Stewart Smith
Stewart Smith

🎵 Are you somewhere feeling lonely? Or is someone loving you?i feel stupid, and contagious

Hi, I’m Stewart. I blend art and technology—from creating digital artworks with the Center for Art and Media (ZKM) in Germany, to launching tech-based marketing gems with Google’s Creative Lab and Data Arts Team, to my current role at Unity Technologies where we’re inventing the future of real-time 3D creation tools. (And yes, that includes generative AI.) I recently served as an artist-in-residence at the Yale Quantum Institute at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Previously, I created the Quantum JavaScript (Q.js) project, an open-source quantum circuit composer for the Web. What really makes me happy is partnering with smart friends to take on the impossible—or the ridiculous.

As a kid I taught myself to program computers, but at the University of Connecticut I chose to study art rather than computer science or engineering. Following graduation, I cut my teeth interning for David Reinfurt in his Manhattan studio, O R G—an experience I am deeply grateful for. I received my MFA in graphic design from Yale University, relocated to London for a few years, then made a permanent home of Brooklyn, New York where I continue to interweave art, technology, music, and occasional writings.

My artwork has been exhibited in venues such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, ZKM in Germany, the SFMOMA in San Francisco, and is in the permanent collection of the Fondation Cartier in Paris. My work has also appeared in publications such as Domus, Esquire, and Creative Review. Together with my amazing colleagues, we’ve won several industry awards, including the Cannes Gold Lion. I’ve also occasionally taught graduate courses that mix code with graphic design at NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP).


I’m always excited about the future.

Resumé (Yes, I place an accent only on the last ‘e’ intentionally)

Experience

Unity
Unity
Product Design, AI & ML
October 2022–Present

Leading a team of innovative designers across ten time zones to craft Unity’s latest artificial intelligence products. Anchored within Charles MigosDesign, Research, and Artistry division; supporting nascent product teams, incubating interaction research, and collaborating on long-term business strategies across organizations and disciplines in concert with senior executive stakeholders.

Head of Consumer Augmented Reality
July 2021–October 2022

Concepted tools and techniques for consumer-focused augmented reality world-building experiences.

SXSW Pitch
SXSW Pitch
Advisory Board Member
August 2023–Present

Recruiting and judging innovative technology startups for initial round of SXSW Pitch process. Nominating candidates of industry experts, high-profile media professionals, venture capital investors, and angel investors for live event panel to be held at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

Yale Quantum Institute
Artist in Residence
September 2022–August 2023

Collaborated with Yale University faculty and students to create conceptually relevant, quantum-inspired artworks for one-year artist residency—including an interactive public art installation on the New Haven Green as part of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services
Senior Global Consultant Spatial Computing / Quantum Ambassador
December 2018–July 2021

Advised top-tier AWS customers on creating cloud-based XR experiences. Conceptualized and implemented innovative interfaces for quantum circuit composition.

Unity
Unity
Principal Spatial UX Designer, Unity Labs
January–November 2018

Created experiments related to spatial authoring, discovery, and consumption. Collaborated with outside artists to ideate experiences using the latest in VR and AR technology.

Moar Technologies Corp
Founder
September 2017–Present

Established corporation to push boundaries of digital creativity for quantum computing, spatial computing, and beyond. Created Quantum JavaScript (Q.js), an open-source drag-and-drop quantum circuit composer.

Google
Virtual Reality Creative Technologist, Data Arts Team
October 2016–August 2017

Ideated and developed virtual reality experiences for the immersive Web, including LCD Soundsystem’s Dance Tonite WebVR music video directed by Jonathan Puckey and Roel Wouters.

Virtual Reality Wildcard, Creative Lab
September 2015–August 2016

Collaborated across internal teams to promote strategies in Web-based virtual reality.

Yahoo
Google
Creative Technologist, Creative Lab
July 2012–October 2013

Concepted and launched two highly successful Mobile Chrome promotions: Racer, a multi-device social racing game, and Roll It, an accelerometer-based Skeeball-like game. Created the Rubik’s Cube Google Doodle and foundation for Chrome Cube Lab.

Awards

USPTO
Art Directors Club
Cannes Lions
Cannes Lions
Gold Mobile Lion in (A04) Innovative Technology for Mobile for Google Chrome Racer game, 2014.
Bronze Mobile Lion in (E02) Mobile Games: Services for Google Chrome Racer game, 2014.
Webbys
Favourite Website Awards
Short Attention Span Digital Video Festival, Audience Award winner for Jed’s Other Poem music video, 2006. Writer’s Digest National Zine Contest, Honorable Mention for Tweed Magazine, June 2001. New England Scholar for academic excellence. Victor Borge Scholarship for excellence in studio art.

Education

Yale University
University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut

Teaching

New York University, Interactive Telecommunications Program
NYU, Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP)
Adjunct Professor

Created semester graduate course, titled Visualizing JavaScript, emphasizing design and clarity of communication under sometimes humorous constraints.

Adjunct Professor

Created semester graduate course, titled Visualizing Data: Code Meets Graphic Design, mixing design critique with code development in Processing and Java.

Served as a visiting critic at esteemed institutions such as Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, the Royal College of Art, Central St. Martins, and the University of Art and Design, Lausanne (ÉCAL). Have enjoyed presenting work at top agencies, meet-ups, and professional conferences.