Heather Kelley
Encyclopedia
Heather Kelley is a media artist and video game designer. She is co-founder of the Kokoromi
experimental game collective, with whom she produces and curates the annual Gamma game event promoting experimental games as creative expression in a social context. She is regular jury member for different computer gaming festivals (such as Indiecade
) and keynote speaker (at events like FMX Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Interactive Media 2010 in Stuttgart
).
Her career in the games industry has included AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, handheld games and web communities for girls. She has created interactive projections using game engines such as Quake and Unreal.
Heather Kelley was Creative Director on the UNFPA Electronic Game to End Gender Violence, at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College
in Burlington, Vermont
. For seven years, Heather served as co-chair of the IGDA's Women in Game Development Special Interest Group.
In Spring 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.
In September 2009, she was Artist in Residence for Subotron at Quartier21, Museumsquartier
Vienna
.
She was part of Fast Company
's 2011 list of 'most influential women in technology'.
Kokoromi
Kokoromi is a Montreal-based group with the intent of promoting videogames as an art form, and experimental gameplay worldwide. The collective consists of game pioneers and curators Damien Di Fede, Phil Fish, Heather Kelley, and Cindy Poremba...
experimental game collective, with whom she produces and curates the annual Gamma game event promoting experimental games as creative expression in a social context. She is regular jury member for different computer gaming festivals (such as Indiecade
Indiecade
Indiecade or IndieCade is an international juried festival of independent video games. IndieCade is known as "the video game industry's Sundance". At IndieCade independent video game developers are selected to screen and promote their work at the annual IndieCade festival and showcase events...
) and keynote speaker (at events like FMX Conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Interactive Media 2010 in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
).
Her career in the games industry has included AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, handheld games and web communities for girls. She has created interactive projections using game engines such as Quake and Unreal.
Heather Kelley was Creative Director on the UNFPA Electronic Game to End Gender Violence, at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College
Champlain College
Champlain College is a private, coeducational college located in Burlington, Vermont. It offers professionally focused programs that incorporate an interdisciplinary core curriculum. In addition to its main campus, the College maintains study-abroad campuses in Montreal and Dublin, and offers...
in Burlington, Vermont
Burlington, Vermont
Burlington is the largest city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the shire town of Chittenden County. Burlington lies south of the U.S.-Canadian border and some south of Montreal....
. For seven years, Heather served as co-chair of the IGDA's Women in Game Development Special Interest Group.
Project examples
- Lapis (2005)
- Lapis is an interactive art work that helps women take a "magical pet adventure" to their "happy place." The prototype taught how to reach orgasm by simulating the affect of pleasurable sensation on a cartoon bunny.
- Fabulous/Fabuleux (born 2008)
- Her experimental art game work with Lynn Hughes, "Fabulous/Fabuleux," was created at Concordia UniversityConcordia UniversityConcordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
's Hexagram Institute and integrates gameplay into a full-body interactive installation using custom "squishy" interface hardware (Video).
- Her experimental art game work with Lynn Hughes, "Fabulous/Fabuleux," was created at Concordia University
- Body Heat (2010)
- Body Heat is a vibrator interface for the iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPadIPadThe iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
. By "finger painting" on the touchscreen with one or two fingertips, the user can adjust and adapt vibration speed, intensity, and patterns solely by sense of touch. Output from Body Heat is translated into signals which propel the motor of an attached vibrator. The project was first presented at the sex tech conference Arse ElektronikaArse ElektronikaArse Elektronika is an annual conference organized by the Austrian arts/philosophy collective monochrom, focused on sex and technology. Speakers at past conferences have included Mark Dery, Violet Blue, Annalee Newitz, Rudy Rucker, Carol Queen, and Richard Kadrey with demonstrations by Kyle...
in September 2010 in San Francisco. The company OhMiBodOhMiBodOhMiBod is a musically-powered vibrating sex toy. The device translates an electronic music output into vibrations. The volume and beat of the music determines the strength of the vibrations...
, which specializes in music-driven vibrators, was so impressed by the design that they bought the application and renamed it into "OhMiBod app" in early 2011. Heather Kelley is collaborating with them on creating upgrades of the software.
- Body Heat is a vibrator interface for the iPhone
Awards
Her biographical sex game concept with Erin Robinson, "Our First Times," won the 2009 GDC Game Design Challenge, and her game concept "Lapis" based on female masturbation won the 2006 MIGS Game Design Challenge.In Spring 2008, she was Kraus Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, and Adjunct Faculty at the Entertainment Technology Center, at Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon University is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States....
, where she organized The Art of Play symposium and art game arcade.
In September 2009, she was Artist in Residence for Subotron at Quartier21, Museumsquartier
Museumsquartier
The Museumsquartier is a 60,000 m² large area in the 7th district of the city of Vienna, Austria; it is the eighth largest cultural area in the world. The Museumsquartier contains Baroque buildings as well as Modern architecture by the architects Laurids and Manfred Ortner . The renovation of the...
Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
.
She was part of Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
's 2011 list of 'most influential women in technology'.