INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE DEVELOPERMEDELLÍN, COLOMBIA

Tobias Arrieta

Art, design, and programming

I develop interactive experiences through programming, design, and real-time graphics. My projects include frame-by-frame cartographic visualization, browser-based 3D simulation, location-aware augmented reality, and game visual systems.

The background is my own simulation: each visit generates a different landscape. Elevation and pressure guide the wind; the cursor leaves a current in its wake.

01 / HISTORY AND PLACE

Urban Expansion of Medellín

+2Mviews across social mediaYouTube · Instagram · Facebook

An animated reconstruction of Medellín and the Aburrá Valley across more than five centuries. Cartography traces how a city takes shape and helps us recognize the places we inhabit today.

ANIMATED TIMELINE · 06:02Watch on YouTube ↗
MY CONTRIBUTION

Research, design, and production

Jan 2025 — Jul 2025
DOCUMENTARY SOURCES

Archivo Histórico de Medellín
Alcaldía de Medellín

01

Reconstructing the territory

I brought together historical maps, satellite imagery, and documentary sources to represent the valley’s urban growth over time.

02

Giving change continuity

I produced a frame-by-frame animation that connects records from different periods into a continuous geographic sequence.

03

Making history visible

The result combines data visualization, cartography, and audiovisual design to make historical and territorial information accessible to a broad audience.

ON THE PUBLICATIONS

Viewer comments

“I’m only now learning that the La América area used to be called La Granja. Thank you—presenting it visually makes it easier to learn.”

Francisco Javier Estrada RestrepoFacebook · Excerpt · Translated from Spanish
View publication ↗
02 / HERITAGE AND AUGMENTED REALITY

Medellín Spectral Tour

UNITY · MAPBOX · AUGMENTED REALITY · MOBILE

Stories where they happened

A tourism experience that connects historical characters and stories to physical places in Medellín. Visitors encounter the city’s history through augmented-reality avatars and geolocation.

As technical director, I developed the avatar production workflow from historical research and contextual design, using assisted animation and manual refinement. I integrated Mapbox and augmented-reality SDKs into the Unity mobile application and resolved dependency conflicts.

  • Jul 2024 — Nov 2024
  • Technical direction
  • Best Interactive Experience · DEX
TEAM
  • Tobias Arrieta — Technical Director
  • Nelson Florez — UI Developer
  • Wendy Martinez — Artist
  • Valentín Arias — Researcher
  • Daniel Mendoza — UX/UI Designer
  • Camilo Ramírez — Sound Design
MOBILE DEMO
On-device capture: characters, location-aware interaction, and the experience’s interface.
03 / GAMES AND SIMULATION

Systems you can play

Movement, visual effects, and worlds generated by rules. These projects bring together programming, mechanics design, and tools built in production teams and independent explorations.

EXPLORE EACH PROJECTOpen a case to see videos, development decisions, and the team.

Tachyon · browser 3D prototype ↗
04 / OTHER EXPLORATIONS

Cartography and prototypes

PLAYABLE CARTOGRAPHY

Turn-based strategy maps for War.app

Maps where territory, connections, and risk distribution define the experience of play. Explore each one in War.app’s interactive viewer.

Antioquia map with regional territories and a dense urban area
REGIONAL AND URBAN SCALE

Antioquia

Regional conquest and close-scale city control share one map. Changes in territorial density shape how players read routes, borders, and local dominance.

Explore in War.app ↗
Apocalypse map with contaminated sectors, safe zones, and sacrifice areas
RULESET EXPLORATION

Apocalypse

Base game rules become contaminated sectors, safe zones, and sacrifice areas. Dangerous routes offer stronger rewards, making exposure part of territorial planning.

Explore in War.app ↗
INTERACTION PROTOTYPING

Kola Factory

Kola Factory production-line prototype
FIGMA · 2024

A production-line minigame built in Figma with variables, conditional logic, scoring, and timed tasks. The prototype tests the rhythm of actions and their visual feedback.

Watch the prototype ↗
05 / RECOGNITION

Recognitions

Medellín Spectral Tour DEX certificateDEX · 2024

Best Interactive Experience

Medellín Spectral Tour received this recognition at the DEX showcase for its mobile augmented-reality experience and historical storytelling.

View certificate ↗
Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana Honor Scholarship recognitionUPB · 2024

Honor Scholarship

Awarded by Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana for the highest weighted GPA in the Digital Entertainment Design Engineering program, above 4.50.

View recognition ↗
06 / ABOUT

My background

Portrait of Tobias Arrieta

I’m an interactive experience developer based in Medellín, Colombia. My background in Digital Entertainment Design Engineering and programming connects artistic work, design, and technical implementation.

My work includes an animated reconstruction of Medellín’s urban growth, a Unity mobile AR experience with Mapbox, a React and Three.js simulation prototype, and procedural worlds and visual systems for games. I work across interfaces, physics, shaders, and visual and audio feedback.

I work with art, design, research, and programming teams: defining production workflows, building prototypes, and resolving the technical challenges of turning an idea into a working experience.

Aug 2025 — Aug 2026Diploma, Programming for Games, Web & MobileVancouver Film School · Canada · Diploma awarded August 21, 2026Vancouver Film School diplomaView diploma ↗
Jan 2021 — Oct 2026Digital Entertainment Design EngineerUniversidad Pontificia Bolivariana · MedellínEngineering diploma from Universidad Pontificia BolivarianaView diploma ↗
TOOLS

Design and development

Web & browser 3D

  • JavaScript · TypeScript
  • React · Three.js
  • React Three Fiber · Rapier
  • p5.js · Cables.gl

Mobile & real-time engines

  • Unity · Unreal Engine 5
  • Mapbox SDK for Unity
  • C# · C++
  • Firebase

Visual design & technical art

  • Shaders · Particle systems
  • Blender · Autodesk Maya
  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Figma · Miro

Development & collaboration

  • Python · Google Colab
  • Visual Studio · Excel
  • Jira · Confluence