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Jeff Watson (March 26, 1973 – November 8, 2020) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
game designer, writer, and educator. His principal topics of interest were pervasive and environmental game design, creative process design, and participatory media. He served as a
assistant professor of interactive media and games
at the
USC School of Cinematic Arts The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...
, was an associate faculty member with the USC Game Innovation Lab, and directed (with Stuart Candy) th
Situation Lab


Biography

Watson was born in
Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. He attended
McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...
in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
and the
Canadian Film Centre The Canadian Film Centre (CFC) is a charitable organization founded by filmmaker Norman Jewison in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1988. Originally launched as film school, today it provides training, development and advancement opportunities for pr ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, and the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, where he received his PhD (2011) in media arts and practice. His dissertation project,
Reality Ends Here Reality Ends Here is a pervasive game developed and run by students and faculty at the USC School of Cinematic Arts incorporating elements of environmental games, card games, and alternate reality games. Taking place over the course of the fall sem ...
, won the 2012 Impact Award at the IndieCade International Festival of Independent Games. From 2013 to 2014, Watson was an assistant professor in the Digital Futures program at
OCAD University Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within do ...
in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, where he founded the Situation Lab with futurist Stuart Candy. In 2014, the Situation Lab released its highly influential first game, The Thing From The Future. Watson died in November 2020 following a battle with cancer. It is unknown whether Reality Ends Here is still active.


Awards

* Most Significant Futures Work Award (2015) for The Thing From The Future,
Association of Professional Futurists The Association of Professional Futurists (APF) was founded in 2002 to validate the competencies of emerging futurists. As analysts, speakers, managers or consultants, APF's credentialed members cultivate strategic foresight for their organizations ...
* Impact Award (2012) for
Reality Ends Here Reality Ends Here is a pervasive game developed and run by students and faculty at the USC School of Cinematic Arts incorporating elements of environmental games, card games, and alternate reality games. Taking place over the course of the fall sem ...
, IndieCade International Festival of Independent Games


References


External links


remotedevice.net
– Design portfolio and research blog
situationlab.org
– Research lab
gameinnovationlab.com
– Affiliated research lab
cinema.usc.edu
– USC Cinematic Arts faculty profile page {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Jeff 1973 births Academic staff of OCAD University Canadian non-fiction writers Video game researchers University of Southern California faculty Writers from Calgary 2020 deaths