John Bruneau is an Assistant Professor at the USC Iovine and Young Academy. Bruneau is a tinkerer at heart - an independent artist, coder, and professor whose work blurs the boundaries between play, technology, and medical research. Known for his interactive installations and indie game experiments, he now collaborates with medical professionals and clinical researchers to create immersive XR experiences that support patient care.
With over two decades of experience as a senior developer, Bruneau has an extensive knowledge base ranging from physical computing to serious games. His current academic focus includes digital health, wearable devices, and extended reality, all of which are informed by his ongoing projects in the art and technology space. Professor Bruneau’s current work for the Stanford Chariot Program focuses on creating virtual and mixed reality games that assist patients with anxiety, pain relief and physical therapy. These games are currently deployed in the field and have been the focus of several research studies and academic papers.
As an interactive artist, his work has been exhibited in ISEA Istanbul, The Museum of Pop Culture, San Jose Museum of Art, IndieCade, Tribeca, Laguna Art Museum, Games for Change, LACE, San Francisco Fine Art Fair, Bay Area Maker Faire, URAL Biennial, Now Play This, LIKELIKE, MAGfest, Play NYC, ZERO1, and The Streaming Museum. Bruneau was an early pioneer using virtual spaces for art and advocacy, where he created original work on platforms such as Second Life, Minecraft, and World of Warcraft. He was the cofounder of virtual artist groups: Ars Virtua and The Third Faction, and served as the academic program director at Babycastles Gallery in New York City.
Over the last 20 years, Bruneau has worked as a professor of games and interactive media. Prior to his current appointment at Iovine and Young, Bruneau taught at Parsons School of Design, New York University Tandon School of Engineering, The Pratt Institute, and San Jose State University. At SJSU he was part of the Learning and Games Consortium, cofounded the SJSU Game Dev Club, and collaborated on an education research study with SRI International. At Parsons he served as the coordinator for annual student showcases, developed the core curriculum for the undergraduate program’s game track, and held the position of faculty advisor for the New School Game Club. At IYA, Bruneau serves on the curriculum development committee for the new XR pathway and oversees several directed research projects.
As a professor at the Iovine and Young Academy, Bruneau remains grounded in curiosity, hands-on experimentation, and a deep commitment to human-centered design. He strives to make education more innovative, engaging, and accessible, all while fostering in students those specific moments that make learning, experimenting, and tinkering inherently fun.
John Bruneau holds an MFA in Digital Media Art from the CADRE Laboratory at San Jose State University, and a BA in Interdisciplinary Computing and the Arts from University of California San Diego.