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An interview with Mr.doob
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Ricardo Cabello, aka Mr.doob, is a self-taught web developer based in London (he originally hails from Barcelona). He kindly agreed to answer a few questions via email. His website can be found here.

Why do you choose to go by Mr.doob instead of your real name, and where does that name come from?

While working at this company in London I used to wear headphones while working. On IM I would set my name as "do_ob" and different variations of it reflecting my mood. At some point someone greeted me as "Hello Mr.doob!". The name stuck and as it seemed easier to pronounce then "Ricardo" I went with it.

When did you start using the internet, and what did you use it for?

This makes me feel old. There was a thing called BBS [bulletin board system] before the internet existed. I started connecting to those to, hmm...download anime images and demos [Mr.doob was very active in the demoscene]. That was in the early 90s.

Mr.doob has made dozens of demos and visualizations. Here are five of them:

  1. Winning Solitaire
  2. Depth of Field
  3. Google Sphere
  4. Or so they say...
  5. Internet Explorer 6

From what I understand, you used to be a designer but are now more of a developer. Why did you decide to make that transition?

I felt I was able to help more people coding than designing. So far I think that's the case. :)

Why did you create three.js, and what are some of the most exciting or unexpected uses of three.js you've come across?

I created it [in 2010] because I needed it. HTML5 needed it. And turns out many others needed it. I think that VR is quite an exciting use for the library but the most unexpected so far may be this company called LEIA, which is using it to author content for their holographic screens. Seeing Microsoft and Apple using it on their websites is also unexpected.

How did you get involved with Google and projects like The Wilderness Downtown and 3 Dreams of Black? What was it like to work with such a large team of people on those two projects?

Being at the right place at the right time I guess. I started collaborating with Aaron Koblin and Chris Milk on this project for Johnny Cash. After that we did "The Wilderness Downtown" and after that "3 Dreams of Black". The latter was quite a big team, it was challenging but it was also the most fun I've had on a project until now.

Do you consider yourself to be part of the open source movement, and if so, what do you think are some of the best things that have come out of it?

I don't think I would call it a "movement". But, you know...Linux, Chrome and Android are pretty remarkable open source projects.

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