Bran Ferren (born January 16, 1953), is an American technologist, artist, architectural designer, vehicle designer, engineer, lighting and sound designer, visual effects artist, scientist, professor, photographer, entrepreneur and a productive inventor. Ferren is a former President of Research and Development of Walt Disney Imagineering and founder of Associates & amp; Ferren, a multidisciplinary engineering and design company acquired in 1993 by Disney. He is the Chief Creative Officer of Applied Minds, which he founded in 2000 with Danny Hillis. Apple's "pinch-to-zoom" patent, which became a key feature in its legal battle with Samsung, was canceled by the US Patent and Trademark Office in 2013 based on a 2005 patent by Ferren and Hillis for a multi-touch movement.
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Bran Ferren is the only child of artists John Ferren and Rae Ferren. He grew up surrounded by art, artists, and technology. His father, whose work is part of the permanent collection of many American art museums, mingled with figures such as Picasso, MirÃÆ'³, and Mondrian before becoming an integral member of the New York School's Abstract Expressionist Expression. His father also made personal friends with Alfred Hitchcock and created a painting for Problem with Harry and designed a nightmare sequence in Vertigo . Uncle Ferren is from the world of engineering and technology: Roy Ferren served as director of flight tests for North American Flight (later Rockwell North America), and Stanley Tonkel, a well-known senior recording engineer for Columbia Records, recording engineered for artists like Miles Davis.
He first attended Hunter College Primary School for gifted students in New York City, followed one year at the American Community School, in Beirut Lebanon (1963-1964) while his father served as the first artist at the residence for the US Department of State Cultural Exchange Program to introduce art American abstracts to the Middle East. After returning from overseas, he spent three years at McBurney School in New York City, and then the last three years of high school at East Hampton High School, in East Hampton, New York.
Ferren started his first design and engineering company, Synchronetics while in high school. He left high school at the age of 16 to attend MIT, but left in 1970 to continue his entrepreneurial activities. Despite his short stay at MIT, he was re-invited by school president Charles M. Vest to become the keynote speaker for MIT Technology Day 1996. Prior to his 21st birthday, Ferren once worked in local TV commercials, movies and theater. He also pioneered visual effects for arena concerts for groups such as Emerson, Lake & amp; Palmer, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, and Foreigners, using fireworks, audio, projection, and new lighting techniques.
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Careers
Partner & amp; Ferren
Ferren founded Associates & amp; Ferren at the age of 25 worked at the "crossroads of design and science and entertainment." One of the first projects was for the drama Broadway Crucifer of Blood, the mystery of Sherlock Holmes starring Glenn Close and won the Ferren a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award. The production features a "thunderous and crushing display", which received attention from director Ken Russell, leading to Ferren's first leading assignment as director of Special Visual Effects on the Hollywood science fiction film Altered States.
For his work in the theater, Ferren also received the New York Drama Desk Award, the Maharam Foundation Award, and the American Theater Wing, the Hewes Design Award. He has designed Special Effects and Sound for several Broadway shows, and is a long-term member of the Broadway stage union, IATSE Local # 1. His special theatrical design works for the production of Broadway Frankenstein , , and Sunday in the Park with George , is widely recognized for their breakthrough special effects. Frank Rich said in his New York Times review of Sunday in the Park with George : "What Pak Lapine, his designers and special effects magician Bran Ferren has set is very beautiful. "
As the main designer Partner & amp; Ferren, Ferren continues to lead many high profile projects, such as special effects for Paul McCartney World Tour, R.E.M, Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd, and visual effects for Little Shop of Horrors. He is a technical consultant for the Fraudsters and Fat Boys and Young Boys, and drafted titles for Simon, Dirty Rotten , Guilty as Sin , and Little Lunar Shop . In addition to special effects, they are regarded as leaders in sophisticated projection, simulation and laser effect technology, and provide specialized equipment for dozens of major road tours, and stationary installations.
He also produces, directs, and becomes a cinematographer for the movie "Funny", which received Nominations for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and a nomination for Best Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival, a Gold Jury prize at the Houston International Film Festival (now called WorldFest Houston), and featured in Toronto's Midnight Madness International Film Festival program, and at the Cleveland International Film Festival. "Funny" featured over 100 individuals, ranging from Dick Cavett to Frank Zappa, telling their favorite jokes in front of the camera.
Ferren served as the country's premier designer, engineer, and tour producer, 16 months from Bill of Rights, celebrating the anniversary of the document. For the tour, he designed and built a Bill of Rights Secure Transit Vehicle, carrying fragile parchment documents, and a 15,000 square foot travel fair equipped with sophisticated lighting, A/V, security, and security systems.
