Team

Won first place for her Haiku at the Dade County Fair in 5th grade; won an award at NYU for a visionary paper on Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation in 1990; wants to visit Africa to bring video games to children in countries lacking rehabilitation . Has been observed sitting at her computer from dusk till dawn till dusk. Doesn’t blink in the face of bloody wounds. Some people believe she is able to integrate with the best of them. She enjoys being outside more than inside, spends time in her head (a lot), paints when she can, wants 2 new baby Maine Coon kittens, misses seeing her East Coast family more regularly, is super proud of her nephew and his invitation to the world championships for Odyssey of the Mind, and wants to build/design/collaborate to make great games for folks undergoing rehabilitation, loves her hubby.

Favorite author: Tom Robbins
Favorite cocktail: Greyhound
Favorite interior decorating shop: Dwell
Books by the bed: Educating Learning Technology Designers, Chris DiGiano; How We Decide, Jonah Lehrer
Hero: My Mom!
Pets: Cats (Kali, RIP Georgie)
Mantra: “AWESOME”
Motivated by: Curiosity, Pain
Subscriptions: none

Wrote her first grant application on a commodore 64 in 1984; bought her first tablet pc in 2004; told people that virtual reality would be a useful occupational therapy modality in 2001. Some people call her an early adopter, others affectionately call her nana. Her husband calls her Dr. Kennedy.

Has been observed to lay out a study design on a napkin faster than a cappuccino can be delivered to her table. Doesn’t blink in the face of a power analysis. Some people believe she is able to leap tall buildings very quietly; listens more than she talks; has eyes in the back of her head; knows a breadboard from a cutting board; more curious than she should be; plays well with others; can explain the difference between Bluetooth and infrared data transfer technology; has been called a walking encyclopedia (and doesn’t know how she feels about that); reads the instructions first and has baked more transistors than cakes.

Dr. Bonnie L Kennedy leads the effort to obliterate threats to the internal and external validity of Blue Marble Products explicitly for evidence based practice.

Favorite author: William Gibson
Favorite cocktail: Sidecar
Favorite interior decorating shop: Oceanic Arts
Books by the bed: What the Dog Saw, Malcolm Gladwell; Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk, David Sedaris
Hero: Dr. Richard Feynman
Pets: Cats (Leo, Cassie, Mikey)
Mantra: “Context matters”
Motivated by: Novelty, Complexity & Bling
Subscriptions:Wired, Fast Company, Chronicle of Higher Education, Modernism, LA Times, American Journal of Occupational Therapy, KPCC Public Radio

She grew up a dancer and a scientist but was never quite sure how she would blend these loves. Rachel finally found the field of occupational therapy and has never looked back. She still uses dance stretches with her patients. A true nerd, she has attended math camp and her favorite class in college was immunology. Fostering a spirit of independence that eventually led her to the west coast, her parents made her go to college AT LEAST 250 miles from home. She thanks them daily for that and thanks her husband for trekking with her across the country. Other random tibits: loves dark chocolate (at least 65% cacao) and didn’t have cable tv while growing up.

Rachel Proffitt CV

Favorite author: Haruki Murakami
Favorite cocktail: Tequila Sunrise
Favorite game: Sorry! (even though her sister always wins!)
Favorite interior decorating shop: yard sales and the basement of her in-laws
Books by the bed: Germs, Genes and Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today (David Clark), On The Origin of Species (Charles Darwin), Pictures of the Mind: What the New Neuroscience Tells Us About Who We Are (Miriam Boleyn-Fitzgerald)
Hero: don’t have one
Pets: 2 cats (Kyle and Stanley), 2 dogs (Oscar and Lulu)
Mantra: Do it right the first time
Motivated by: Organization, A childish spirit, Nerdiness
Subscriptions: LA Times

Received a certificate of excellence in her English class at age 10, but is not sure why because she is horrible at spelling and always found grammar painfully dull. This may account for any errors of such found in this brief biography. Professionally, she has worked for many years as a physical therapist primarily in a hospital setting and is an adjunct faculty member at Western University of Health Sciences in Pamona, CA.

Her passions are having fun (too many things to list!), travel, and meditation. She has traveled throughout the USA and Canada, across Europe,
and been to New Zealand, Nepal, and India. She has slept in train stations, on the decks of boats, and in a pile of sawdust on her adventures. The best party she has ever been to was in the streets at the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Her travel karma is fantastic (i.e., the weather is always good and she encounters fun and interesting people to hang out with or help her if need be). Her next stop is Peru in 2012. She is confident that the world will not be ending and ruin her travel plans while she is there.

