Advisory Board
VIM’s world-class advisory board brings a broad range of talents and experience to VIM clients and projects. Advisors are instrumental in guiding future VIM product and business development efforts, and are given the opportunity to consult with or join client projects that are in need of their expertise. We deeply appreciate and thank our advisors for their continued support of Vortex Immersion Media’s vision and direction.
Douglas Trumbull – Mr. Trumbull is a legendary filmmaker and visual effects pioneer who headed special effects for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). He received visual effects Academy Award nominations for Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), and Blade Runner (1982).
He directed Silent Running (1972), Brainstorm (1983), and Back to the Future…The Ride (1991). He has received the Academy Award in Scientific and Technical Achievement, the International Monitor Award, and American Society of Cinematographers’ Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Trumbull is currently involved in the evolution of visual effects using virtual digital sets and electronic cinematography for projects around the world.
Alex Grey – Mr. Grey is a world renowned artist specializing in transcendent themes in contemporary art, sculpture, architecture and immersive spaces. His CoSM Gallery in New York City features the Sacred Mirrors, 21 life-sized paintings that take the viewer on a journey toward their divine nature. His large-format art book, Sacred Mirrors: The Visionary Art of Alex Grey has been translated into five languages and sold over 75,000 copies. Alex now teaches courses in Visionary Art with his wife Allyson, also an artist, at The Open Center in New York City, Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado, the California Institute of Integral Studies and Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York.
Roger Davis – Mr. Davis has been a key player in Digital Cinema and Electronic Cinema since it’s inception. Founder and co-founder of 3 post production companies in San Francisco & LA – clients included major Hollywood Film studios and filmmakers including Coppola, Lucas & Spielberg. Digital Cinema advisor for BBC, Asian multi-nationals Corporations, Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope Studios, European Film Zentrum Babelsberg (Berlin, Germany), MCI/WorldCom Video Lab, & Amer. Soc of Cinematographers. Primary advisor for the acquisition of Mass Illusions, Visual Effects Co. bought by Manex Entertainment whose key personnel won 3 visual effects Oscars for What Dreams May Come and The Matrix series. Theme park consultant to Dubai Land City, Mall of Arabia.
Geoff Puckett – This former Disney Imagineer has created a myriad of imaginative projects for the theme park, theatrical, marketing and entertainment/media industries. Projects include the first laser-based ice surface projection system for the Ice Capades, designs & equipment for Knott’s Berry Farm, massive corporate theatrical events for clients such as IBM, Coca-Cola, Ford and NBC Television and NYC’s ‘Time Square 2000′ millennium celebration. As an Imagineer Geoff developed stories, media, stage designs, illusions and visual effect systems for dozens of Disney theme parks attractions. Geoff is now blending innovative 3D stereoscopic technologies to merge 3D media with live performance for music concerts, corporate communications and learning environments.
Tod Machover – Dr. Machover has been a MIT Media Lab professor since 1985. He has been called “America’s Most Wired Composer” by The Los Angeles Times. Tod is widely recognized as one of the most significant and innovative composers of his generation. He is also celebrated for inventing Hyperinstruments that use smart computers to augment musical expression and creativity. Hyperinstruments have been used by some of the world’s greatest musicians, from Yo-Yo Ma to Prince. Tod is also Co-Founder and Chairman of Harmony Line Inc., a Boston-based company that develops musical tools that extend creative music-making to everyone.
Brett Leonard – Film director and producer known for groundbreaking computer animation and visual effects. The Lawnmower Man is considered the first, seminal film to feature “Virtual Reality“, becoming the number one commercially successful independent film of 1992, budgeted at just under $6 million and eventually earning over $150 million worldwide. Virtuosity became the first major film to feature nanotechnology set in a cyberpunk based future with Brett Leonard casting Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington. His work with the IMAX 3D process set him apart from most directors with this cutting-edge presentation medium directing T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous in IMAX 3D. The film became the first number one hit 3D movie to gross over $100 million worldwide (on IMAX screens alone).
Gregory Panos – Mr. Panos is an inventor, developer, consultant, educator and evangelist in the emerging field of human simulation (Virtual Actors), performance animation (3D digital puppeteering / motion capture), virtual theatre (Real-Time Set concepts), virtual reality (VR), on-body computing and the future of broadband Internet media experience. Greg founded the Performance Animation Society, worked in the night-club lighting design industry, pioneered the wearable computer, and developed Space Station Simulations for Rockwell. He also created the first major VR industry resource guide: the “Virtual Reality Sourcebook.”
