Gerry Paquette, Algonquin College Animation and Games Instructor

IMG_6103Gerry was trained as a classical animator at Sheridan College. He worked on The Raccoons television series as well as the For Better or Worse Christmas special and The Bestest Present and Babar & Father Christmas.

From there, he went on to establish the Animation program at Algonquin College which was the first of its kind to incorporate computers into a traditional curriculum. He developed and delivered a series of fast-track Digital Animation programs.

Gerry is currently teaching in the Game Development program specializing in board game design and cinematics. He’s working with a board game publisher to further develop and refine one of his board game creations which is expected to launch on Kickstarter later this year.

At this time he’s also overseeing the development of a Sudoku-like puzzle app that is designed to help students improve their math skills. He’s constantly learning and always interested in learning new ways to teach and learn.

His interest in VR goes back to the early days of VRML where he created 3D worlds and avatars with a programming partner. He experienced early VR rigs at Siggraph convention in the late 90’s.

Gerry’s first truly immersive experience was in a Cave automatic virtual environment (CAVE) at the University of Quebec in Outauais. They specialize in cyberpsychology using virtual environments to treat patients with phobias and additions.

As a executive member of the local IGDA, he’s co-hosted a talk on VR from one of the developers from the Ottawa-based Steel Crate Games who created the award wining VR game Everybody Keeps Talking and Nobody Explodes. Other members gave similar talks at the OIGC and MIGS.

“While at MIGS, I was able to experience a number of VR applications featuring the Oculus, Gear VR and Playstation VR systems.”

Most recently Gerry got to try out the Christie HoloStation at Algonquin’s Construction Research Center. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.

Show Links

http://www.dirty-rectangles.com/

https://www.facebook.com/IGDAOTT/

http://vrse.com/watch/id/6/

http://www.wired.com/2013/10/motorola-google-mouse/

http://www.algonquincollege.com/appliedresearch/

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