Brenda Laurel — http://www.tauzero.com/Brenda_Laurel/index.html

Brenda Laurel is a designer, writer, researcher, and performer. She serves as a member of the graduate faculty in Media Design at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. She is also active as a consultant in interaction design and research. For 25 years, her work has focused on experience design, interactive story, and the intersection of culture and technology. She holds an M.F.A. and Ph.D. in theatre from Ohio State University. After a four-year stint studying gender and technology at Interval Research, Brenda co-founded Purple Moon to create interactive media for girls in 1996 (acquired by Mattel in 1999).

In 1990 she co-founded Telepresence Research, developing technology and applications for virtual reality and remote presence. Other employers include Atari, Activision, and Apple. Among her many publications are The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design (Editor, 1990), Computers as Theatre (author, 1991, second ed. 1993), and Utopian entrepreneur (M.I.T. Press, 2001). In addition to public speaking and consulting, Brenda is a member of the boards of several companies and organizations, including Cheskin Research, the Communication Research Institute of Australia, and the Comparative Media Studies program at M.I.T.