Creative Director, Microsoft Advanced Technology Center (Beijing)

David has been involved with computers most of his life, starting from when he got his first CARDIAC at age 8 (he still has one).  After soldering together his HeathKit ET-3400 he moved on to writing arcade games for the Atari 400/800.

In 1986 he swore off computers to study Cinema Production and Philosophy at USC, only to find himself pulled in to a project to design software for Balinese water priests.  This work became the subject of the BBC documentary “The Goddess and the Computer” and led to a position in the Human Interface Group at Apple Computer, Inc.  While at Apple he worked on projects such as the multimedia authoring tool SK8 and Hypermovie, the interactive/navigable QuickTime technology, as well as some interactive video pieces.

After 5 ½ years at Apple he left to form a start-up called ImaginEngine with two partners – a BizDev guy and a Disney animator.  This was (and still is!) a children’s software company that made creative play CD-ROMs for kids 2-5.   He was VP of Technology there for 3 years, supervising the design and development of several software titles including the award-winning Awesome Animated Monster Maker.  

In 1996 he joined Microsoft Research.  There he worked in the Social Computing research group, working projects such as Virtual Worlds, Scripted Chat, and PhotoStory.  In 2003 he moved to Beijing to start ACID, the Asia Center for Interaction Design, Microsoft’s first overseas design research group.  In 2005 he moved back to USA to run the visual quality and UX compliance team for Windows Vista.  Now that Vista has shipped he is back in China again. 

David currently runs Microsoft’s incubation team and centralized design and prototyping studio in Beijing, China where he lives with his wife and children.  His interests include cinema, spectator gaming, and alternative user interfaces.  In his spare time he is a novelist and performance poet.