David Ballard

User Experience in 3D Space

CoAD's Spring 2022 lecture series kicks off with Game Design. We've invited professional American video game developer with Amazon Games, David Ballard to speak on campus and share his expertise and experience. David has a background in design and art, and a passion for creating engaging video game experiences for people around the world including his current project, New World.

David was responsible for creating numerous interactive levels encountered in digital video games. Some of the video games you may have played that feature his work, include; New World, Uncharted 3, and The Last of Us.

In this lecture, David Ballard will discuss various design techniques, environmental psychologies, and user-experience focused development of 3D spaces. He will use various instances of current industry-standard projects to communicate these concepts, as well as demonstrate an example of his process for creating 3D spaces in Unreal Engine.

While the primary focus of this lecture will be on video game development, the subject matter extends to various disciplines including architecture, VR/AR experiences, and interior and industrial design.

Why watch?

1. Become more valuable in any design industry; Multimedia and special effects companies, automobile manufacturers, and architecture firms use these real time engines to create advanced, digital experiences that can be viewed in real time via screen, AR, or VR. 
2. Learn about Game Engines broadly and Unreal engine, specifically to open yourself up to the new non-game industry norms. 
3. Knowing Unreal means you can easily translate from paper to digital and view your designs in real time, simulate everything from water, weather, and light dynamics to take the guesswork out of how these elements interact with your projects.

About David

David is a professional American video game developer from Texas with a background in design and art, and a passion for creating engaging video game experiences for people around the world. He is a hobbyist video and table-top gamer, film and entertainment enthusiast, book reader, marathon runner, and triathlete. Currently, he resides in Santa Monica, California.

User Experience in 3D Space is part of Lawrence Technological University's CoAD Lunch + Learn lecture series. LTU CoAD's Lunch + Learn lecture series is free and open to the public.