Vladimir Ivanovich Pokhilko (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

: Владимир Иванович Похилько) (7 April 1954 – 21 September 1998) was a Soviet-Russian entrepreneur. He was an academic who specialized in

human–computer interaction Human–computer interaction (HCI) is research in the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and computers. HCI researchers observe the ways humans interact with computers and design te ...

Early life

Born in Moscow on April 7, 1954, he graduated from the Faculty of Psychology at

Moscow State University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

in 1982. He was a junior researcher at the

I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University First Moscow State Medical University (MSMU, officially I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, informally Moscow Medical Academy or Sechenov University; russian: Первый Московский государственный � ...

Psychological experiments using ''Tetris''

A friend of ''

Tetris ''Tetris'' (russian: link=no, Тетрис) is a puzzle video game created by Soviet software engineer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984. It has been published by several companies for multiple platforms, most prominently during a dispute over the appro ...

'' creator

Alexey Pajitnov Alexey Leonidovich Pajitnov. (born 16 April 1955) is a Russian-born American computer engineer and video game designer. He is best-known for designing and developing ''Tetris'' in 1984 while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre under the ...

, he was the first clinical psychologist to conduct experiments using the game. He played an important role in the subsequent development and marketing of the game, and a 1999 article in the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine credited him for "co-inventing the seminal videogame Tetris".

Technology company AnimaTek

In 1989, he and Pajitnov founded the 3D software technology company AnimaTek in Moscow. While attempting to create software for INTEC (a company that they started) that would be made for "people's souls", they developed the idea for El-Fish.

Murder-suicide

After suffering financial difficulties at his software company, AnimaTek, Pokhilko allegedly murdered his wife Elena Fedotova (38) and their son Peter (12), by bludgeoning and stabbing them both to death. He then supposedly committed suicide by slitting his own throat. Shortly before his death, Pokhilko penned a note. The police initially did not release the content of the note, saying that it was not a

suicide note A suicide note or death note is a message left behind by a person who dies or intends to die by suicide. A study examining Japanese suicide notes estimated that 25–30% of suicides are accompanied by a note. However, incidence rates may depen ...

, and they didn't know who authored it. They later determined it was a purported suicide note and published the content of the note in 1999; it read:Report names father as killer P.A. Police show revealing note
San Jose Mercury News (CA) – 22 January 1999 – 1B Local. :"I've been eaten alive. Vladimir. Just remember that I am exist. The davil. ic

References

External links

Vladimir Pokhilko
seminar abstract and bio on the Stanford University Human-Computer Interaction website.
The Tetris Murders
documentary suggesting Vladimir Pokhilko did not commit the murder-suicide. 1954 births 1998 suicides Russian video game designers Murder–suicides in California Soviet computer scientists Familicides {{videogame-bio-stub Suicides by sharp instrument in the United States Soviet murderers of children Russian murderers of children