Arts-focused Freelance Creative Technologist
Ben Neal
"always at the cutting edge of technology, education and arts practice"
- Andrew Pearsall (BCU)
1/12
Blast Theory
Can You See Me Now?
2024

Can You See Me Now? is a pioneering Mixed Reality artwork and game of chase. Online players are tracked and chased by real people running around a city using a mobile app. Online players can see the position of the real players as their avatars move via GPS location updates. Runners live stream audio commentary as they play, while online players can message each other. A photo is taken of the spot in the city when players are "caught". I was approached by Blast Theory to remake the iconic game (originally made in 2001) and it was built in Unity for iOS and Android phones - complete with avatars, geolocated buildings, GPS tracking, and a multiplayer system with voice and text chat. As well as the public app, the

John Sear (Museum Games) worked as co-programmer and we had support from Blast Theory's Nick Tandavanitj. The original Can You See Me Now? is one the world’s first location based games and winner of the Prix Ars Electronica. Cited by VICE as a forerunner of Pokémon Go, Can You See Me Now? toured fro

Sian Fan
The Glimmer
2024

The Glimmer is an interactive dance installation created with Artist Sian Fan. Inspired by manga transformation sequences, it allows players to strike dance moves which trigger sounds and animation. The project uses Kinect skeletal tracking systems to analyse peoples body movements and respond to them. I provided the underlying code to make Sian's visual imagery come to life.

Shown at the Cute exhibition at Somerset House, London.

Albino Mosquito
Before We Disappear
2024

Before We Disappear is an adaptive, interactive film about Climate Collapse which uses AI to analyse your face from your webcam as you watch and changes it's structure based on your emotions. Set in a bleak future, the film uses sophisticated algorithms, machine learning and computer vision technologies to reorganise the narrative for each viewing. I helped prepare the product in Unity for a home user release.

Film by Richard Ramchurn with analysis algorithms by Callum Berger in partnership with BlueSkeye AI. Soon to be released on Steam.

1/12
"The final work was fantastic... not only due to Ben's digital skills but to the time and commitment put into ensuring the work was high quality."
- Nick Slater(LU Arts)