Mark Stephen Meadows

Mark Stephen Meadows is an American author, entrepreneur, and artist.

He is the inventor of several US patents relating to artificial intelligence and avatars, and he lectures internationally on this work.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

In addition to developing software, Meadows is known for his hitchhiking adventures, specifically for visiting Baghdad in 2003, and his interviews with terrorists in Sri Lanka. He holds a USCG captain's license.

Career

Meadows is founder of BOTanic, and co-founder of Geppetto Avatars, companies that provide conversational characters. The ACTR platform is a scalable system that allows avatars to handle routine, repetitive tasks, engage in conversation, and listen to conversants. Meadows initially invented the system as a means of developing interactive portraits.

Meadows is a thought leader in the robotics field, frequently speaking about ethics, the future of social robots, and contextual conversation through technology.

In 1993 Meadows helped design WELL.com, the world’s third dot-com, and also helped develop the first open-protocol 3D multi-user environment in 1995.^[6] He worked as researcher and artist at Xerox-PARC, as Creative Director for a Stanford Research Institute venture, and as creative director and co-founder of a VR and Internet company, which he co-founded, named Construct. In 2001 he opened a gallery in Paris where he sold his paintings for two years before spending time in the Waag Society in Amsterdam, the Netherlands as a researcher. In 2005 he founded HeadCase Humanufacturing, and in 2012 he founded Geppetto Labs,^[7] both companies dedicated to artificial intelligence and avatars.

Since 1987, Meadows has been selling his artwork in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Europe. He has received awards from Ars Electronica,^[8] and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, among others. He has founded three companies and published five books, including two on robotics and the cultural implications of technology. Meadows is also a regular contributor to robotics publications ^[9]

Books

Meadows' first book concerns narrative, visual art and video games and is entitled, "Pause & Effect."^[10] His second book, "I, Avatar"^[11] is a first-person travelogue of Second Life and an examination of the culture and consequences of using avatars in virtual worlds. Meadows' third book is a travelogue of Sri Lanka and study of the Tamil militant movement titled, "Tea Time With Terrorists,".^[12] Other books include a travelogue of Iraq in 2003 and 2013, a book on robots titled, "We, Robot," and a book of illustrated fables, titled "7 Fables." Meadows is represented by Renee Zuckerbrot, New York.

Music

Meadows is an accomplished concertina player, and was a featured artist on Less' 2001 album Piano Wire Smile and their 2004 album Cover, Protective, Individual.

Education

Meadows completed his BA from St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He also attended courses at The San Francisco Art Institute (painting and photography), University of Colorado (philosophy), Harvard University (biology), and Bemis Art School (painting).

Awards

Meadows has received the following awards:

Ars Electronica, Golden Nica
Linz, Austria: 1999
Stanford Digital Art Center
Stanford CA: 1998
NII Award Arts & Entertainment
Los Angeles CA: 1997
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
New York NY: 1997
Electronic Arts Awards, SF Focus/Stoli Vodka
San Francisco CA: 1997
Thomas J. Watson Fellowship
New York NY: 1993
Art Institute Of Chicago
Chicago IL: 1986

Notes and references

External links

• Official home page markmeadows.com
• Peachpit Author Bio
• Interview with Meadows on "New Books in Digital Culture"
• Digital Health Summit Interview
• Patent: Systems and methods for an autonomous avatar driver
• Patent: Systems and methods for managing a persistent virtual avatar with migrational ability