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February 1, 2002
Publishers note on the book Eutopian
Entrepeneur, MIT Press, 2001, that is the basis for the talk:
A heady hybrid of critical thinking, personal narrative, and
economic analysis, Utopian Entrepreneur is a field manual for
those who want to do socially positive work in the context of
business. One of the few Silicon Valley veterans who participated
in all four of the major computer tech bubbles – games,
multimedia, virtual reality, and dot-coms – Brenda Laurel
is known for injecting humanistic values into computer-based
media.
Laurel interweaves her ideas on how to conduct socially progressive
business with the saga of her experiences with the Interval Research
Corporation and as the founder of the pioneering girls' software
company Purple Moon.
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<P><A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/">Brenda Laurel</A>
is a designer, researcher and writer. Her work focuses on interactive
narrative, human-computer interaction, and cultural aspects of
technology. Her career in human-computer interaction spans
over twenty years. She holds an M.F.A. and Ph.D. in theatre from
the Ohio State University. Her doctoral dissertation was the
first to propose a comprehensive architecture for computer-based
interactive fantasy and fiction. Brenda was one of the founding
Members of the research staff at Interval Research Corporation
in Palo Alto, California, where she coordinated research activities
exploring gender and technology, and where she co-produced and
directed the <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/Placeholder/Placeholder.html">Placeholder</A>
Virtual Reality project. She was also one of the founders and
VP/Design of a spinoff company from Interval - Purple Moon -
formed to market products based on this research. Purple Moon
was acquired by Mattel in 1999. In 1990 she co-founded Telepresence
Research, Inc. to develop virtual reality and remote presence
technology and applications. She has worked as a software designer,
producer, and researcher for companies including Atari, Activision,
and Apple. Brenda has published extensively on topics including
interactive fiction, computer games, autonomous agents, virtual
reality, and political and artistic issues in interactive media.
She is editor of the book, <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201517973/o/qid%3D981345710/sr%3D2-1/103-8893962-0315059">The
Art of Human-Computer Interface Design</A> [Addison-Wesley
1990] and author of <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201550601/qid%3D981345811/sr%3D1-2/ref%3Dsc_b_2/103-8893962-0315059">Computers
as Theatre</A> [Addison-Wesley 1991; 2nd edition 1993], and
a collection of essays entitled <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/Severed_Heads/Title_Page.html">Severed
Heads</A>. Her complete publications and positions are listed
in her <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/Resume/BL_Resume.html">resume</A>;
you may wish to read some selected <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/Recent_Talks/Intro.html">recent
speeches</A>, and also enjoy some of her new <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/For_Kids/Intro.html">writings
for children</A>. Brenda lives with her husband <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Rob_Tow/index.html">Rob
Tow</A> and their family at their house <A HREF="http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/LocusVoci.html">Locus
Voci</A> in the Santa Cruz mountains above the Silicon Valley
region of the San Francisco bay area.</P>
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