By: Elowen Gray
Stephen Medaris Bull is an American inventor, entrepreneur, mixed-media technologist, and media producer. His career spans prototyping, mobile media, healthcare communication platforms, and interactive performance art. Bull has also contributed to academic research, public speaking engagements, and digital storytelling initiatives.
Bull has founded several companies across healthcare, mobile technology, and caregiver services. He established Preminder Inc., a company that develops communication platforms aimed at improving the monitoring of patient–provider care plans and supporting treatment adherence.
In the mobile sector, he founded Cutlass Inc., which specializes in functional application development. He also created Home Care Reporter LLC, a service that provides caregivers with structured tools for submitting daily care reports to clients.
At Breathe-Global Devices Ltd., Bull has overseen the design and manufacturing of the Venti device, a product intended to support respiratory care. Collectively, these ventures illustrate his approach to linking communication systems, healthcare needs, and functional technology.
Bull has directed projects that integrate media design with practical applications. His AI in the Cockpit initiative is an emergency preparation training simulation for pilots, designed to enhance decision-making in crisis scenarios.
His mobile art project AzZa generated algorithmically created images for handheld devices. Distributed through the O2 Network in the United Kingdom and Handango for Sony Ericsson phones, the application represents an early use of mobile platforms for interactive art.
Bull also created Cellphonia, a cellphone opera engine that combined mobile networks with performance art. In the field of experimental design, Bull contributed to Paul Allen’s Interval Research, where he worked on early prototypes blending narrative and interactive systems.
His work included Story Island IoT, an interactive storybook integrating Internet of Things devices; You-In-A-Movie, a booth prototype that digitally placed visitors into film sequences; and Venus, a game engine with a behavioral reward framework.
Alongside prototyping, Bull worked extensively in media production. He served as First Assistant Director on numerous commercials and documentaries, collaborating with filmmakers such as Sam Peckinpah, Stephen Frears, Eric Red, and Lindsay Anderson.
He co-directed the experimental bio-documentary Margaret Sanger: A Public Nuisance with Terese Svoboda, which was screened at the J. Paul Getty Museum and recognized as a significant piece of experimental biography.
Bull’s published work explores locative media, communication technologies, and speculative design. He co-authored Neighborhood Narratives with Hana Iverson, included in an edited collection by Drew Hemment, which examined the use of mobile technology in community storytelling.
His academic papers, listed on Google Scholar, cover a range of themes. Notable works include Cellphonia: In the News/Work, which applies mobile opera systems to current events; Click History: Wherever, Whenever, a study of digital information access; and Low Earth Orbit Space Farm, a speculative design exploring communication and sustainability in space.
Across these works, Bull’s themes include locative media, the role of communication technologies in shaping social interaction, and speculative futures at the intersection of art and science. His writing has been cited in both academic and creative circles, contributing to debates about how mobile technologies influence narrative and culture.
Bull has contributed to education through teaching and presentations on interactive media. At New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he served as an adjunct professor and taught a course based on the Neighborhood Narratives project.
He has also organized and led workshops at professional conferences. At the Digital Storytelling Conference in San Francisco, Bull facilitated a session on “Storytelling in Pervasive Game Space.” At Mobilized! at Brooklyn Tech, he discussed the technical foundations of Cellphonia’s Asterisk-based system.
At the Institute for the Future (IFTF) in Palo Alto, he delivered a seminar on the “Future of Pervasive Gaming,” linking his work in locative storytelling to broader technological trends. Bull’s projects have been featured in numerous publications. NYArts Magazine published Molly Kleiman’s article “A Phone is a Phone is a…,” which reviews his mobile art projects.
His TouchToneTours initiative was also covered by the Montreal Mirror, under the headline “Our World and Others.” The New York Times featured his cellphone-guided audio tour of Greenport in a piece by Stacy Albin. These articles reflect the reception of Bull’s work across art, media, and technology outlets.
Disclaimer: This article is intended solely for informational purposes. All references to individuals, organizations, and projects are based on publicly available information and presented for factual and educational context only.
