Brenda Laurel
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Brenda Laurel is a pioneering writer, researcher, designer and entrepreneur in the fields of human-computer interaction, interactive narrative and cultural aspects of technology.
Laurel received an MFA in 1975, and later a Ph.D. in 1986, in theater from Ohio State University. Her doctoral dissertation proposed an architecture for computer-based interactive fictions. This idea formed the basis for her 1991 book Computers as Theatre, a seminal work in the field of human-computer interaction.
In the 1980s, Laurel worked as a designer and researcher at CyberVision, Atari and Activision. In 1990, with Scott Fisher, she founded Telepresence Research, a research and development company specializing in virtual reality and remote presence.
In 1992 Laurel began a four year gender and technology project with Interval Research Corporation. This lead to the 1996 spin-off company Purple Moon, dedicated to producing software and other media targeted at pre-teen girls. Purple Moon was acquired by Mattel in 1999. Laurel wrote a book about that experience entitled Utopian Entrepreneur.
Since 1999, Laurel has been chair of the Media Design Program at the Art Center College of Design, and since 2005, a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems. She lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains with her husband Rob Tow.
Books
- Design Research: Methods and Perspectives, MIT Press, (2004) ISBN 0-26212-263-4
- Utopian Entrepreneur, MIT Press (2001) ISBN 0-26262-153-3
- Computers as Theatre, Addison-Wesley (1991) ISBN 0-20155-060-1
- The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design, Addison-Wesley (1990) ISBN 0-20151-797-3
External links
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