Emily ONeal

Summary

Engineer specializing in immersive attractions and mixed reality. Focused on rapid prototyping and building interactive systems through close collaboration with artists, designers, and technical teams.

Overview

2027

years of professional experience

Work History

Gameplay Engineer

Industrial Light & Magic

San Francisco, CA

2022 - Current

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run – Attraction Update
Implemented core gameplay mechanics and served as ILM’s technical point of contact for WDI and DPEP on multi-application UI pipelines and in-cabin hardware feedback.
Built a data-driven Unreal Engine state system bridging telemetry with Unity UI states, supporting flexible gameplay behavior and synchronized media playback.
Developed in-cabin debugging and tuning tools for engineering and creative teams to iterate on attraction behavior.
Supported cross-disciplinary debugging during overnight testing, coordinating triage between software and hardware teams under tight deadlines.
Investigated and reverse-engineered legacy attraction systems to support testing and create targeted scenarios and debugging workflows for engineering and design teams.
Beyond Victory — Mixed Reality Experience
Led engineering for Create Mode, a mixed-reality sandbox for interactive character manipulation.
Designed and implemented a Control Rig–driven procedural posing system in Unreal Engine, enabling technical animators to author skeletal behaviors and gameplay interactions without engineering support.
Architected an automated UMG asset pipeline for independent artist content management.
Prototyped mixed-reality interaction systems, translating experimental concepts into shipped features.

Software Engineer

PlayStation

01.2020 - 01.2022

Contributed to more than half of PlayStation’s 20+ web microservices. Architected, designed, and implemented a third-party integrated service bridging users and games, with a focus on web- and mobile-based remote control of the PS5 gaming console.
Ran all SCRUM ceremonies except planning, removing blockers as needed.
Onboarded two new hires and organized post-COVID team bonding events to enhance team cohesion.
Collaborated with a seven-person team to create a platform that reimagined virtual play, focusing on game design, programming graphic effects and animations, implementing multiplayer functionality, and integrating the game into the larger platform.

Co-Founder

Amotion Games

[Location]

01.2019 - 01.2022

Co-founded and led cross-functional team to develop platform delivering healthy gaming to households via web-based motion tracking system using standard computer hardware.
Developed Unreal-based proprietary environment emphasizing computational efficiency to enhance accessibility of gaming experience.
Developed game concepts and prototypes through collaborative brainstorming sessions.
Managed project timelines and resource allocation to meet development milestones.
Established operational processes for team workflows and communication strategies.

Undergraduate Researcher

Mixed Reality Lab (Cal Poly)

[Location]

01.2019 - 01.2020

Developed real-time projection mapping systems that transformed the human body into an interactive canvas for visual effects.
Directed interactive dance performances with Kinect and projection systems, expanding storytelling possibilities in dance.

Education

BS - Computer Science

Cal Poly

San Luis Obispo, CA

Skills

Engines & Graphics: Unreal Engine, Unity, WebGL, OpenGL, PlayCanvas
Languages: C, C#, Python, JavaScript, Java, GLSL

Mixed reality, VR Interaction, Motion Tracking, Spatial Computing, Real-Time Rendering
Tools & Hardware: Perforce, Git, Meta Quest, Kinect

Timeline