In addition to their work in the entertainment sector, Partner & amp; Ferren is responsible for developing many technologies for industrial and government customers in the areas of robotics, sound systems, vehicle systems, control systems, optical systems and 3D machine vision, as well as moving light fixtures for Strand Lighting Inc. Mr. Ferren is responsible for the development of advanced lens and thin film dichroic film technology for the Revo Sunglasses brand, and served in the role of Research Director & amp; Development for Revo, which sets new performance standards for sunglasses including the first to combine the infrared blocking. He performed lighting designs and interior concepts for Ian Schrager's "White" variety from Studio 54 in NYC, as well as discovering what was believed to be the first multi-monitor video wall, which aired at the opening of the Paladium Club, also in New York City, in 1985.
At the time Disney acquired Associates & amp; Ferren in 1993, Ferren and the company have won an Academy Award for Science and Engineering as well as two Academy Awards for Technical Achievement. Ferren was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Visual Effect for "Little Shop of Horrors", and received a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) nomination for a special visual effect. He is a voting member of the Academy of Art and Moving Image Science (Oscars), and the Academy of Arts and Television Science (Emmy).
Entertainment industry project in Associates & amp; Ferren includes:
The Walt Disney Company
Ferren leads the Disney Imagineering R & amp; D as Senior Vice President, then Executive Vice President, before finally becoming President of R & D; D and Creative Technology for Disney, and head of technology for the company for 10 years. According to his former boss, CEO Michael Eisner, Ferren's mission is "to dream about the future and show us new and innovative ways to tell stories". Beginning in 1993, he was the first corporate executive to receive the current position of "Creative Technology", which shows responsibility for creative and technical domains. The idea for creating the USC Institute for Creative Technology, and its name (from the title of Ferren at Disney), comes from discussions with the leadership of the US Army (fourth-star Paul J. Kern) on how to gain access to Hollywood's high-tech entertainment industry expertise like Modeling & amp; computer-based Simulation, and Virtual Reality.
Ferren supports Disney's Strategic Planning Group and has direct involvement in design and technology projects for the Disney Amusement Park, such as Terror Tower trips, Test Paths by General Motors, Indiana Jones Adventures, Virtual Reality Animation Studio, and many ABC Television projects. His team is responsible for designing ABC Times Square Studio's soundproof electronic soundproof system, and a curved LED ticker display.
In 1996, Ferren created the Disney Fellows Program that drew some of the most brilliant thoughts in Computer Science, including Alan Kay, Marvin Minsky, and Seymour Papert, as well as astronaut Story Musgrave. The first Disney person was a pioneer of Hillis parallel computing with whom Ferren went on to find technological innovations and design firm Applied Minds in 2000. Applied Minds is now headquartered in Burbank, California, a few miles from the Imagineering headquarters. In 1997 Ferren and the Disney people were profiled in a large article in The New Yorker by David Remnick, and in many other publications and news services including Bloomberg and Newsweek.
In the 90s, the research group Ferren at Disney developed many pioneering concepts, and produced demonstrations of these ideas and technologies, to familiarize Disney corporate leaders about their potential to transform the entertainment industry. These include game box platforms, personal navigators, electronic books, theatrical digital cinema, live music on demand and home video delivery via pre-World Wide Web & broadband networks, interactive cable television, safe browsing concepts for kids, children, and the concept of an on-line park/hybrid park.
Applied Thoughts
Company Ferren, Applied Minds L.L.C. (AMI) has been described as "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" for the geeks. AMI creates, designs, prototypes, and creates high-tech products, vehicles, architectural designs and services for government agencies and Fortune 100 companies. For example, the Smithsonian American Art Museum chose Applied Minds as the winner of an international design competition for Renwick Grand Salon Gallery Renwick. AMI also turned technology companies. Important spinning includes Metaweb, purchased by Google in 2010 and cancer diagnostic company Advanced Proteomics.
In his role as Chief Creative Officer and Co-Chairman, Ferren serves as the premier technical consultant, management consultant, system engineer, engineer, and designer in various disciplines. He has led projects for General Motors, Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Herman Miller, Intel Corporation, Sony Corporation, ESRI, Smithsonian Institutions, Genworth Financial, Library of Congress, and several US Government agencies.
Ferren has been named the inventor of more than 500 current and pending US patents. His patent in 2005 with Hillis for the multi-touch movement led to the cancellation of Apple's "pinch-to-zoom" patent, which Apple cited in its multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Samsung. Another of its patents is for Metaweb, a contextual database technology that Google acquired in 2010 and which now underlies the Knowledge Graph. Google claims the Knowledge Graph is "an important first step for building the next generation of searches". The output appears in the panel on the right in Google search results or in the carousel at the top of the screen. In addition, the Knowledge Graph technology drives Google's autocomplete feature in the search box.
