AR Show with Jason McDowall

Driving from the flats of Beverly Hills up into the hills themselves feels like I’m entering into a different world. Here the picturesque, tree-line streets filled with beautiful homes give way to narrow, winding roads that snake their way to the tops of hillsides. In these hills, each home looks like an architectural marvel, delicately perched at the very edge of a steep slope, with expansive views of Los Angeles.

It was in one of these homes where I met with key members of the Snap marketing team to preview Snap's latest efforts to build AR glasses, the 5th generation Spectacles.

In this episode, I share my impressions of the device and my perspective on its place in the larger narrative of AR Glasses.

To help set the stage, I had a chance to catch up with Sophia Dominguez, the Director of the AR Platform, at Snap. 

Prior to her four and a half years at Snap, Sophia started the widely followed “All Things VR” newsletter and joined Rothenberg Ventures as an Entrepreneur in Residence before co-founding her first company, SVRF. There she created the first API and SDKs for searching and rendering 3D face filters. They powered over 280M AR experiences, and she successfully sold the company to Poplar before joining Snap.

Sophia began her career by attending NYU with a focus on how technology impacts human interaction. She then organized one of the world’s first wearable technology conferences, before working in product and operations for a startup focused on visual messaging.

You may remember Sophia from my interview with her published in the summer of 2023. Check out that two-part episode for her wonderful backstory and broader perspective on the market.

Here we keep things very focused on the 5th generation Snap Spectacles.

----

Callout: Developers in the U.S. can join the Spectacles Developer Program for $99 per month with a one year commitment by visiting www.spectacles.com/lens-studio.

I moderated a panel at the recent AWE conference that took place a couple of weeks ago in Long Beach, California. The panel featured Karl Guttag from KGOnTech, Adi Robertson from the Verve, Jeri Ellsworth from Tilt Five, and Ed Tang from Avegant.

The session was titled: Current State and Future Direction of AR Glasses and the session description reads:

A panel of experts will discuss the current and future state of AR spatial computing devices, given the influence of the new Vision Pro world. Has the Vision Pro influenced the XR industry to change the direction of the development of consumer-oriented devices? If so, what should those new directions be, and what limitations are there to implement them? The discussion will center upon examining the technical development of spatial computing with light weight glasses and the roles that they should now have.

You can find a video version of the session on the AWE Youtube channel, but presented here is an audio version I cleaned up a bit.

You can also find the show notes at thearshow.com.

Links From The Episode

- Panelist: Jeri Ellsworth of Tilt Five

- Panelist: Adi Robertson of The Verge

- Panelist: Karl Guttag of KGOnTech

- Panelist: Ed Tang of Avegant

- Breakdown: Karl outlined the panel discussion and added extra detail in a blog post.

- Video: AWE PANEL: Current State and Future Direction of AR Glasses

Paul Travers is the Founder and CEO of Vuzix, a pioneer in wearable computing, augmented reality, waveguide optics, and display engines. 

Prior to Vuzix, Paul was an engineer at Eastman Kodak, innovating the future of digital cameras. He went on to become a serial entrepreneur, having started multiple hardware technology companies, including in sound cards for PCs and USB connectivity products.

Vuzix was formed more than 25 years ago, and through it, Paul has seen spatial computing technology evolve from the early days of VR in the mid-1990s to the highly capable AR smartglasses of today. 

In this conversation, Paul highlights the potential of their new OEM platform technologies, as embodied in the recent Z100 developer edition glasses. As Paul describes, these glasses utilize Vuzix’s own light engine and waveguide optics, and they are designed for all-day wear.

We go on to discuss:

- Vuzix Z100 Smartglasses reference design,
- consumer and enterprise applications and use cases, including captioning and language translation,
- AI Integration,
- the new OEM strategy and some strategic partnerships,
- recent advances in optics, 
managing the stress and challenge of running a public company, and
- advice for entrepreneurs.

