Heather Kelley

Heather Kelley is an award-winning game designer, media artist, curator and researcher. Her experimental game work focuses on unique sensory effects, integrating perceptions of touch, smell, movement, sound, and nervous system response. Since 2015 she has taught at the Entertainment Technology Center of Carnegie Mellon University, where she holds the title Associate Teaching Professor. She serves as the Sensory Director at the LIKELIKE gallery for independent games and playful arts.

Ms. Kelley was named by Fast Company magazine as one of 2011’s thirty most influential women in technology, the same year that her innovative mobile app OhMiBod Remote won Best Application from Vienna Austria’s annual Content Awards. In 2012, she co-curated Joue le jeu, a groundbreaking 5000 m2 exhibition of video games and commissioned play installations in Paris, France. In 2013, Microsoft Women In Gaming awarded her their Innovator Award. Ms. Kelley is a founder of the experimental game collective Kokoromi, with whom she produced and curated the renowned GAMMA events from 2006 to 2010, promoting experimental games as creative expression in a social context. In 2016 Kokoromi released the retrofuturistic VR puzzle game SUPERHYPERCUBE on the Sony Playstation 4.

Ms. Kelley’s extensive career in game development has included design and production of touchscreen vibrator controllers, AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, mobile and handheld games, research games, installation games, and web communities for girls. She holds a Master of Arts in Communication from the University of Texas at Austin.