John D. Carmack

John D. Carmack is a game programmer, founder of Armadillo Aerospace, and a co-founder and former technical director of id Software. Known for his significant contributions to the video game industry, Carmack co-founded id Software and was the lead programmer of iconic games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, and their sequels. His innovative work in 3D computer graphics, including the development of Carmack's Reverse algorithm for shadow volumes, has been widely recognized.

With more than two decades after revolutionizing the video game industry, Carmack again got the attention of game enthusiasts in 2012 when he shifted his focus to virtual reality. His innovative vision led to the creation of a virtual reality headset he literally cobbled together with duct tape and began showing off at E3. From 2013 to 2019, he worked full-time at Oculus VR as their CTO, driving the technical progression of the company, which was bought over by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. In 2022, Carmack left Oculus to focus on his AGI startup, Keen Technologies.

Throughout his career, Carmack has been a strong advocate for extended hours of uninterrupted focus in his work, maintaining a sixty-hour work week throughout his career. This dedication has been reflected in his many achievements, including receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th annual Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony in 2010 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2016. He was also awarded a Doctor of Engineering Honoris Causa from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Carmack's engines have been licensed for use in influential first-person shooters like Half-Life, Call of Duty, and Medal of Honor.

Carmack also contributes to charities and gaming communities and has been vocal about his support for open-source software, opposing software patents and releasing the source code for games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake. His contributions extend to improving OpenGL drivers for Linux and advising developers to be cautious when utilizing middleware.

By 2022, Carmack's innovations and extensive contributions to the gaming and technology industries have shown no signs of slowing down. He has gone from being the technical director at id Software to a champion of virtual reality and is now focusing on the development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) with his latest venture, Keen Technologies.