On June 22, Christopher Weaver MALS ’75, CAS ’76 presented a seminar titled “Amplius Ludo: Beyond the Horizon” to interested students and faculty at Exley Science Center. Weaver is an author, software developer, scientist and educator. He is the founder and CEO of Bethesda Softworks, where he co-developed wildly popular games, including The Elder Scrolls role-playing series and John Madden Football for Electronic Arts. Success in these ventures has required Weaver to bring together elements of computer science, design, and storytelling. As a result, he is an expert in the special niche where science, entertainment, and education overlap.
Weaver presented a far-ranging lecture that covered everything from the Scottish Highlands, to cutting-edge neuroscience, to data caves, 3D modeling and augmented robotic surgery. His seminar made a compelling case for how the techniques and dynamics of game software are directly applicable to many other areas of social and scientific endeavor. Weaver currently teaches engineering and comparative media at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Speaking to an engaged audience, Weaver also discussed how the demanding computational and graphic requirements of the games industry has had the added benefit of making the same types of powerful hardware available for application to numerous other fields at lower cost. Weaving together his knowledge of the tools and techniques that go into making blockbuster games, Weaver demonstrated how these same techniques and tools are influencing the future of education, science, industry and society. At Wesleyan, Weaver’s studies included Japanese, computer science and physics. (Photos by Laurie Kenney)
Olivia Drake
Mike Mavredakis
Jeff Harder