Rupert Ward

I have taken quite a meandering path to OCAP, since completing my Maths & Philosophy degree at Balliol in the late 1980s.

First I did a Cognitive Science masters, getting a bit of grounding in Psychology, AI, machine learning, and linguistics.

Then I worked for 14 years or so as an RA in the Clinical Anatomy Dept at Guy's Hospital (which became part of Kings College London while I was there), obtaining my PhD in methods of measuring the progress of Osteoarthritis. This involved creating software to measure (manually and automatically) various features from x-rays, as well as setting up protocols for taking the x-rays, and managing multinational clinical trials using these. I also worked on creating an experimental microfocal CT set out of parts of old devices. 

I then spent a year working for the Astrophysics Dept at Sussex University, writing algorithms for detection of galaxies in space telescope images provided by the Hershell Space Telescope..

And then I moved into computer games, working mainly on a variety of football games.

After 10 years or so of that I decided games weren't for me, not being a gamer, although I enjoyed the technology and the variety. So I looked for a new direction that used that technology in a more worthwhile setting.

I spent a year working on an ill-fated (and not-particularly-well-conceived, as it turned out) augmented reality app to help the visually impaired.

And then Oxford VR, a spin-out from Daniel Freeman's work at OCAP, gave me the opportunity to combine games tech with an area very close to my heart. I was their Lead VR Developer from the set-up of the company to the closure of its UK-based development team in 2021, at which point I was recruited by OCAP to do similar work here.