Jeff McBride – Named Magician of the Year by The Magic Castle in Los Angeles, Jeff is recognized as a foremost innovator in contemporary magic. His performance art combines mime, masks, Kabuki Theatre, world-class sleight of hand and grand illusion. McBride is a regular headliner at casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, has been seen on every major US television network, and is a sought-after speaker. He has been a special guest on A&E’s Mindfreak, and the subject of a TV documentary Jeff McBride – A Magickal Life. He runs the McBride Magic & Mystery School in Las Vegas, and has created some of the best selling teaching videos in the world of magic.
Dr. Ramesh Raskar –Dr. Ramesh Raskar joined the Mitsubishi Electronics Research Lab (MERL) as a Research Scientist in 2000 after his doctoral research at U. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he developed a framework for projector based displays. His work spans a range of topics in computer vision and graphics including projective geometry, non-photorealistic rendering and intelligent user interfaces. Current projects include composite RFID (RFIG), multi-flash non-photorealistic camera for depth edge detection, locale-aware mobile projectors, high dynamic range video, image fusion for context enhancement and quadric transfer methods for multi-projector curved screen displays. Ramesh Raskar will join the MIT Media Lab in spring 2008 as head of the Camera Culture research group.
Dr. Ka Chun Yu – Dr. Ka Chun Yu is the Curator of Space Science for the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. His current research focuses on evaluating the use of immersive virtual environments for teaching astronomical concepts. Dr. Yu has done extensive development work on real-time interactive astronomy, virtual environments and visualization software, including lead developer and sole scientific programmer for Cosmic Atlas, a space flight simulator and full-dome show creation tool; the Cosmic Atlas Galaxy, a real-time simulation of the entire Milky Way; and the Immersive Model Presentation panoramic image viewer for visualizing a wide array of non-astronomical fulldome content.
Marc Ricketts – With a background in architecture, geometry/morphology, and tension/tensegrity structures, Marc has applied himself to “Architecture of the Air”. Marc is the founder of GuildWorks, an art, performance and design-science based firm producing large scale installations that transform space using fiber-based architectural structures. GuildWorks is a unique design, fabrication and installation enterprise committed to broadening the spectrum of imagination. We specialize in creative, custom solutions providing extraordinary and innovative fabric architecture, fabric structures, and fabric-formed environments, for festivals and events, trade shows, corporate and theatrical installations, weddings and sacred events, as well as a variety of commercial, industrial and residential applications.
Michael Mackay – Mr. Mackay is a cross-disciplinary technical and creative team management specialist. Clients include DirectTV, ASTRO MEASAT, AT&T Broadband, Charles Schwab, Zeiss, Silicon Graphics, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Alias Wavefront, and Atari. Designed an innovative digital content creation facility in collaboration with the Academy of Arts University San Francisco for Shirley MacLaine and the State of New Mexico. Director of Sony’s Advanced Research TV Lab and developed internal Studio of the Future project ($10M budget) called Eiger.
Penny Slinger – Ms. Slinger is a sensual artist with a reputation as one of Europe’s renowned Surrealists. Peter Fuller of Connoisseur magazine exclaimed: “She is a grotesquely underrated artist. Her achievement is singular…one of the most active and socially relevant artists around.” She had the courage to give a voice to women’s erotic expression at a time when male dominated stereotypes of women’s sexual roles were accepted as the mainstream “norm.”Penny’s distinguished career includes numerous paintings, drawings and published books including Sexual Secrets which sold over 1 million copies. Penny has pioneered erotic and sensual multimedia art with VJ events world wide and has published multiple music video DVDs.
Philip Horvath – Philip H. Horváth is a Los Angeles based producer and consultant, working on entertainment industry projects ranging from online promotion for independent music releases to large-scale financial systems integrations for major TV studios and cable networks. Philip handled the financial system integration process for NBC and Universal during the merger of the two companies. More recently he prepared the integration of all financial systems for NBC/Universal Global Networks cable stations across multiple countries in Europe and Latin America and the integration of all international theatrical distribution systems.
Scott Draves (Spot) – Scott Draves a.k.a. Spot is a visualist and programmer residing in New York. He is the creator of the Fractal Flame algorithm, the Bomb visual-musical instrument, and the Electric Sheep distributed screen-saver. Scott uses mathematics and evolution to distill beauty from the collective intelligence of the internet. His award-winning work has appeared in numerous publications and conferences. In 1997 Spot received a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University for a thesis on metaprogramming for media processing. His current project is Dreams in High Fidelity, now exhibited in Google’s main lobby and at Willow Garage’s offices in Menlo Park.
Cordell & Cornell Arterbury – Graduates of Texas Tech University in 1977 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture with a Major in Urban Design. Their careers began in Houston, Texas working for planning and architectural firms on various project types. They have vast experience and knowledge working with various planning and zoning departments in the US and relating that experience to land development projects. They formed Arterbury Architects, Inc. in 1987 and over the years they have designed various commercial and mixed use projects including office buildings, shopping centers and entertainment facilities, etc.