Richard Marks, Senior Research Engineer in Sony Interactive Entertainment America’s Research & Development group, will be joined by Ben Throop, founder of Frame Interactive, to talk about their experiences with PlayStation VR.

Marks will detail the birth story of PS VR and how the products he’s worked on during his time at PlayStation led to him working on PS VR, while Throop will talk about developing his game Headmaster for PS VR and what he has learned during his time with the new platform.

Richard Marks is a Senior Research Engineer in Sony Interactive Entertainment America’s Research & Development group.

Marks joined PlayStation in 1999 to investigate the use of live video input for gaming and develop new interactive user experiences. He helped create the EyeToy and PlayStation Eye cameras and the PlayStation Move controller. Most recently, Marks and his team at Magic Lab have been involved with PlayStation VR, PlayStation’s virtual reality system and experimenting with eye tracking technology and other innovations.

Marks received a Bachelor of Science in Avionics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a doctorate in the field of underwater robotics from Stanford University.

Ben Throop is the creator of the VR game Headmaster – a prominent indie title for PlayStation VR. As a husband and father of two small children, his story is best understood through the game’s autobiographical influences which include:

  • Love of Soccer
  • Love of Video Games
  • Intense fear of incarceration
  • Tension between authority and creativity, particularly with regard to the traditional Western education system.
  • Explosions

While serving terms at Activision (2004-2014) and Sony (2000-2004), he did art, code, and design on AAA titles along the way to becoming an all-singing all-dancing gamemaker.

Poster art by Eltons Kuns. Get Game Center art here.