My full name is John William Russell Luxford II.

I was born on April Fool's Day in 1981.

I grew up in Windsor, Ontario and moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1999.

I've been a professional (self-taught) software developer, musician, and entrepreneur for over 20 years.

I'm passionate about technology as a means of social change.

I make looping synthpop music under the name Aband*nthecar. I also write folk-pop songs under the name Johnny Broadway, and play as Big Trouble in Little Wolseley in the open mic at Rainbow Trout Music Festival each year with my partner Alyson Shane.

I ran an open source software company called Simian Systems from 2001-2011, where I worked with clients including ABC/Disney, TiVo, NOAA, and Princeton. Other now-defunct startups I helped create include Dojo Learning, Festivalist, Band-o-rama, and putfwd.com.

In 2014, I co-founded The Campfire Union with two of my best friends to explore VR and AR as a new medium of expression. Our mission to combine storytelling with emerging technology led us to create the world’s first VR board game, Lost Cities, as well as a 360 video experience called Weaving a Better Future in collaboration with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Our latest creation, Flipside, enables anyone to create their own animated shows in virtual reality from inside their own virtual TV studio. Our goal is to enable everyone to bring their imagination to life and share it with the world.