Rafael Brown
Contributor, "Once Upon A Time, Tomorrow" Series | On Redefining Society Podcast
Rafael is a game designer, interactive software developer, studio head, game director, and creative technologist. He and his companies build across PC, Console, Mobile, XR, and Cloud. And he leads discussions around technology and creativity on Linkedin.
Rafael is first and foremost a veteran game developer who started back in the mid ‘90s. He has worked across North America at pioneering game developer studios including Looking Glass Studios, id Software, BioWare, Black Box, Neversoft, and Luxoflux. And he has worked for studios of game publishers including Nintendo, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Midway, Take Two Interactive and ZeniMax/Bethesda. He has built across just about every PC, Console, Mobile, and VR device of the last 20+ years.
Rafael traces his roots to emergent system and AI-driven games at Looking Glass. Meanwhile a decade later he found himself at id Software learning the power of Cloud computing. He saw this generation of Virtual Reality start on John Carmack’s desk while at id Software. And he’s been trying to put 3D, AI, XR, and Cloud together ever since. Rafael loves building games and virtual worlds. He has been dreaming of the Metaverse since watching Tron as a kid, and then reading Neuromancer, a decade before Snow Crash.
During the pandemic, Rafael founded Symbol Zero, which builds games, virtual worlds, virtual concerts, educational games, enterprise concepts, and cloud platforms. He also runs a stealth Cloud startup. Symbol Zero is Roblox’s virtual concert partner having built the Lil Nas X virtual concert experience, the second largest virtual concert in history (33 million players in one weekend). Symbol Zero builds virtual worlds, beyond the metaverse ‘boom & bust, on cloud for both games and simulation.
Rafael is an expert advisor and evangelist as part of Microsoft’s RD network where he covers: Games, 3D, AI, XR, Cloud, Sims, Digital Twins, AEC, & BIM. He evangelizes for XR Cloud, while lecturing on the history and explaining the path towards the Metaverse. He also debunks ‘web3’, while building bridges between Cloud and Blockchain.
Rafael is an advocate and ally for diversity of Women, People of Color, and LGBT communities, in Games, XR, and Tech, who are historically underrepresented. As a speaker, lecturer and industry analyst, he talks actively with people across the Games and XR space. This ranges from game developers, game publishers, and game platforms, cloud platforms, XR & AI companies, to semiconductor companies and hardware device manufacturers.
You can find Rafael actively on LinkedIn and Facebook, and rarely on what used to be Twitter. Rafael is now searching for an alternative to Musk’s X and is open to suggestions.
About The Redefining Society Podcast "Once Upon A Time, Tomorrow" Series
Hosted by Marco Ciappelli, "Once Upon A Time, Tomorrow" is a monthly segment within the Redefining Society podcast. Joining Marco in this fascinating endeavor are recurring contributors Sean Martin, Rafael Brown, and Carey D'Souza—each a luminary in the realm of technology, information security, and interactive experiences. Together, they delve into the fascinating interplay between society and technology, driven by the unquenchable human curiosity to peek into the future by understanding our past.
The series title, "Once Upon A Time, Tomorrow," captures the essence of the discourse: a time-traveling intellectual odyssey. Marco and his panel are your knowledgeable guides, navigating through historical waters and emerging trends—from the hum of old-school radios to the cacophony of the Metaverse, from the world of analog—where Walkmans, Polaroid cameras, and vinyl records were the epitome of entertainment—to the age of streaming, AR, and IoT, they invite you to share in the thrill and challenge of reconciling our analog past with a rapidly digitizing future.
In their virtual forum, they examine the footprints of bygone technological innovations and venture into the challenging terrains of tomorrow's possibilities. Analog or digital, past or future, these dialogues promise to reveal surprising synergies and unsettling paradoxes that shape our modern lives.
Sean Martin, a distinguished veteran in technology and cybersecurity, co-founder of ITSPmagazine Podcast Network, and a seven-time recipient of the CISSP certification, enriches the dialogue with his comprehensive understanding of information security and its societal implications.
Rafael Brown, a game developer and creative technologist, takes us beyond traditional computing, throwing light on the transformative power of 3D, AI, XR, and cloud technologies. With a career that spans pioneering game developer studios and multiple platforms, Rafael lends his eye to the captivating world of digital interactions and simulations.
Carey D'Souza, a technology industry executive and three-time startup founder. His keen business acumen and strategic insights into launching innovative products add another layer of complexity to the discourse, revealing the economic engines that often drive technological evolution.
So, where are we heading, technologically and societally? That's the question "Once Upon A Time, Tomorrow" attempts to answer—or at least bring us closer to understanding. As with any worthy conversation, the revelations will often emerge in the questions themselves, the pause, the reflection, the "what if?" moments.
Come on, grab a seat—physical or virtual—and tune in!
This series is for the dreamers, the realists, and everyone in between. It's for those who've felt the joy of dropping the needle on a vinyl record and those who marvel at the world of possibilities within a VR headset. Whether it's the nostalgic click-clack of a typewriter or the futuristic ping of AI notifications, every episode promises an enlightening journey across the technological timeline.
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