Ivan Franco

R&D Director and Interaction Designer

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Ivan Franco

Interaction Design | R&D | Digital Art

About

Ivan Franco is passionate about interaction design. He is a recognized thought-leader in areas such as human-computer interaction, XR and tangible interfaces. With 10+ years of experience in the research, development and strategic management of interactive products and technologies, he has worked with clients and partners such as Microsoft, Dell, ESA and Philips. His other passions are digital art and music technology, having recently completed his PhD at McGill University. He’s been a guest speaker at events such as TEDx, EComm, OFFF, SXSW, ARE, Screenmedia Expo and Voltage Connect.

Interests

  • Interactive Systems
  • User Experience
  • Digital Art

Education

  • PhD in Music Technology

    McGill University

  • Master in Digital Arts

    Pompeu Fabra University

  • BSc in Engineering

    New University of Lisbon

Skills

  • R&D management (strategic, technical and operational).
  • Areas: Human-computer Interaction, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Interactive Installations, 3D simulations, Location-based Games, Physical Computing and Digital Musical Instruments.
  • Design thinking: ideation, prototyping and product development.
  • Entrepreneurship, capital raising and team building.
  • Intellectual property, licensing and partnerships.
  • Team management through Agile principles.
  • Worked across teams with Production, Marketing and VPs.
  • Excellent communicator and consultant.
  • Skills in UX, AR, VR, user-centered design, audio, physical interfaces, CAD/CAM, programming and electronics.

Ideation

User Centered Design

Team Management

Programming

Electronics

Digital Fabrication

Achievements

  • R&D director and principal technologist for award-winning company YDreams.
  • PhD in music technology.
  • Peer-reviewed publishing and co-author of several patents.
  • Business development in Silicon Valley with partners and clients like Dell, HP and IBM.
  • Participation in VC and IPO operations for YDreams and its spin-offs.
  • Development of AR experiences for Canesta and Primesense, later acquired by Microsoft to create the Kinect controller.
  • Winner of Best Tech Demo at the Augmented Reality Expo 2010 (ARE 2010).
  • Guest Speaker at ISE DOOH Business Conference, TEDx, EComm, OFFF, SXSW, ARE, Screenmedia Expo, Berklee College of Music, IBM Research, 6 Sight, NIME, Pecha Kucha, Art Futura, Zeppelin Festival and many other events.
  • Winner of several awards and scholarships, including the 2010 Personality of the Year Award by the Portuguese Association for the Promotion of Multimedia and Digital Society.

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Lecturer and Associate Researcher

McGill University

Jan 2014 – Present
  • Research and development of digital musical instruments using embedded computing.
  • Creator and principal developer of Prynth, an open source hardware and software framework with hundreds of users.
  • New Media Production lecturer, teaching DSP and interactivity implemented in Max.
 
 
 
 
 

R&D Director

YDreams

Mar 2002 – Jun 2013 Lisbon
  • Joined the startup company to work on design thinking and the creative use of interactive audiovisual systems and user interfaces.
  • Attracted capital investment through innovation, growing the startup from 10 people to 120, with operations in Portugal, Brazil, US, Spain and China.
  • Led all technical and strategic management of R&D in the company, managing a yearly budget of around €1M and a team of 25+ researchers and managers.
  • Built an IP portfolio with several patents and trademarks used in our products and licensed to partners.
  • Worked with VPs, Marketing and Production to ensure continuous innovation of products and services.
  • Worked on spin-offs, creating business plans, raising VC capital and participating in IPO operations (YDreams Global, Ynvisible).
 
 
 
 
 

Lecturer and Researcher

Pompeu Fabra University

Sep 2000 – Feb 2002 Barcelona
  • Development of interactive music systems.
  • Music composition and production lecturer.

Recent Posts

Guthman Competition 2017

Mar 6, 2017 1 min read

ILinx at CTM Festival 2015

Jan 20, 2015 1 min read

Strings of Thought #2 premiered at Harvestworks

A woman sits on a chair and from her head several strings emerge to form a network structure like dendritic trees of neurons. These …
Jun 2, 2013 1 min read

Contact

Contact is both an interactive installation and a performance of electronic music. The set is composed of several instruments that are …
May 14, 2013 1 min read

Ivan Franco live @ Knitting Factory 2012

Apr 22, 2013 0 min read
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