Ken Perlin is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at New York University, as well as director for the NYU Games For Learning Institute. He is also founding director of the Media Research Laboratory and director of the NYU Center for Advanced Technology. His research interests include graphics, animation, user interfaces, science education and multimedia.
He received an Academy Award for Technical Achievement from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his noise and turbulence procedural texturing techniques, which are widely used in feature films and television. Other awards include the 2008 ACM/SIGGRAPH Computer Graphics Achievement Award, the TrapCode award for achievement in computer graphics research, the NYC Mayor’s award for excellence in Science and Technology and the Sokol award for outstanding Science faculty at NYU, and a Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation.He has also been a featured artist at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Professor Perlin is currently working on a product that doesn’t yet exist in today’s marketplace: a thin mat that can cover any surface and give images of pressure. The implications of Perlin’s innovation can lead to a deeper understanding of how people exercise, new ways of thinking about computer game interfaces and progress in highly responsive wall displays and more. The Tactonic sensor enables computers to help people by measuring human movements like force, weight, and balance in ways that can’t be done with other technology.
Dr. Perlin received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from New York University, and a B.A. in theoretical mathematics from Harvard University.
