Mad Doc cooks up fantasy games, government projects

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December 27, 2007

Tweaking artificial intelligence on high-tech government projects and perfecting the graphics of fantasy role-playing video games are both parts of a typical day in the office for Andover resident and native Dr. Ian Lane Davis.

As the founder and chief executive officer of Ballardvale-based Mad Doc Software, Davis and his staff of roughly 100 employees have been serving government agencies, the academic research community and video game enthusiasts for nearly 10 years.

Davis has been named the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year by the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

Davis started Mad Doc in Andover in 1999 before moving to Lawrence a year later.

Now back operating in his hometown, Mad Doc remains independent, allowing Davis and his firm to balance developing video games with the consulting and contract work that helped Davis get his start, he said.

"Frequently, people in government agencies or academia want to do very realistic simulations in order to test some idea or some training methodology," Davis said. "We're primarily an entertainment company, which is something that we try not to lose track of."

Davis said running a successful independent company is both an accomplishment and a responsibility he doesn't take lightly. Having made a successful transition into the console video game market after solely creating computer games, Davis said he has received offers to sell from larger companies interested in acquiring Mad Doc.

"Which probably won't do, but it's nice to be wanted," Davis said. "The next thing is to become a household name."

Growing up in Andover, starting out

Davis was a student in Andover public schools during the late 1970s and early '80s when he was first exposed to video games.

Always eager to pay a visit to the nearest arcade, it was around 1982 when Davis, then a student at Doherty Junior High (now Doherty Middle School), received his first computer | an Apple Plus II.

Fantasy role-playing video games like the Ultima and Wizardry series soon became favorites, as did the basketball game One on One: Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, Davis said.

From Doherty, Davis went on to attend Phillips Academy. After his high school graduation, he triple-majored in math, English and computer science at Dartmouth College. Next, he earned his doctorate in artificial intelligence and robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

His first job was with well-known video game developer Activision. Recent titles from Activision include Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty.

After four years with Activision, Davis moved back from California to Andover to start Mad Doc.

"I guess you could say this is only my second job," Davis said of starting Mad Doc. "It was great working for (Activison). It was nice to be able to have more say and control over who I had to work with and have more control over the design of the game."

With only eight employees, Mad Doc completed its first video game title for Activision, Star Trek Armada II.

Since then, Mad Doc has made games for Vivendi Universal Games, Microsoft Game Studios and Disney Interactive.

The average video game takes roughly two and a half years to complete, according to Davis, who also taught artificial intelligence and video-game design at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the last two years.

Davis said he believes Mad Doc is "on the cusp" of becoming a household name in the gaming industry, and should make the breakthrough within the next two or three years.

"We're doing some good stuff," he said. "We've made that conversion (from PC to console, which are systems such as PlayStation and Xbox) and we're starting to work on some very big, exciting games."

Mad Doc will not move lab

Davis credited Mad Doc's employees for his recent honor as entrepreneur of the year.

"It's a great honor, but at the same time, there's no way the company would thrive or exist with just me," said Davis. "It's more an award for the whole company and everybody who's worked hard here."

Davis said Mad Doc will remain in Andover.

"Oh yeah, absolutely," he said. "I've lived all over the place and this is my favorite place. I grew up here. My wife and I live here now. This is where we'll raise our kids."

Though video games have evolved tremendously from his days as an Andover middle school student, Davis believes the "next big break through" for the industry will actually harken back to the days when video games were graphically primitive, but much more interactive.

"There were games that you couldn't do today because they didn't have graphics," Davis recalled. "You could type in sentences. At the same time they gave you a richer interaction."

Through speech-recongition technology, Davis said video game players will be able to use a microphone to speak to characters on their screen.

"It's pretty cool," said Davis. "Using a microphone, you'd talk to characters in a game and they'll talk back."

Davis said Mad Doc is able to take graphics already created for video games and modify them for their consulting jobs in the real world. One example Davis gave was a program designed to train police on how to clear rooms and secure buildings.

"You're not going to teach a police officer how to fire a gun in a video game," said Davis. "But you can give them the cognitive training on where to stand ... etc."

Mad Doc has also created an autonomous cross-country navigation system for U.S. Dept. of Defense.

"[This type of work] is not simply an indulgence. It allows us to build up our technology," Davis said. "If you're able to do this research, you get to try some new things out. They kind of feed of each other in a kind of symbiotic way."