The conversation starts with the recent solar eclipse.

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com.

Links From The Episode

- Article: [Vuzix Ultralight Innovation Award at CES](https://www.ces.tech/innovation-awards/honorees/2024/honorees/v/vuzix-ultralite-s.aspx)

- Press Release: [Vuzix Z100 Introduction](https://ir.vuzix.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/2060/vuzix-introduces-z100-smart-glasses-to-seamlessly-connect)

- Article: [Vuzix Shield: Revolutionary Smart Glasses Promising Safety And Game-Changing Technology](https://www.ibtimes.com/vuzix-shield-revolutionary-smart-glasses-promising-safety-game-changing-technology-3417126) By Nica Osorio for International Business Times

- Press Release: [Vuzix Enters into a Partnership Agreement with Quanta Computer](https://www.vuzix.com/blogs/press-releases/vuzix-enters-into-a-partnership-agreement-with-quanta-computer)

- Press Release: [Vuzix Acquires SAP Software Solution Provider Moviynt](https://www.vuzix.com/blogs/press-releases/vuzix-acquires-sap-software-solution-provider-moviynt%E2%84%A2)

- Product Page: [Vuzix Ultralite](https://www.vuzix.com/pages/vuzix-ultralite)

- Product Page: [Vuzix Shield](https://www.vuzix.com/pages/vuzix-shield)

- Book: [13 Things that Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time](https://amzn.to/4dTh0Cn) by Michael Brooks

L.Michelle Salvant has been wearing smart glasses daily for years, harnessing their potential to enhance personal therapy, healing, and self-discovery. Her engagement with wearable technology began as a Google Glass Explorer, which sparked her interest in documenting and reflecting on life’s moments through what she developed as “Immersive Journaling”. This approach has not only transformed her personal experiences but also encouraged others to explore their own stories in profound new ways.

Following her passion for technology and storytelling, L.Michelle founded LMichelleMedia. The company focuses on utilizing emerging technologies like AR and VR to support educational and nonprofit projects, integrating innovative media to foster personal development and community engagement. With her company, she continues to push the boundaries of how technology can be used to enhance understanding and growth within communities, always prioritizing ethical use and privacy in development and application.

In this episode, L.Michelle shares her personal journey from experimenting with Google Glass for content creation to developing a new use case for smart glasses: “Immersive Journaling”. She recounts the pivotal moment when using video from point-of-view smartglasses for therapy and healing. While reviewing footage of her son, she abruptly came to a deeper understanding of herself and her interactions, marking the beginning of her immersive journaling journey.

L.Michelle discusses the evolution of her practice into a therapeutic tool, not just for personal reflection, but also as a means to foster self-awareness and growth in others. She highlights the impact of immersive journaling on students participating in her cohorts, revealing how this unique form of journaling has led to significant personal revelations and changes in their lives.

L.Michelle shares her aspirations for immersive journaling to become a widely recognized and utilized tool for personal development, emphasizing the importance of transparency, ethical use, and the transformative potential of viewing life through one's own eyes.

Links from the Episode:

- Google Glass - Early smart glasses by Google - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass
- Flip Video “FlipCam” - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Video
- Snapchat Spectacles - Smart glasses by Snap - https://www.spectacles.com/
- Florida A&M University - LMichelle's alma mater and a client for virtual tours - https://www.famu.edu/
- Meta Horizon Worlds - A virtual reality space by Meta - https://horizon.meta.com/
- Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses - AR glasses - https://www.vuzix.com/products/vuzix-blade-smart-glasses-upgraded
- Humane Ai Pin – AI wearable - https://humane.com/aipin

Alex Westner is the CEO and co-founder of Xander, a company at the forefront of using augmented reality (AR) technology to create innovative solutions for individuals with hearing loss. Xander's product, live captioning AR smart glasses, allows users to engage in conversations with real-time transcriptions displayed directly in their field of vision. This approach positions Xander to directly address the challenges faced by those with hearing impairments in everyday communication.

