Josh Painter
about
I'm a software developer in Charlotte, NC with a passion for solving problems and over-delivering.
I've worked on Virtual Reality training projects that help save money and lives by replacing ancient standardized paper qualifications. While I'm not doing that, I work on personal projects (that tend to involve making video games).
Somehow I've voice acted for multiple projects I've worked on, one of which won the national NEI Top Innovative Practice Award in 2020.
I play paintball (nxl speedball) for a D3 team as a front snake player. I don't expect anyone to really know what that means, but if you want to check out some footage I've recorded, check out my YouTube channel. You will also find videos of me rollerblading with my husky there <3
TLDR
Important stuff in my life (in no particular order):
- Problem Solving
- Dog
- Paintball
- Star Wars
- Video Games + Virtual Reality
I'm an A-typical recluse with occasional outbursts of socializing. I crave a good challenge. I have a keen eye for detail. I say "y'all" a lot, but don't have a cool accent.
From bartending to bike building, I tried a few different lines of work and gained invaluable insight as to what fulfilled me in the day to day of life. Those insights led me down the path of Virtual Reality development where I could harness design, programming, and art to craft experiences that really matter to others.
Making an impact on others through the power of creation is the most human meaning of life one could hope to achieve and sustain.
Conventions are awesome. I've been lucky enough to experience PAX on multiple occasions. I've hosted a booth at GE2 for playtesting our game Dark Shot VR. We got to test the constraints of VR and give the public a taste of what DigiPen is cooking behind the scenes. After working on VR for one of my school game projects, I grew very attached to the forwarding of virtual and augmented reality fields. Not only was developing a game for VR exciting, but it presented challenges that the internet didn't have answers to. As a young and rapidly growing field of research, I've spent a lot of time trying to advance my own understanding of how VR is meant to be experienced in games.
When I was younger, I played a lot of paintball. I would referee on weekends so that I could get free paint and admission. I poured whatever money I wasn't saving for college into my paintball addiction (which is not a cheap hobby). Between dog sitting jobs, busing, bar backing, and yard work, I managed to play enough to join a professional team for a bit. After I got accepted to DigiPen, I couldn't travel with the team and had to drop paintball altogether. But every once in a while, some friends and I get together to trade bruises.
Video games are the an outlet of creativity, like giant playgrounds for breaking rules. I was never a talented musician or a gifted cinematographer; despite my name, the only painting I'm decent at involves firearms loaded with compressed air. Game design and programming empower me to create, like a canvas to my brush of imagination-
and I think that's why we get along so well.
