hello and welcome
This is the long version of my story as a builder, oldest work at the bottom. It runs from the PHP page server I wrote in 2012, through digital menus, full stack client work, and VR tinkering, up to the prompt-engineering platform that led into today's AI Lab and the Context First case study. Sections expand if you want the details.
From February 2016 to May 2018 I worked for Menuat, a B2B SaaS company, where I delivered hundreds of restaurant and retail digital menu screens for roughly a hundred clients. Menuat's cloud-hosted platform was built on CouchDB, JSON, and a Bootstrap/jQuery front end, and let clients update their menus in real time.
These screenshots show some of the digital menus I developed with Menuat.
This menu features round slideshows.
This menu features text animations and slideshows.
I developed and designed this menu template.
This project features animated decorative elements.
I developed an automatically updating custom movie board.
Project management and development lead for this client.
Donuts and this design both make me smile.
This menu animates featured items and scrolling sections.
A notable internet company's cafeteria uses this menu.
A tricky redesign of a legacy menu.
My first project featured animated illustrations.
My role included project management and ownership of software engineering needs for the full project life cycles of our entire client base through planning, development, deployment, installation, and support.
Photo Credit: S'Wiched Facebook Public Feed
Most projects included the fully editable and often animated digital menu screen views as well as accompanying responsive mobile menus for customer ordering and a matching responsive editor view that enables real time menu updates from any web browsing device.
Screenshot of Mobile View
Screenshot of Tablet View
Screenshot of Laptop View
Screenshot from 1 of 4 Restaurant Views
Digital Menu Project developed for one of approximately one hundred Menuat clients. Visit S'wiched menu.
I owned each project end to end: scoping it with sales and design in client consultations, setting up the database and project, building the front end, QA testing it, coordinating the onsite install, and taking the support calls afterward from clients and contractors.
As part of my application for the role with Menuat I coded a benu of what I have to offer. Visit the benu.
Mobile Covershot View
Screenshot of Tablet View
Screenshot of Mobile View
In 2018 I built a full stack responsive site on WordPress, HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for a design firm's software-startup client.
Screenshot of Laptop View
Screenshot of Tablet View
Screenshot of Mobile View
Screenshots of Point of Sale Startup Website developed for We Are Charette. Visit Hazlnut site.
In 2012 I designed and built a full stack responsive site for a local IT firm, including a custom PHP page server that delivered the HTML, CSS, and vanilla JS front end. It stayed in production until the business closed more than ten years later.
Screenshot of Laptop View
Screenshot of Tablet View
Screenshot of Mobile View
Screenshots of Law Office Website developed for Enix Networks.
The WebXR version of this portfolio was my biggest spatial project: the flat-screen site rebuilt as an immersive scene on Three.js with A-Frame, plus community physics and navigation add-ons.
Screenshot from WebXR Portfolio Entry Point
My WebXR Portfolio is built for desktop, mobile, and headset browsers with WebXR compatibility (Immersive mode on PCVR is not working through Chrome at the moment due to breaking changes for locomotion in the latest A-Frame build). Forward, backward, and strafing movement are thumbstick/keyboard based (with speed throttled slightly for comfort) and view rotation is controlled by the mouse pointer; tilt or swipe mobile devices to rotate the view and touch the screen to move forward. The immersed VR experience also uses triggers for teleportation as an alternative to the default smooth locomotion.
Screenshot of Digital Menu Wall
Screenshots from my WebXR Portfolio.
My VR and spatial media tinkering includes web experiences built for the unique interaction capabilities of 360° media, Google Cardboard, Mobile 3DoF, PC 6DoF, and Quest platforms.
Most of my WebVR tinkering is public on Glitch.
I have also taken deeper dives into VR development utilizing the Oculus SDK for Unity and OpenXR.
In working through Udemy Coursework, I have become familiar with three dimensional art concepts from a technical standpoint as they apply in a Blender to Unity pipeline.
Rendered with Blender
Scene from Unity coursework
With guidance from Unity developer coursework I have built several small game interactions and a few larger game concepts.
At times my digital media hobbyist broadcast Ben Live has included OBS produced livestreaming of front end development, playful kittens, social media management, gaming, 360° video, and custom rendered VFX in 2D, 3D and 360° formats.
My partner and I live in St. Augustine, Florida with our many cats. I'm looking for remote AI-enhanced software engineering roles, the kind where I can ship features, harden them with tests, and build the tooling and context that lets a team work well with AI, and I'll travel or relocate for the right one.
My first software engineering role resulted from a nationwide competitive interview process for a venture backed startup and included both remote and onsite collaboration with coworkers and clients. Before leveling up to my first salaried job in technology, I was livestreaming coding sessions, kittens, and gaming from my home office turned media studio to elevate my visibility as a developer.
As a senior in college studying creative and technical writing, I interned as a community manager for a multinational social media startup operating in stealth mode from the suburbs of Tampa. I am trained and comfortable using most Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office applications as well as their open source alternatives. During my time in community college, I volunteered as a proofreader and technical assistant for our English department's after hours tutoring program.
I campaigned for change, occupied, and felt the Bern. I haven't eaten meat in over a decade out of concern for the health of my person and planet. Progressive politics are a real and non-negotiable aspect of my choices personally and professionally because regressive politics are illogical, cruel, and dangerous.
I studied technology, digital media, and produced the morning news broadcast through high school. As a teenager, I built an e-commerce site for a local salon garment manufacturer using Macromedia Flash. Creative media development with emerging technology has always been a primary interest of mine; I have personally, academically, and professionally sought out and engaged with contemporary iterations of human-computer interaction throughout my life.
I usually enjoy free time by watching Star Trek or playing third person open world video games. My favorite Star Trek series are Deep Space Nine and Discovery. As an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, I always have more video games available than time to play them. Going back to Skyrim in VR was a particularly surreal experience because I was stepping into a world that already felt familiar. The emergence of AI alongside XR computing is an exciting time because science fiction is becoming reality.