Rosie Gao

I’m a game narrative designer,
an interactive media storyteller

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Education

University of Southern California
Game and Interactive Media MFA
2022 - 2025

New York University (NYU)
B.A. in Interactive Media Arts,
Minor in Creative Writing

Shanghai / New York
Sep 2017 – May 2021 (COVID-19 adjusted)

Project Experience

Vestibulum Ultricies
Suspendisse Aenean Vestibulum
2023 - 2024

Pellentesque Habitant
‘Morbi Tristique Senectus’
Nunc Euismod Faucibus,
Porta Libero
2024

Volutpat Ultricies
Curabitur Fringilla Ornare,
Duis Quis
(since 2020)

Employment

Academic Roles

Exhibitions

(upcoming) Tincidunt TBA
Ultricies Ultricies,
Congue Nisl
2024

(upcoming) Vestibulum-Vitae
Auctor Ipsum,
Dictumst Ligula,
Porta Libero
2024

Egestas
Condimentum Senectus,
Purus Aliquet,
Porta Libero
2021

Last Updated 25.06.05

InSync

Assistant Director, Lead Level Designer

An interactive blindfolded maze that responds to touch through multi-sensory environment and an animatronic creature.

In this large-scale(15ft²) experimental installation, players don a blindfold and step into darkness as explorers. Guided only by hearing, touch, and instinct, they navigate a surreal cavern of shifting sensations in search of a fantastic creature dwelling deep within its nest.

InSync returns to the most intuitive forms of bodily interaction: moving, listening, and feeling through hand and foot. A real-time pressure sensor network and dynamic soundscapes render the maze alive and responsive. At its heart waits Omu, a furred animatronic creature that extends this interactive language. Through movement, breath, calls, and a pulsing body driven by a behavior tree, Omu is to build a multi-sensory bond with players beyond words and social identities.

InSync was showcased at the USC Games Expo 2025, where nearly a hundred players reserved and completed the experience. The installation impressed audiences ranging from themed entertainment professionals to international visitors. Many players described the encounter as “unlike anything before”, “beyond words”, and “unforgettable.”

Info

Duration: May 2024 - May 2025
Genre: Interactive Installation, Themed Entertainment, Immersive Experience
Form： Interactive maze installation (15 ft²) featuring an animatronic creature
Length：10 - 15 min
Team Size: 22
Links: Website
Role: Assistant Director, Lead Level Designer

Contributions

Assisted the Creative Director in managing a 22-person team, bridging development, set building, design, usability, and art team to maintain communication and a shared vision.

Directed designers and set builders through rounds of testing and iteration, leading to the design, planning and construction of a 15 ft² maze installation built with recycled wood.

Led the design and implementation of worldbuilding, narrative design, and material design across the maze’s four distinct zones, including practical set dressing.

Coordinated all aspects of exhibition logistics: team management, venue setup, storage and transportation, player onboarding and guidance, reservation scheduling, and training team members in each of these processes.

See more:
[Assisting Direction in InSync →] [Leading Maze Design in InSync →]