Before embarking on his journey with Xander, Alex's career was deeply rooted in the audio industry, where he developed a keen interest in the intersection of sound and technology. His background includes a rich tapestry of experiences, from working on audio plugins and contributing to the development of cutting-edge audio technology to running a band, which he describes as a blend of music and business.

These diverse experiences have equipped Alex with a unique perspective on the power of sound and the potential of technology to transform lives. At Xander, he leverages this expertise to drive innovation and deliver solutions that enhance communication accessibility for people affected by hearing loss.

In this episode, Alex shares his journey from a background in audio to developing the captioning solution that Xander builds today. We explore the challenges of deploying AR glasses to real users, the balance of designing a new type of UI, and the profound impact these glasses are having on their users' lives.

Alex also discusses the future of transcription and translation in AR, sharing insights into how this technology could evolve from speech-to-text transcription to speech-to-text translation. Join us as we uncover the potential of AR to change lives and the passion driving Xander to push the boundaries of what's possible in augmented reality communication.

Links From The Episode

- Company: Vuzix - https://www.vuzix.com/
- App: Otter.ai - https://otter.ai/
- Company: Sierra Entertainment - Space Quest, King's Quest , Leisure Suit Larry - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Entertainment
- Company: Orcam - https://www.orcam.com/
- Product: Transcribe Glass - https://www.transcribeglass.com/
- Company: XRAI Glass - https://xrai.glass/
- Company: heARsight - https://hearsight.net/
- Book: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin - https://amzn.to/3Puy9aJ
- Product: Ray-Ban Meta Stories (smart glasses) - https://www.meta.com/smart-glasses/wayfarer-shiny- black-plano-g15-green/
- Product: EssilorLuxottica Nuance (hearing smart glasses) - https://www.essilorluxottica.com/en/2023highlights/nuance-audio/
- Book: Obstacle Is The Way by Ryan Holiday - https://amzn.to/4cpITRy
- Podcast: Joel Osteen Podcast - https://www.joelosteen.com/how-to-watch/podcasts

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Zac Duff is the co-founder and CEO of JigSpace, a company focused on making it simple to create and share 3D instructions for anything, or, as their tag line suggests, making the hard to explain hard to forget.

If you’ve watched the introduction of the Apple Vision Pro, or seen the demos or device itself, then you’ve had a glimpse of JigSpace when you saw the beautifully rendered Formula F1 car with the animation of the airflow around the wings and body.

Zac’s story starts in Tasmania, where he developed an early passion for 3D and game design. He studied game design in Australia before working in the games industry and beginning to teach digital art and game design. It was in early efforts to use 3D to teach a concept that Zac found the first seeds of inspiration for what became JigSpace.

In this conversation, we go onto discuss:

- Zac’s path from game design to 3D to the discovery and pursuit of "embodied cognition",

- the origin story for the company,

- raising early funding,

- highlights and lessons learned at Boost VC's accelerator,

- explanation of a "jig" and the axioms for building a product and company around them,

- example early customers and use cases,

- the relationship with Apple and being part of the Apple Vision Pro launch,

- the cultural shift in expectations around 3D and communication, and more.

Links From The Episode

- App: [Vermillion](https://vermillion-vr.com/) - VR painting app

- Book: [Dune](https://amzn.to/4bL3ijT) by Frank Herbert. There are 6 books in this series.

- Game: [Gorilla Tag](https://www.gorillatagvr.com/) - VR game

- Game: [Frog Fractions](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1194840/Frog_Fractions_Game_of_the_Decade_Edition/) - Classic Flash game, now available on Steam.

- Blog Post: [JigSpace is in the driver’s seat](https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=mjvi0bc2) from the Apple Developer Blog.

