Darren Woodland, Jr.
Experience Designer · Creative Technologist · Interactive Systems
I design interactive experiences, immersive environments, and live performance systems where technology, physical space, and people come together. My work spans interactive installation, live performance, AR/VR, and physical computing from concept sketches and interaction prototypes through to production-ready systems.
Practice
I work across the full arc of experience design: conceiving interaction models, prototyping physical and digital systems, and coordinating with creative, engineering, and fabrication teams to make ideas real. Projects range from gallery installations and staged performance to AR simulations and gesture-driven instruments, with exhibitions and presentations at Ars Electronica, SXSW, and SIGGRAPH.
I am drawn to work that lives in physical space: systems people move through, touch, or trigger. I bring both the technical fluency to build these things and the design sensibility to know when they are working.
Background
PhD researcher at Drexel University (Digital Media), where I lead development on interactive AR and installation projects alongside my own practice. Prior roles include art director and creative technologist for VR productions, multimedia designer for live dance, and interactive media designer for educational simulations. Currently also an Artist in Residence at the Robotics, Automation, and Dance (RAD) Lab, prototyping gesture-based interaction systems for human-robot interaction research.
Tools and Approach
Real-time environments in Unity and Unreal Engine. Interaction prototyping with physical computing (Arduino, ESP32, Teensy) and computer vision (MediaPipe, OpenCV). Audio systems in Max/MSP and Wwise. 3D and simulation in Maya and Houdini. Fluent in C#, Python, and C++. Comfortable in a sketchbook or wiring a sensor as much as in code.