CHANEL SUMMERS
Chanel Summers joined VRstudios in 2017 as its first Vice President of Creative Development, in which capacity she is responsible for delivering the kind of breakthrough content experiences the industry has come to expect from the leading provider of VR-enabled attractions for location-based entertainment operators.
Chanel Summers A pioneer in the field of interactive audio, Chanel Summers has been a respected game producer and designer, Microsoft’s first audio technical evangelist, and a member of the original Xbox team, having helped to design and support the audio system for that groundbreaking console and creating the first ever support team for content creators. An accomplished touring drummer, Chanel now owns and runs her own audio production and design company, Syndicate 17, specializing in sound design, music production and audio implementation for location-based attractions and virtual, augmented, & mixed reality products. Chanel also serves as a technical consultant to a number of organizations and innovative technology companies and lectures and educates around the world on subjects as diverse as the aesthetics of video game audio, world building, and secondary-level STEM education for young women.
Some of Syndicate 17’s recent work includes audio for MediaMation’s REACTIVR, first shown at IAAPA 2015; Intel Labs/5D Global’s Leviathan, featured and was an Official Selection at Sundance New Frontiers Festival 2016; VRstudios/VRcade’s Barking Irons, which debuted at CVR 2016 and planktOs: Crystal Guardians which showcased at Immerse Technology Summit 2016; and the VR Experience (“The Repository”) for Universal Studios Orlando’s 2016 Halloween Horror Nights. Syndicate 17 is currently completing the audio for another large-scale VR installation for Knott’s Berry Farm, which will be the first permanent free-roaming, VR experience at a U.S. theme park.
Chanel is also a lecturer and director of the Experimental Audio Design Lab at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, was recently artistic director at Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and primary faculty advisor at the Sony/USC Summer Associate Virtual Reality Innovation Program, and currently serves as a member of the World Building Institute, an associate member of the BAFTA VR Advisory Group, a member of the AudioVR Board of Advisors, a member of the Virtuosity Entertainment consortium, and a technology advisor and audio provider/partner to trailblazing virtual reality company VRstudios/VRcade. Chanel has also written a chapter for the newly released CRC Press book, Level Design: Processes and Experiences, entitled “Making the Most of Audio in Characterization, Narrative Structure, and Level Design.