Favorite authors: Octavia Bulter, Isabel Allende, Paulo Coelho
Favorite musicians/ bands: Beth Hart, Prince
Favorite cocktail: prefers beer to cocktails – a good Belgian is always nice
Favorite interior decorating shop: Craigs list
Books by the bed: needs to check, they are a bit dusty
Hero: Mum and Dad
Pets: Lily “the Beast” Withrington – killer of ear plugs, stalker of flys…. (a fabulous ragdoll cat!)
Mantra: without words.. Breath, be present, relax
Motivated by: Fun, love, compassion, and truth
Subscriptions: Saveur Magazine, Cooks Illustrated
Favorite game: Pictionary

Has been helping various high tech companies embrace and monetize new technologies into their processes since the 90′s. He cut his teeth in aviation and honed his skills in telecommunications, digital music and now video games for cognitive and physical rehabilitation.

By leveraging his experience as a Six Sigma Green Belt, he is able to break complex workflows into segments that can often be augmented with new technology. Major changes in healthcare reimbursement present Blue Marble with a unique opportunity to make a difference in the community.

Out of the office, Chris can be found mountain biking, skiing or blowing bubbles with fish in the ocean.

From the wastelands, came the lone writer, casting a long shadow and having no fear. After eight years with the United States Marine Corps he had learned the traits of Honor, Courage, and Commitment. His time as a radio operator in 1st Battalion 5th Marines had prepared him for anything and everything. He would go on from his enlistment, drawing from his Marine Corps inspired discipline, to excel at California State University – Chico, learning the key facets of Technical Writing: research, understanding, design, concise writing, accessibility, co-ordination, and flexibility. Vanquishing the academic challenges in front of him, he went on to receive a degree in Literature and a Certification of Technical Writing. Equipped with a greater knowledge he journeyed out into the professional world…ready to do some writing. Using all the tools of his trade, he created many user guides and help systems for prestigious companies such as Neasi-Weber Intl., Ericsson, SeeBeyond, Sun Microsystems, and Quallion Inc. Always pushing forward, he became familiar with Topic-based authoring, XML, DITA, and other secret writing styles of the Far East. And then one day he knew he was ready; ready to join the Blue Marble team and use his powers to fight the forces of the uninformed, the unaware, and the confused. Joining his experience and expertise with the other dedicated team members at Blue Marble Gaming Company has only augmented and increased his potential. And this is where our story really begins…

Favorite Author: Stephen King
Favorite cocktail: Black & Tan
Favorite interior decorating shop: Huh?
Books on night stand: World War Z – Max Brooks
Hero: Ash Williams
Pets: A few dust bunnies living wild around his house
Mantra: Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome
Motivated by: Conquering Apathy
Subscriptions: Game Informer, Los Angeles, Maxim
Favorite Game(s): Backgammon, Modern Warfare, Mexican Train

Pat has been involved in animation and games since 1994. She enjoys storytelling in a game or short film environment, and has won several film festivals and web awards with her wingnut stable of Improv inspired characters. She is an author of multiple textbooks on sculpting, animation, and 3d modeling, and is at this moment completing a title for Focal Press. Pat is also on target to complete her dissertation in Universal Design and Creativity for her EdD. in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California where she is researching motivation and interactive technologies.

Favorite authors: Chuck Palahniuk, John Steinbeck, Kurt Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac and all the beat poets, Mark Runco, L.S. Vygotsky, Mr. Rogers, Aesop and many more.
Favorite interior decorating shop: Art book stores
Books by the bed: ‘The man who mistook his wife for a hat’, ‘Some of the Dharma’, a couple about brain mapping
Hero: no human beings, definitely a few dogs from my past
Motivated by: Creative problem solving
Subscriptions: Juxtapoz, High-Fructose, American Journal of Play, This American Life
Favorite Game: fetch

Ben received his Bachelor of Scienice in Game Art and Design at the Art Institute of California. In the past, he has had roles of facial animator, cinematic scripter and puppeteer for Machinima.com. He is currently the lead programmer at Blue Marble and brings extensive experience in Unity to the team.

Peter Hogan-De Paul is a Database Architect and Web Framework Programmer at Blue Marble Game Co. Peter has worked at UPS in their Information Services department in as a Quality Assurance tester and Test Automation programmer. When not working on databases and web frameworks, Peter enjoys being a geek and a nerd of many subjects. Peter has passions for cognitive science, philosophy, history, physics, robotics, and materials science as well as theater arts, music, choral singing, and existentialist literature. He has also sung with professional choral groups that have gained national acclaim and performed as an actor at the New York Renaissance Faire. Peter likes being able to work in an environment with engaging intellectual people and being able to work in a low-walls interactive environment.

