Phil Stuart, co-founder and Creative Director, has been honoured in the AR + VR category of Evening Standard’s Progress 1000, a list which recognises and celebrates London’s leading movers and shakers from immersive technology.
He joins esteemed company alongside Pip Jamieson, founder and CEO of the dots, Alex Fleetwood, Head of Studio at Niantic London, Siobhan Reddy, co-founder and studio director of Media Molecule, Theo Blackwell MBE, Chief Digital Officer for London, and Claire Valoti, VP International of Snap Inc.
The Evening Standard celebrates the remarkable achievements of London’s pioneers in the 13th annual Progress 1000 list, spanning the worlds of technology, business, politics, sport and the arts. A panel of experts helped select those who did the most to break down barriers and enhance the capital’s reputation as the pre-eminent city of opportunity in the world.
“It is incredibly humbling and a huge honour to be recognised by the Evening Standard in the Progress 1000 for VR & AR” Phil said. “My inclusion speaks to the significant growth of the immersive entertainment sector in this country and the increasing value that society places on XR to both entertain and educate us.”
Phil founded PRELOADED, a unique games studio, in 2000, with the goal of creating games and experiences which have purpose, and go beyond entertainment. Since its founding, Preloaded has worked with some of the world’s largest brands, including Google, Lego, and the BBC. Their work has been recognised internationally by awards bodies including BAFTA, SXSW (Best in Show), BIMA (Best in Show), Serious Play & Cannes Lions.
Over the past two years, under Phil’s creative leadership, PRELOADED has sought to bring its play-with-purpose vision to immersive platforms, working with WITHIN on their voice-based augmented reality (AR) platform, exploring accessibility in AR with BBC R&D and partnering with VIVE Arts and Google VR on landmark factual experiences.
Currently, PRELOADED is working with Magic Leap and BBC Studios to develop a mixed reality educational experience for the Magic Leap One, a lightweight, wearable spatial computer that seamlessly blends the digital and physical worlds.
Phil also serves on the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Games Committee and was the driving force behind the introduction of their newest category: Games Beyond Entertainment. He also sits on BIMA’s Immersive Council, designed to help the wider industry understand the possibilities of immersive technologies, set best practice and develop an ever evolving suite of case studies.
In 2019 he also gave his first TEDx talk: Games with Purpose – a manifesto for the role of games beyond entertainment.You can sign up to Phil’s thoughts on how XR will transform the future of play by signing up to Preloaded’s newsletter here.