In Applied Minds, Ferren has also led designers and engineers on a number of Research & amp; Development of vehicle projects, for example:
- KiraVan , the next generation of MaxiMog, is also based on the Mercedes Unimog chassis. The vehicle is currently in the final stages of construction and testing, but has recently been the subject of the long hours of Extreme RV special on the Travel Channel.
- MaxiMog , designed to support scientific exploration, research, and location photography anywhere in the world. In 2001, MaxiMog was exhibited for three months at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
- SmarTruck II , the Army concept vehicle (TARDEC) for defense and emergency response, featured at the Detroit Auto Show 2003.
- The GM-CDV Concept Demonstration Vehicle , a driving demon built in the early 2000s, features new concepts in the drive interface, navigation, seating, infotainment, LED lights, 3D sound, and driving semi-autonomous assistance.
Its architectural and interior design projects include the Lockheed Martin Innovation Center, known as the "Lighthouse", and many projects for Northrop Grumman, and the US Government, including within the Pentagon.
Public expose & amp; publication
Ferren has a public speaking career that has reached a wide range of professionals, government and academia. Over 250 lectures including the Harvard Center for Public Leadership, MIT, MIT Media Lab, Wharton, The Smithsonian Institution, The Art Center College of Design, International Design Conference at Aspen, NASA, US Army, US Air Force, The US Navy, UCLA, USC, The National Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) The Aspen Ideas Festival, National Competitiveness Forum 2017, several EG Conference, and has given many talks TED.
He has delivered keynote speeches to California State University, Northridge - College of Arts, Media and Communications (2002) Redlands University - College of Arts and Sciences (2014), and Irvine University - Claire Trevor School of Art, School of Education, and School of Physical Sciences (2015).
He was one of the first lecturers and authors to discuss controversial internet-related topics such as the concept of human implant networks, and the idea that reading & amp; writing can be a trend, which will be replaced in 250 years with better and more interesting technology (made possible by what then becomes ubiquitous personal networking technology everywhere). His ideas, work, and perspectives on innovation, often cited by publications such as The New York Times, Wired Magazine, Discover Magazine, > The New Yorker , Association for Computing Machines (ACM), Fast Company , The Los Angeles Times Newsweek , Time Magazine i>, American Cinematographer , and Business Strategy .
He has written articles for various publications including The New York Times Magazine, the Encyclopæd Britannica, the MIT Technology Review, The Journal of Acoustical Society of America, and Proceeding SPIE .
Status of advisory boards
Ferren's advisory work has included board membership at the US Federal Communications Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, International Design Conference in Aspen, PBS Kids, and the Nautilus science magazine. He has also served as a member of the Army's Science Board for 5 years, the Council of Defense Science, the Advisory Board of the Sea History Foundation, the USO Digital Advisory Council, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Chief Operating Officer of the Navy. Bran Ferren is a member of the CuriosityStream Advisory Board. He has also been a senior science and technology adviser to several US Government agencies and the US Senate. In 2016, he was appointed to the senior advisory board of the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) to encourage autonomy, artificial intelligence, and robotics.
Art Photography
Two of his photographs have been accepted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum for American Art. He has presented and exhibited his artwork at the Entertainment Collection Conference (for example), and exhibits photography and multimedia works at the Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton. His photographs are part of several private collections, and he completes editorial work for a large-format photo book project called Eleven Seconds .
Creative collaboration
In 2009, Ferren collaborated with Laurie Anderson at the "The Third Mind" exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. In 2004, he helped develop a 360-degree gigapixel and cyclorama image system with artist/photographer Clifford Ross. He worked with Patrice Regnier and Carter Burwell on his film project TESLA. He held a creative meeting with Jim Henson in 1988 about the Muppets theme park before Henson sold his company to Disney. Prior to the Disney acquisition, Ferren had a discussion with Steve Ross, CEO of Warner Communications about acquiring Associate & amp; Ferren and collaborate with Alan Kay on advanced entertainment and gaming technologies.
More awards
- In 1998, Bran Ferren received Wally Russell's Lifetime Achievement Award in Lighting Design.
- In 2000, Bran Ferren received the Kilby International Award for a significant contribution to society.
- In 2011, the Company Quickly added Bran Ferren to the "100 Most Creative People in Business" list.
- In 2014, Bran Ferren presented with the US Society Intelligence Seal Medal.
- In 2016, Bran Ferren received the Sir Arthur Clarke Award for Imagination in Service to the Community.
In popular culture
The last scene in the 1980s "Take on Me" music video by A-ha was inspired by a similar scene designed by Ferren in Altered States .
References
External links
- Bran Ferren at TED
- Bran Ferren on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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