Aaron
Z Wang

I build systems that people operate themselves, such as installations, real-time simulations and AI agents.

Press and drag. A Verlet lattice, warped by masses you cannot see.

Practice

It all started with a camera. A camera can keep light, but only what falls inside the frame. Some things in the world cannot be touched. A cloud, for instance, or a memory. My practice simulates what we cannot hold or control.

The full statement is on the practice page. Pick three words there and see which works they lead to.

Practice page →

Research

I am a media artist and researcher in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-AI Interaction (HAI), and practice-based media. Most of what I make is for people who are not specialists, from gallery visitors to children in a museum.

Human-AI interaction
AI characters that speak only from historical records, built at USC's Mobile and Environmental Media Lab.
Embodiment
Installations and games where the way you move is part of the meaning.
Simulation
Real-time systems for things that are hard to see directly, from soft-body physics to dark matter.

Research page →

Selected work

All projects →

Industry experience

I worked as a product manager at Supercell on the localized version of Clash Royale, and before that as a technical game designer at Tencent Games, writing shaders and gameplay modules in their engine. At USC, I was the lead producer on several projects, including Balloon, a student production with a team of 26. Details are on the CV.