- Product Page: [JigSpace on the Apple Vision Pro](https://www.jig.space/apple-vision-pro)

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Nils Pihl returns as our guest for a second time on the podcast. He is the CEO and founder of Auki Labs, a company dedicated to revolutionizing augmented reality positioning.

Auki’s technology uses peer-to-peer communication to establish a distributed spatial computing protocol. In this episode, we revisit some of the themes from the first episode, such as the concept of language as the oldest form of augmented reality and Auki's role in enhancing communication through augmented reality positioning.

Nils background as a behavioral engineer specializing in Meme Theory and Memetic Engineering adds a unique depth to his approach in the AR space. A serial entrepreneur, Nils brings invaluable insights and experiences from his previous ventures to his current projects.

During his first time on the podcast, Jason and Nils discussed the unique challenges of positioning for AR and looked at AR from the perspective of memetics.

Today, we first dive into how growing up online influenced Nils’ work in memetic engineering and AR. We look at look at AR use cases like retail, gaming, people-finding etc. from the perspective of meme theory.

Nils brings a unique perspective, viewing AR and meme theory as integral to evolving human communication, human ways of being, and our relationship with future AI. We also discuss neural interfaces, living and working in Asia, and more.

Links From The Episode

- Book Summary: [Ender's Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ender%27s_Game)
- Book: [Software Agents (story of Nicholas Negreponte translator)](https://amzn.to/3weTwWF)by Jeffrey M. Bradshaw
- Article: [The Egregore Passes You By](https://www.theintrinsicperspective.com/p/the-planetary-egregore-passes-you) by Erik Hoel
- Video: [If You're Not The Hero In Your Novel What Kind Of Novel Is It](https://youtu.be/puHHjl77uKM?si=Joe77oPxBmg0Y6xU&t=450) by Terence McKenna
- Video: [The Last Bronycon: a fandom autopsy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fVOF2PiHnc) by Jenny Nicholson

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com.

Michael Hoffman, or “Hoff” as most know him, is the co-founder and CEO at IQXR, a company solving the hardest problems facing global-scale, enterprise XR deployments, and doing so with an open source approach.

Previously Michael spent nearly a decade working with the Microsoft Hololens team. He was a Principal Engineering Lead at Microsoft for a couple of years, left to be the founding partner of Object theTheory, where he and his team worked with enterprises to leverage AR and VR technologies, often in combination with IoT and AI/Machine Learning. And then he went back to Microsoft for a couple of years to lead the development of the Mixed Reality Toolkit (MRTK) project.

Earlier in his career, Michael worked in software engineering roles at Google, Nike, and several startups.

In this conversation, Hoff describes how 3D visualization, with AR and VR technologies, changes our comprehension of digital information, contributes to the value of having your hands free to interact with the world, and enables better efficiency and better insights.

Within the enterprise setting, Hoff notes it’s relatively easy to get to a pilot and prove value, but it’s really difficult to deliver that value at scale.

We go on to talk about making AR/VR solutions viable within an enterprise setting at scale, including challenges around visual and audio haptics, working both online and offline, and other key bits of plumbing, as well as the misconceptions that many enterprises have about the technology.

We also discuss:
- the rationale and corporate strategy for building open source solutions,
- the role of AI in accelerating software and content development,
- the art of the AI prompt, and
- how Apple Vision Pro accelerates the market.

Hoff wraps up by discussing neurodivergence and his own growing awareness and acceptance of the challenges and benefits of neurodivergence for both his children and himself.

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Links From The Episode
- Press Release: [Microsoft Talent Joins The Mesmerise Group to Drive Growth of Immersive Technology Solutions for the Enterprise](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/microsoft-talent-joins-the-mesmerise-group-to-drive-growth-of-immersive-technology-solutions-for-the-enterprise-301856247.html)
- Article: [What is ikigai and how can it change my life?](https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-ikigai) by Elizabeth Perry for BetterUp
- Book: [Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life](https://amzn.to/48pf15s) by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles
- Book: [The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers](https://amzn.to/2ZpiQ8m) by Ben Horowitz
- Book: [Ready Player One](https://amzn.to/2X9Eu2t) by Ernest Cline

Yi Xu is the director of XR Technology at OPPO, a leading Android smartphone company that's innovating in AR with their Air Glass product line.

