James LaPierre, Author at Filament Games

Event Recap: Madison’s 1st Annual Spring Break Gaming & Coding Day

April 2, 2018 // James LaPierre

Filament Games | Educational Game Developer

Our team was recently invited to participate in Madison’s 1st annual Spring Break Gaming and Coding Day, hosted by My Brother’s Keeper Madison. A free event open to middle and high school youth, students were invited to partake in a variety of coding and gaming-centric workshops led by local organizations Gear Learning, MadMarker Studios, Acme…

Print Publishing in the Digital Age: An Interview with Jennifer Barney

April 4, 2018 // Brandon Pittser

Today we’re interviewing Jennifer Barney, Vice President of Acquisitions & Project Management at Publications International, Filament’s partner on the recently released VR Explorations. Jennifer is a seasoned publishing industry expert, and sat down with us to share her take on the past, present, and future of print publishing in the digital age. Tell us about…

Abstraction in Learning Games

April 9, 2018 // Dan Norton

I was asked to write about abstraction in games for the Filament blog, which is a topic near and dear to my heart. Let me start by offering some hippy dippy nonsense that you will probably roll your eyes at, because you’ve already seen The Matrix. I think it’s useful though just to give you…

How to Get Hired at a Game Studio: UX Designer Edition

April 11, 2018 // Alex Yaeger

The Role of a Visual Interaction Designer at Filament A number of months ago I received an email inquiry seeking advice on how to become a Visual Interaction Designer (otherwise referred to as a User Experience Designer, or UX for short) at Filament Games. This request came from Brandon Korth, who has since become a…

VR Unplugged: A Look at the Oculus Go

April 16, 2018 // James LaPierre

Filament Games | Educational Game Developers

Expensive hardware costs have historically been cited as a factor behind VR’s slow but steady adoption among U.S. consumers – and this trend seems set to continue into the near future, with HTC recently unveiling their new professional-grade Vive Pro headset alongside its professional-grade price point: $799. While HTC attempts to corner the high-end, premium VR market,…

Virtual Reality in the Classroom: 3 Real-World Applications

April 18, 2018 // James LaPierre

Virtual reality is poised to radically change the way we learn – but what exactly does that look like? We’ve been following the state of VR in the classroom for several years now, even offering some of our own predictions along the way. Want a glimpse at what the technology-empowered classrooms of the future might look like?…

Demystifying UX

April 23, 2018 // Alex Yaeger

Over the past decade, the term “UX” has become ubiquitous across many industries. I find myself uttering those two letters at an alarming rate on any given day. My inbox contains no shortage of emails from sources like Linkedin begging and pleading for applicants to fill a variety of UX positions. But what is UX…

Managing Large Gamedev Projects: 3 Pro Tips

April 25, 2018 // Sarah Spiers

Tackling large-scale projects can be incredibly daunting…but as an Associate Producer at Filament Games, that’s literally my job. I’m currently working on one of Filament’s biggest projects yet, and with it has emerged an entirely new set of challenges for both myself and my colleagues. When balancing large teams, long timelines, and multiple stakeholders, it’s easy…

Remote Collaboration & Telecommunication – Part 1: A History

April 30, 2018 // Ethan Cayko

“Oh right! And…sorry…no you…uh, I was just… no you go first, go ahead.” “I was just saying that bSHHHTZTK in the first place.” “Sorry, could you repeat that?” Today’s high speed fiber optic networks and teleconferencing technologies connect people and businesses across the globe in seconds, but what are the affordances and limitations of this…

Make, Play, & Discover: A Look at Nintendo Labo

May 2, 2018 // James LaPierre

Following the tremendous success of its new Switch console in 2017 , Nintendo fans eagerly anticipated any shred of information regarding the company’s plans for the following year. And in January 2018, Nintendo delivered…cardboard accessories, specifically their new brand “Nintendo Labo.” A construction toy platform that allows users to assemble cardboard cut-outs to create real-life, interactive…

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