Favorite Sci-Fi author: Issac Asimov
Favorite cocktail: Tanqueray Gin & Tonic
Favorite interior decorating shop: Bed, Bath, & Beyond
Books by the bed: Les Miserables
Hero: Socrates, Voltaire, Tesla
Pets: Previously: Dog; Currently: Cat; Future: Fox (hopefully)
Mantra: “Suppose that we are wise enough to learn and know — and yet not wise enough to control our learning and knowledge, so that we use it to destroy ourselves? Even if that is so, knowledge remains better than ignorance. It is better to know — even if the knowledge endures only for the moment that comes before destruction — than to gain eternal life at the price of a dull and swinish lack of comprehension of a universe that swirls unseen before us in all its wonder. That was the choice of Achilles, and it is mine, too.”
- Isaac Asimov
Motivated by: Truth
Subscriptions: Science, Forbes, Money, AAAS Newsletter, ScienceNano, ScienceMaterials, ECA Newsletter, IndustryGamers
Favorite Games: Civilization IV, Sins of a Solar Empire, Total War Series, Fallout Series, The Elder Scrolls Series, Assassin’s Creed Series, The Settlers Series, The Movies, Freespace, Freespace 2, Black Prophecy, Puerto Rico, Carcassone, Dominion, Power Grid, Alhambra

Paul received his Bachelor of Science in Game Software Development at Westwood College of Technology in Anaheim, California. He has been in the game industry since 2005, starting in a QA role during college and working his way up through design and production roles before becoming a programmer. With experience in everything from online first-person shooters to in-flight entertainment, Paul is excited to be working in a therapy related setting, learning about the cognitive sciences as well as new tools and technologies capable of revolutionizing the field.

With a degree from the University of Southern California in philosophy and as a student of the second inaugural class of the School of Cinematic Arts’ Interactive Media Program, John expertly juggles the complexities of abstraction and ambiguity with the concrete realities of computer programming. After school, he spent a year working on freelance web projects and games before moving to the Bay Area as an interactive designer and producer for Virtual Space Entertainment. He crafted projects large and small, including fully-3D, virtual environments for The National Geographic Society, complex Flash interactives for the Smithsonian Institution, as well as the design of a new standard for immersive, retail shopping for the National Association of College Stores. Shortly after leaving the Bay Area, John opened his own interactive development studio before touching down back in Los Angeles with Blue Marble Game Company.

Favorite author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Favorite cocktail: Jack & Coke
Favorite interior decorating shop: His memories
Books by the bed: The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, I Am Legend
Hero: Winnie the Pooh
Mantra: “Hello”
Motivated by: Adventure
Subscriptions: None
Favorite Game: Fallout 2

Jamie Antonisse is a practicing game designer with a history of leading rich narrative and serious game projects. While getting his MFA in USC’s Interactive Media Department, he was instrumental in three award-winning projects: The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom (which he worked on as a writer and level designer), Hush (which he designed, coded and co-produced), and Spectre (his thesis project, which he wrote, designed and produced with the help of an extraordinarily talented eight-person team). Since graduating he has become interested in parentheses (an interest which has had far-reaching (and occasionally detrimental) effects on his life, work and sentence structures), worked as a contract designer and music composer, and continued his work expanding the use and experience of Play at Blue Marble. He aspires to end this paragraph as elegantly as possible.

Favorite author: John Steinbeck
Favorite cocktail: Mango Mojito
Favorite interior decorating shop: CVS
Books by the bed: Rules of Play, Dream Journal, Catch-22
Heroes: Lavinia Schoene, Alan Arkin, Bruce Springsteen
Pets: Hamster (Deceased), Tree Frog (Deceased), Hummingbird (At Large)
Mantra: “We belong to the light, we belong to the thunder. We belong to the sound of the words we’ve both fallen under. Whatever we deny or embrace, for worse or for better, we belong, we belong, we belong together.”
Motivated by: The Ever-Distant Ideal
Favorite Games: Mario 3, Shadow of the Colossus, Settlers of Catan

Joe has been a game designer and programmer in serious games since 2009. He’s worked on games teaching chemistry, reading, history, burn care, and now therapy. He brings a dangerously creative streak from comedic improvisation with an unreasonable dedication from cross-country cycling. Joe is thrilled to be working alongside subject matter experts and game aficionados. He hopes that games and gamers continue to push at the boundaries into the impossible.

Favorite author: Douglas Adams
Favorite cocktail: Anything with Irish Cream
Favorite interior decorating shop: Ikea
Books by the bed: How We Decide, Freakonomics
Hero: Social Dance Competitors
Pets: Pikachu (lvl 64)
Mantra: “Happy Monday!”
Motivated by: Self-Improvement
Subscriptions: RadioLab, This American Life
Favorite Game: Ico