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For this week’s Looking Outwards, I examined the work of Heather Kelley, a game designer, digital artist, and media curator focused on sensory interactions and aesthetics in video games. Heather holds a Masters of Arts from the University of Texas at Austin and has worked in a variety of entertainment-technology realms throughout her career. She’s made stops at Subotron, Quake, Unreal, and even the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, bringing her expertise and work to the classroom as well as to gamer screens worldwide. As a lifelong video game fan, her name immediately caught my eye when I was browsing the list of accomplished women in the field because of her ties to the video game industry and her incredible success within it. After reading over her bio, I was even more impressed by all she’s accomplished, especially her work on the UNFPA Electronic Game to End Gender Violence. It’s clear that Heather is an inspiration to all game designers out there, as she’s managed to combine her creative talents with her desire to create societal change.
One of Heather’s works that I found most impressive was SUGAR, a “cross media collaborative event featuring an original game, scent-generating networked electronics, and couture fashion” (perfectplum.com). SUGAR is, simply put, an immersive video game experience that light-heartedly satirizes the imperial court and Hapsburg history from a romantic perspective. In the game, two players work together to coordinate the dancing of two horses in order to appease the medieval crowd. The art style and imagery are whimsical and geometric, adding a light-hearted flair to her game design and visuals. But what was most unique about SUGAR is the inclusion of an “Action Olofactorizer,” a device that combines hardware, software, and chemicals to produce scents and smells based on the player’s actions. For example, grass, leather, and even horse poop scents are produced to accompany gameplay! Heather’s ability to fully immerse the player and make SUGAR, as well as the rest of her games, interactive experiences is remarkable, and I really enjoyed learning about her work.
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