Listen to this articleBelow is our recent interview with Tyrone Evans Clark, XR APP Developer at Qualcomm:
Q: Tyrone, can you tell us something more about yourself? How did you get to where you are today?
A: I’m originally from Chicago and my family and I didn’t have it easy because we were poor and at the time everyone was pretty much young. I had a young father and a young mother but later on in the future things did not work out because my father went in the direction of drugs and in the process of it all; we end up loosing a family member to a house fire in Berrien Springs, Michigan during the early 90’s.
Fast forward in my life my mom and my father in up separating because of domestic violence and the lost of their two year old son. After this big tragic event my mother had no other choice but to be an independent parent raising my two siblings and along with myself all by herself.
During my teen years I start becoming obsessed with video games such as Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Mario, Zelda, and all that jazz. I had so much respect for these video games that I wanted to know more such as how they were created and who created them. So I start to invest in buying video games. Everytime I would get a check from my little job that I worked at called Meijer, at the time on the East Coast.. pushing in carts, and bagging groceries.. I would use that money to buy a new video game. I would rush home just to play it because I was so obsessed with the graphics, the animations, the back stories to every character/world.
In 2005 I end up graduating from Benton Harbor High School with top honors and a book bag full of scholarships for college. Some of those scholarships were the Gates Millennium Scholarship, The Horatio Alger Scholarship, The Rosa Park foundation Scholarship, National A.C.E Award Scholarship, and much more because I was determined to have some type of funding for college, and I wanted to make something great with myself , and I wanted a better life.
In 2010 I end up graduating from The Art Institute of California- Los Angeles with a Bachelors of Science in Game Art & Design. During my college years and after my schooling I did a lot of freelance and part-time work for some tech and entertainment companies such as Disney Interactive, Stage, Storymind Entertainment who is located in Kyiv, Ukraine, Greenhaus GFX, Possible Reality, Midnight Oil, Razor Edge Games, Visionaire77, and etc.
I even was a professor and a Computer Science/Graphics Instructor at STEM3 Academy, UCLA – Summer Discovery, UC Irvine, STAR Education and much more.
Currently now I work for Qualcomm as a XR APP Developer and used to be there Staff SW Engineer for the season due to a trade show exhibit event.
Q: What are your responsibilities at Qualcomm? How does your work day look like?
A: As a XR APP Developer I create 3-D graphics for virtual reality experiences. I use game engines and software to create 3-D assets animations and visual effects every single day to make sure things look delicious on VR headsets/gear.
When I was a Staff SW Engineer and technically I still am; I created graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platforms UX experiences leveraging 3D QT.
My day consists of weekly in person meetings, online meetings, and of course testing products with my virtual reality worlds.
To sum up my duties entirely is pretty much to make sure that all 3-D graphics are up to industrial standards before being presented to the clients and the bosses of the XR (Extended Reality) Department.
“Extended Reality (XR) means real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine stimulated curtain created by computer technologies/ equipment. “
Q: What engines are your working with?
A: Unity3d because it’s great tool for exporting out virtual reality applications. On top of that they always have constant updates and people who are willing to answer your questions by email. Also they have a Assets Store that is very useful to use for 3D Props, VFX(s), and much more.
Q: What are you most excited about in the industry at the moment and what future trends are you expecting to see?
A: It really is all about Virtual Reality. Today’s generation and along with some of the older generation is very obsessed with interactive media. Everyone is in their cell phone and it’s all about applications. I expected that we will have a technology that goes beyond Extended Reality (XR) because these children are getting smarter and artificial intelligence are now getting to the point that they could even control other devices along with them selves. Also algorithms are becoming more and more powerful and more advance than ever before. So yes there’s always room for evolution when it comes down to technology.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: Currently I plan to come out with my own application and game console/device that goes beyond virtual experiences. Take some of the projects that my company Tyrone Evans Clark Inc. is working on to a virtual level so people can enjoy the immersive experience such as my TV Show “Homeless Sam & Sally”. This show is available on Binge Networks already and it’s directed, produced, and written by me. I’m even starring in it as the character Sam, but it would be nice to take the show and put it on a virtual device. Thus pushing it to the next level of entertainment.
My next plan is to take my science-fiction fantasy novel that I’m currently working on and converting it later on to a video game for people to enjoy through their virtual reality lenses. During this process I also plan to use my personal music for some of my virtual reality products such as “Look Me in My Eyes”, “Video Game” and “Inside of Me!” songs. I might even take some sound bytes from my podcast “Call Tyrone!!!”. “Call Tyrone!!!” is about me talking about my day-to-day life in Los Angeles; and along with random things that unexpectedly comes to my mind.
Yes; this one is pretty obvious and that is the fact to grow and become the best 3-D graphics engineer/programmer at Qualcomm.
Overall my goals/plans is to continue to be a boss who will continue to make boss moves. Water doesn’t move unless rocks are thrown at it, cats don’t meow unless dogs wolf at them, and success doesn’t come unless you’re knocking at the door. I want to continue to knock at the door because I want to always be on top of the crop.
Activate Social Media:
