine Design - Launch CD-ROM Magazine (1995)
Digital World - Interactive Music Discussion Panel (1994)
Audio Engineering Society - Presented “UMix” a consumer remix project (1992)
Work History
Art Center College of Design – Pasadena, CA – 2000 to Present
Associate Professor in Interactive Design, Graduate Media Design Program
Santa Monica College – Santa Monica, CA – 1998 to 2002
Assistant Chair, Design Technology Department, Academy of Entertainment Technology
Commotion New Media, Inc. – Los Angeles, CA – 1993 to Present
Founder and Principal, Interactive Consulting and Production specializing in installations and exhibitions
Interval Research – Palo Alto, CA – 1997 to 1998
Consultant - Designer, Group Lead, Biz Dev for Joy Mountford’s music & Internet research team at Paul Allen’s company
Philips Interactive Media – Los Angeles, CA – 1988 to 1993
Senior Producer, Creative Director - MusicWorks Group - Interactive music titles for CDi platform
GE Nuclear – San Jose, CA – 1985 to 1988
Systems Consultant – Porting of nuclear reactor monitoring software.
Prime Computer – Culver City, CA – 1983 to 1985
Senior Marketing Support Analyst – Systems analysis, benchmarking, and customer support.
Santa Monica Computer – Santa Monica, CA – 1981 to 1983
Programmer Analyst II – Administrative computing software, created large computer RFPs, set up and managed student computer lab.
Sunbird Sound – Los Angeles, CA – 1975 to 1981
Owner of recording studio and freelance audio engineer – Recorded early LA punk bands (Germs, Dils), mixed live concerts (Ricky Lee Jones, Arco Jazz series at the Bonaventure), sound technician for events (Ray Charles at Dorothy Chandler, Bette Middler - The Rose premier).
Patents
Patent 6,164,541 - Methods and systems for providing human/computer interfaces—for Interval Research.
Patent 6,411,994 - Interface system for providing content using context hotspots—for Interval Research.