My full name is Corwin Allan Bell. “Corwin” was my maternal grandfather’s first name. My parents called me “Allan.” After five minutes, friends shortened it to “Al.” If a friend discovered that my first name is “Corwin,” the inevitable response was “Ccoorrwwiinn? What the heck is that?” I avoided use of the name for that reason. Corwin is a very unusual name.
In the age of the Internet, the urge to Google one’s own name brings surprises. Despite the oddness of the name, I recently found twelve Corwin Bells listed. The list gave names, ages, and city of residence. That encouraged me to contact these people. Everyone has a story, and I am curious to find out more about each of them. Initial efforts at contact have met with mixed results. I found references to recent obituaries of two of the twelve; a Nebraska farmer my exact age and an 88 year old retired Canadian railroad man. Younger ones either had no phone number listed, or failed to return messages left on their machines.
I had better luck with Corwin E. Bell of Boulder, Colorado. He really has an interesting story, or actually several stories. He is a noted beekeeper, who fosters backyard beekeeping, or what he calls “bee guardianship, a natural beekeeping approach.”
He is also the Founder /Director of VisionShift Studios, which creates “immersive experiences that transform lives through the creation and development of rich 2.5D simulation environments that take full advantage of real, human emotion and truthful communication.” The computer games use biofeedback technology to “plunge the user into a visceral state of activity… in the development and retention of new thought patterns.”
He is also an avid outdoorsman, who is a rock climber. He enjoys sea kayaking all summer and mountain sports in winter. An artist, his work also includes feature film set design for the Discovery Channel, an NBC mini-series, an Asteroid TV movie, and several TV commercials including Lexus, Ford, and Miller Beer. He also worked on multimedia projects for Oracle, Car and Driver magazine, and Harper Collins.
He earned his B.A. in Computer Graphics and Experimental Film from Evergreen State College and his M.A. in Visual Communications from the University of Northern Colorado. As a faculty member of the Art Institute of Colorado, he taught courses on cinematography, video production, special FX, and 3D animation. In 2007, as Master Artist for the Museum of Outdoor Arts (Denver, CO), he completed a mixed-media installation entitled “Sacred Water.”
The following is an interview of Corwin Bell by Corwin Bell (Al):
Al: Corwin, which is more important in your life now, beekeeping or biofeedback game technology?
Corwin: Both beekeeping and biofeedback technology are equally important in my life. The biofeedback games and programs created by VisionShift Studios help people. Teaching natural beekeeping for people helps the bees. And the bees help people by pollinating the foods we eat. I juggle both passions. In the spring time we are catching bee swarms, teaching bee classes, and giving lectures from the end of March through May, so my projects with VisionShift Studios are light in the spring time. In the fall and winter VisionShift Studios can take on more projects.
I got into beekeeping because I was curious about how one could have hives in their backyard. I started with one colony, but I kept getting more and more calls for bee swarms. I was building my own hives and, eventually, I improved upon the design of the “Kenya top bar hive.” Then I started teaching people about backyard bee guardianship and started building these new hive designs suitable for backyard beekeepers.
At BackYardHive, I was honored with an invitation to the US Embassy in Finland to give a lecture on urban bee guardianship. We have also started over 1,000 backyard bee guardians in the Colorado Front Range and Roaring Fork areas over the past 6 years. And I have also taught groups in Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, Maine, Hawaii, Arizona, and Canada.
Two of our biofeedback games have received awards. A PTSD game we developed for the Dutch Military, along with our Air Medic Sky 1 game (teaches young doctors patient safety management of stressful hospital situations), won Best of Show at the military I/ITSEC conference and Gold Medal at the Serious Games Conference in WA in 2011. My masters honors thesis, The Alchemy of Change : the healthful computer game, received top honors. I was able to describe how computer games can be “healthful” using my experience in creating the first biofeedback game, "Journey to Wild Divine."
Al: Recent articles in newspapers and magazines have many of us deeply concerned about colony collapse disorder (CCD), which, along with parasites, disease, genetics, poor nutrition, and pesticides has caused the loss of 3.5 million colonies since the late 1940s. What is your understanding of the cause, and what can be done about it?
Corwin: Everything you mentioned plus the mechanization and industrialization of agriculture. This has brought monocropping. Not only does this type of farming offer little to no varied nutrition to the bees pollinating the fields, it has also created the migratory pollination industry. Billions of bees are trucked through the US to pollinate. They start with California crops of almonds in February, then move on to plums, cherries, avocados, blueberries, apples, melons, squashes, etc., all across the country. The majority of these crops are being sprayed with pesticides and neonicotinoids that are damaging the honeybees.
Our goal at BackYardHive is to have thousands and thousands of hives dotted across the urban, suburban, and rural landscape, pollinating small organic farms and city gardens, supporting the local bio-region and supporting the genetic diversity of the honeybee.
The bee guardian approach (explained in my DVD on the subject) is a model of a network of backyard beekeepers committed to supporting the welfare of the honeybees, working with the bees, integrating them back into our lives and environments, and providing them with supportive, chemical free surroundings to live in. Since I am only able to travel and teach so much, the information in this DVD really reaches thousands of people helping them get started.
There are many things that can be done for the honeybee even if you don’t feel like becoming a beekeeper yourself. Introduce bee friendly vegetation to your yard and garden. Look at “weeds” with a new eye; dandelions are one of the first pollen sources for honey bees in the spring time. Use natural alternatives on your garden and lawn so that pesticides and herbicides are not necessary.
Al: Tell us something about VisionShift’s games and their potential value in reducing stress, particularly among veterans suffering from PTSD.
Corwin: The biofeedback games teach the player simple breathing techniques synchronizing their breathing with their heartbeat. The visual feedback is immediate and shows the player they are doing the exercise effectively. This learned, controlled breathing affects their heart rate variability in a positive way. So they feel more relaxed, and, if you measured their hormone levels, it would show that the body is in a less stressed state. People learn to control and positively change their body’s physiological states. In one of our award winning games, we worked with research psychologists for the Dutch Ministry of Defense to better understand the science behind PTSD. The project was developed to further test the viability of biofeedback in supporting soldiers in their post-deployment recuperation process. The testing showed very positive results.
Al: Have you had any success in marketing this approach to the U.S. military or the VA?
Corwin: I focus on the creation, research, and production of the games which keeps me busy. At the moment there is not a marketing strategy. Our most noted PTSD game was working with the Dutch Ministry of Defense, and we continue to enhance the product as they further see results in their research.
Al: Which of your many pursuits has been most gratifying to you? Why?
Corwin: I would have to say creating the first biofeedback games, the "Journey to Wild Divine" series, which are still selling after their initial launch over 10 years ago. The game received many accolades from top health and game magazines when it came out. And it has positively affected many people’s lives. We receive many emails and letters from adults and parents describing the beneficial effects. That is very rewarding and really why I keep doing what I am doing.
Al: What projects do you have in the pipeline, either with bees or games?
Corwin: Currently we are converting the "Journey to Wild Divine" to an online, 3D immersive environment. It is exciting for me to see what we created 10 years ago evolve into a more immersive experience. At VisionShift Studios my goal continues to be to create immersive experiences for people. And the medium to create these experiences keeps getting better. We are now moving away from the small, square computer screen to full dome experiences. We are working on several ideas including how to integrate biofeedback inside the full dome creating a truly fully immersive environment. As for BackYardHive and the bees, this spring we will be introducing a new beehive design that will be an advancement toward a less invasive management style and a shape that will be more natural for the bees.