John Craig
John (he/him) is an application developer and student research associate at the University of Calgary. He is interested in the intersections of computer science, education, and social issues learning, especially UI/UX design, accessibility in technology, and VR for education.
He was funded through a 2020 University of Calgary PURE Award to research interactions in VR for collaborative learning and developing interactive computer simulations of socio-scientific issues. John’s work was also supported by a Fleck Fellowship from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and he is an Oculus Launch Pad 2019 scholarship awardee.
His collaborative work has been displayed in public spaces such as the National Music Centre of Canada, Spark Science Centre, the University of Calgary, the 2021 ACM SIGGRAPH Immersive Pavilion and more, and John is also an Oculus Launch Pad 2019 alumni and scholarship awardee.
Highlighted Projects
See the Projects page for more details.
Mementorium
Virtual Reality (2021)
Rosie Award Winner 2021 for Best Narrative Game or Interactive Project
Contributions: Lead Developer (UE4, Blueprints, C++) and interaction design.
Mementorium is a heartfelt story about identity and belonging told through a branching narrative in virtual reality. Uncover memories of gender and sexuality bias inside “mementos” that transport you to a dreamlike environment. Choose your story through playful interactions to transform your “mementorium” into a place of strength and belonging. Shape your story and discover, “who can we become when we belong?”
Exhibited at:
Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories – FIVARS, Los Angeles, CA (October 15 – November 2, 2021).
Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (ACM SIGGRAPH) Immersive Pavilion, Virtual Conference (August 9 – 13, 2021).
Oculus Launchpad Demo Day, Facebook HQ, Menlo Park (March 2020), Vertical Slice/ Demo Project.
Sound Agents
This was a solo project where I re-designed the Flocking Sounds project, which utilizes Craig Reynolds’ flocking algorithm. This version was designed to run in a browser to be enjoyed on desktop or mobile. Users can manipulate the audio analyzing settings as well as drop an mp3 or wav file to watch the boids react to their own music.
Flocking Stories
The Flocking Queer & Trans Stories simulations are interactive digital art installations that explore how computational simulations of emergent complex behaviours, combined with individual storytelling, might provide us with new ways to deepen our understanding of gender and sexuality-based marginalization and resilience through computer modelling, public coding and art. Using Craig Reynolds’ flocking algorithm with sound analysis modification and a harm/support system, this simulation shows the effects that society has on those that are considered “non-normative”.
John Craig 