Rob Ray is an artist and Associate Professor of Design at California State University, San Bernardino, where he is currently researching the intersections of site-specific mixed-reality technologies, 3D modeling, photogrammetry, and experimental documentary storytelling. Rob is also a DJ and Station Manager at KDZU,a fictional real radio station broadcasting from Los Angeles, California; Goldfield, Nevada; Green River, Utah; Boulder, Colorado; and Gothenburg, Sweden.
Rob was previously a senior lead designer for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. At NASA JPL, he led the human-centered design practice for ProtoSpace, the Lab's flagship collaborative mixed reality (MR) platform for scientists and engineers. He also served as the user interfacing lead for VITAL, two FDA-approved emergency-use low-cost ventilators developed as part of NASA's national response to COVID-19. Rob has also served as a technical experience designer leading mobile game interface design for Electronic Arts and Mattel.
In 2010, Rob received his MFA in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
From 1999 to 2008, Rob was the founding curator of the DEADTECH electronic arts center in Chicago, IL. DEADTECH's unique curatorial vision, workshop facilities, and exhibition space were custom-created for the specific needs of the electronic artist and performer. DEADTECH exhibited artists from across the globe, including the Beige Programming Ensemble, the Institute for Applied Autonomy, Sabine Gruffat, Norman White, Myfanwy Ashmore, The Seemen, Huong Ngo, and Kazuyuki K. Null.
Rob's is on tour this year with KDZU. His current favorite American Southwestern towns are: