George Margaris Programming Arts · St. Gallen
Interactive learning software, simulations & web – since 2005.
For more than 20 years I have been developing e-learning, simulations, visualisations and learning platforms – for clients in Switzerland and internationally.
What I do
Learning environments and platforms for universities, publishers and schools – from the ETH Climate Trail to boating licence software.
Educational and competition games, kiosk quizzes for auto shows and a research game for the University of Zurich.
Software, radio and shadow simulations, product configurators – today with three.js and Blender.
Moving existing applications to new technology: ActionScript 2 → 3, Flash → HTML5, and keeping them running for many years.
Highlights
A selection from about two decades. Many projects were built in Flash/ActionScript – data-driven and maintainable.
Virtual climate trail with 18 stations, a digital companion to the climate adventure trail above Pontresina: audio guide, picture exploration, drag-and-drop quizzes and opinion polls. In German and English. Awarded the Comenius EduMedia Seal 2009.
Learning and exam software for the Swiss boating licence (cat. A/D): theory films, flashcards, exam simulation with correction mode and readiness bar, plus marine radio (SRC) and later AutoDriver (car theory). AS3 rebuild with an XML engine, four languages, LiveUpdate and a Mac version.
Learning platform about the Rhaetian Railway (Albula/Bernina): learning stops, knowledge tasks, videos and a card game. Launched on 25 Oct 2013 at lernexpress.rhb.ch.
Learning platform for the classroom with areas for teachers, students and administrators: worksheet editor, class overview with points, grading of submitted worksheets and self-explanation tasks, for example in vector algebra and trigonometry.
Multi-domain portal for the «ice block bet» climate campaign: webcam, time-lapse, betting forms and admin CMS (DE/FR).
Behavioural-experiment game with XML parameters and precise logging – measuring instrument for a PLoS ONE study (2011).
First major commission: touchscreen kiosks for Ford (Fusion, Explorer, Trucks, SYNC) and a Dodge Challenger quiz – tested on hardware in Michigan.
Interactive 3D shadow simulation for a sun-protection manufacturer’s online product configurator: my own Flash 3D engine, sun position from date, time and location, scenes in XML.
Hansgrohe design awards as a rotating DNA helix (XML-maintained). In parallel, Flash stages of the brand website until 2014.
Online configurator for AXOR Bouroullec: drag and drop, XML rules, PDF with drilling templates. B2B/B2C, touchscreen and many languages.
Flash jump’n’run in four levels from Shigatse to a bamboo forest, with background texts on Tibet, an online leaderboard and a recommend-to-a-friend feature.
Touchscreen application for a trade fair in Dubai (EN/AR): pick two stations on the Red Line and Green Line, and the app shows the line, stops, change and travel time to the second.
Career
Key clients and projects – filterable by phase.
Clients
Agencies, universities, publishers and SMEs – in Switzerland, Germany, the USA and the UK.
Brands I worked for through agencies: Dubai Metro, Hansgrohe/AXOR, Philipp Plein, bruno banani, STIHL, Heraeus, Henkel, IKEA Switzerland, Ford.
What I can do
How I work
Content, languages and parameters belong in files, not in the code. That way clients could maintain things themselves – from the BoatDriver question catalogue to the Ford kiosk – and researchers could vary their experimental conditions on their own.
Projects like BoatDriver or the HSGYM expert pool ran for eight and fourteen years respectively. That only works with a clean structure, versioning and your own debugging tools.
I like working directly with the experts: hiking the real Climate Trail, a creative day on the train, testing on the real hardware. And I have learned: report delays early, estimate effort realistically.
Contact
I look forward to hearing from you – about a permanent position just as much as about exciting projects.
info@programmingarts.chGeorge Margaris · St. Gallen, Switzerland
