Jack McCauley
{{short description|American computer scientist}}
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{{Infobox person
|name = Jack McCauley
|image = JackMcCauley.jpg
|image_size = 300px
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|12|3}}
|birth_place =
|death_date =
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|nationality = American
|education = Bachelor of Science, University of California, Berkeley
|occupation = Inventor, engineer, video game developer
|known_for = Guitar Hero, Oculus Rift[https://innovators.berkeley.edu/article/Alumnus-Jack-McCauley-Oculus "Maker Hero: Alumnus Jack McCauley on Guitar Hero, Oculus and the Future of Making," Berkeley Innovators], retrieved March 22, 2014.
}}
Jack McCauley is an American engineer, hardware designer, inventor, video game developer and philanthropist. As an engineer at RedOctane, he designed guitars and drums for the Guitar Hero video game series. He later worked at Oculus VR, which was eventually acquired by Facebook for $2 billion.
Early life and education
The son of a United States Armed Forces officer, McCauley’s early life began in De Bilt, Netherlands. From an early age, McCauley loved taking things apart, building them into something new, exploring everything from basic spatial relationships to electronics. When he was 9, Tinkertoy named him a "Junior Tinkertoy Engineer".{{cite web|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/oculus-cofounder-jack-mccauleys-next-challengethe-perfect-headtracker-for-vr|title=Oculus Co-founder Jack McCauley's Next Challenge: The Perfect Head-Tracker for VR|date=November 7, 2015|publisher=IEEE Spectrum|author=Tekla Perry}}
In 1980, McCauley was accepted into the U.S. Navy Nuclear Power School. He later attended University of California, Berkeley, College of Engineering, where he specialized in electronics and circuit theory and earned a BSc. in electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) in 1986. McCauley credits U.C. Berkeley with moving him into his career as an engineer.
Career
McCauley began his professional career at the U.S. Department of Defense. Upon graduating from Berkeley, he worked at various technology and gaming companies including RedOctane and Microsoft. He helped develop USB drivers, kernel mode drivers, arcade machines and video game related peripherals.[http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/10/16/more-guitar-hero-world-tour-tidbits/ "More Guitar Hero World tidbits," by Gieson Cacho, A+E Interactive, October 16, 2008]; retrieved March 22, 2015.
McCauley designed many of the guitar and drum peripherals for the Guitar Hero video game series.
=Guitar Hero=
In 2005 McCauley joined RedOctane, where he served as an engineer on the Guitar Hero team. He stayed on after RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision, eventually departing in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,249794|title=Jack McCauley|publisher=MobyGames|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}
McCauley created the hardware for early Guitar Hero guitars by reverse-engineering the guitars used in the Konami game Guitar Freaks.{{Cite web |title=Berkeley Innovators |url=https://innovators.berkeley.edu/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=Berkeley Innovators}}{{Cite web |title=Modern-day Edison creates design innovation fund |url=https://engineering.berkeley.edu/news/2015/07/modern-day-edison-creates-design-innovation-fund/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=Berkeley Engineering |language=en-US}} He also designed hardware peripherals for Silent Scope and EA Sports Active 2.{{Cite web |date=2008-10-15 |title='Guitar' hero: Danville resident was instrumental in designing controller |url=https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2008/10/15/guitar-hero-danville-resident-was-instrumental-in-designing-controller/ |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=East Bay Times |language=en-US}}
=Oculus VR=
McCauley joined Oculus VR as vice president of engineering in August 2012, shortly after the company raised millions of dollars on Kickstarter for their first development kit.Chris Raymond, [http://www.success.com/article/meet-the-genius-behind-oculus-rift "Meet the Genius Behind Oculus Rift"], Success.com, May 23, 2014; retrieved March 22, 2015.{{Cite news |last=MCV Editors |date=2012-08-14 |title=Oculus hires Scaleform founder as CEO |language=en |work=MCV |url=https://www.mcvuk.com/development-news/oculus-hires-scaleform-founder-as-ceo/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |issn=1469-4832}}{{Cite web |last=Brightman |first=James |date=2012-08-14 |title=Oculus hires Gaikai chief product officer as its new CEO |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/oculus-hires-gaikai-chief-product-officer-as-its-new-ceo |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=GamesIndustry.biz |language=en}} He served as VP Engineering at Oculus until March 2014 when the company was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion.{{cite news|title=Facebook's $2 Billion Acquisition Of Oculus Closes, Now Official |author=Josh Constine |url=https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/21/facebooks-acquisition-of-oculus-closes-now-official/ |year=2014}} He left Oculus immediately after the acquisition was completed.{{Cite web |last=Bailey |first=Kat |date=2016-04-12 |title="I Consider Myself Crucial to the Success of that Company": Jack McCauley Recalls the Early Days of Oculus and Looks to the Future |url=https://www.vg247.com/i-consider-myself-crucial-to-the-success-of-that-company-jack-mccauley-recalls-the-early-days-of-oculus-and-looks-to-the-future |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=VG247 |language=en}}{{Citation |title=The power of "Human" {{!}} Jack McCauley |date=2023-05-04 |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/6Gis24kHJtnqnNYHCLwAwn |access-date=2023-05-08 |language=en}} He claims to have donated all the money he received from the Facebook buyout to charity.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=R. Colin |date=November 9, 2015 |title=Oculus Originator Gives Away MEMS Version |url=https://www.eetimes.com/oculus-originator-gives-away-mems-version/ |website=EE Times}}
While at Oculus, he designed test equipment and managed China-based manufacturing of the Oculus DK1 and DK2, the company's development hardware that was shipped to game developers years before the 2016 release of their consumer product, the Oculus Rift.{{cite web|url=http://www.roadtovr.com/mts-virtual-reality-vr-tracking-system-jack-mccauley-oculus-vp-engineering|title=Exclusive: Former Oculus VP of Engineering Demonstrates Long Range VR Tracking System|publisher=Roadtovr.com|date=March 8, 2016|accessdate=November 5, 2016|author=Ben Lang}}
=Lucid VR=
In 2017, McCauley joined Lucid VR as Chief Engineer to lead worldwide manufacturing of their flagship virtual and augmented reality camera, the VR180 LucidCam.{{Cite news |last=MCV Editors |date=2017-08-02 |title=Former Oculus co-founder Jack McCauley joins LucidVR |language=en |work=MCV |url=https://www.mcvuk.com/business-news/former-oculus-co-founder-jack-mccauley-joins-lucidvr/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |issn=1469-4832}}{{Cite web |date=2017-08-02 |title=Oculus Co-Founder Jack McCauley Joins Lucid VR |url=https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-co-founder-jack-mccauley-joins-lucid-vr/ |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=UploadVR |language=en}}
=Inventions, credits, and accomplishments=
McCauley worked on creating audio effects; computer peripherals; game controllers; light gun technology; composite HID USB device for gaming; and guitar and drum controllers for the Guitar Hero franchise.{{cite news|url=http://toplistings.contracostatimes.com/videogames/ci_10727309|title= 'Guitar' hero: Danville resident was instrumental in designing controller|first=Gieson|last=Cacho|date=October 16, 2008|newspaper=Contra Costa Times|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |
| Video Game
!Role !Developer |
|---|
| Guitar Hero II
|Director of R&D |RedOctane |
| Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
|Director of R&D |RedOctane |
| Guitar Hero World Tour
|Director of R&D |RedOctane |
| Oculus DK1 Development Kit
|VP Engineering |Oculus VR |
| Oculus DK2 Development Kit
|VP Engineering |Oculus VR |
Philanthropy
In 2015 he, Paul Jacobs and others funded the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation at the UC Berkeley College of Engineering;Kirsten Mickelwait, [http://engineering.berkeley.edu/2015/06/designer-scrolling-mouse-and-oculus-rift-funds-design-innovation "Designer of scrolling mouse and Oculus Rift funds design innovation"], Berkeley Engineer Magazine, June 16, 2015; retrieved June 29, 2015. {{As of|2015|10|lc=y}}, he is an Innovator in Residence there.{{cite web |date=October 8, 2015 |title=Oculus VR co-founder Jack McCauley on VR, AR and his creative new project |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2015/10/08/oculus-vr-co-founder-jack-mccauley-on-ar-vr-and.html |accessdate=November 5, 2016 |publisher=Silicon Valley Business Journal}}
References
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{{cite web|url=http://www.linkedin.com/pub/jack-mccauley/5/7bb/923|title=Jack McCauley|publisher=LinkedIn|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}
{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}|30em}}
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Category:American computer scientists
Category:21st-century American engineers
Category:People from Battle Creek, Michigan
Category:Video game developers