Prior to OPPO, Yi received a PhD in computer science, specializing in computer vision. He utilized these skills as computer scientist and engineer at GE Global Research and CapsoVision, working on a number of projects revolving around 3D computer vision. He then worked as a technical leader at JD. com, shaping the roadmap for their mobile augmented reality research.

Yi then joined OPPO in 2019 as the lab manager of Mixed Reality Lab, and quickly rose to be the company wide director of XR Technology. In this role, Yi remains close to the product and technology as he leads the development of Oppo's AR and MR product lines.

In this conversation, Yi describes his early interest in 3D and computer vision, and how this led to a passion for XR. Yi goes on to describe why OPPO, a major Android OEM, is so interested in developing smart glasses and similar technology as well as the use cases that he sees as killer apps for consumer smart glasses.

Yi stresses OPPO’s focus on design, so we go in depth on comfort, aesthetics, and requirements for smart glasses that consumers will actually wear. We also take a tangent to discuss how generative AI, both textual and visual, might help form the future of AR interfaces. Yi also discusses the massive technical challenges in the way of achieving this vision, and how OPPO is tackling those challenges.

Links From The Episode

- Review: [The Oppo Air Glass 2 are the first AR glasses I could see myself using](https://www.trustedreviews.com/opinion/the-oppo-air-glass-2-are-the-first-ar-glasses-i-could-see-myself-using-4305360) by Lewis Painter for Trusted Reviews

- Article: [The OPPO Air Glass 2 Is Easily the Most Fashionable Sleek AR Wearable on Display at MWC 2023](https://www.yankodesign.com/2023/02/28/the-oppo-air-glass-2-is-easily-the-most-fashionably-sleek-ar-wearable-on-display-at-mwc-2023/) by Sarang Sheth for Yanko Design

- Article: [OPPO pursues tech-augmented reality via MR & Health Science](https://www.ungeek.ph/2023/12/oppos-pursues-tech-augmented-reality-via-mr-health-science/) by Colin Chan for UnGeek

- Press Release: [OPPO Empowers Collaborative XR Innovation with the Launch of OPPO MR Glass Developer Edition for Snapdragon Spaces™ XR Developers Platform at AWE 2023](https://www.oppo.com/en/newsroom/press/oppo-mr-glass-developer-edition-launch-at-awe-2023/)

- Blog Post: [Introducing Smart Glass | AIR GLASS 2](https://communityin.oppo.com/thread/1222179266759491585)

- Press Release: [OPPO Introduces Air Glass, Featuring Creative Cicada Wing Design and Self-designed Spark Micro Projector](https://www.oppo.com/en/newsroom/press/oppo-air-glass/) - about the original Air Glass

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com.

Bobak Tavangar is the co-founder and CEO of Brilliant Labs, a company creating an open-source AR glasses hardware platform and pairing that with powerful generative AI models to help you engage with the real world.

Bobak studied at George Washington and Georgetown universities before completing a graduate degree at Cambridge University.

Bobak is a serial entrepreneur with a core theme running through his entrepreneurial experiences: how to create better ways for people to find and utilize information based on the context of where they are and what’s around them.

Bobak also worked for a while as a program lead at Apple.

In this conversation, Bobak covers a number of topics, including:

- dating advice for physicists,
- finding the essential essence of a product,
- his rationale for developing open source AR hardware,
- the powerful combination of generative AI and AR,
- the lure of pursuing a broad set of use cases vs being laser focused,
- recent fundraising success and advice,
- where the company is going,
- and more.

Links From The Episode

- Article: [This AR Monocle Device Is Designed To Be Hacked](https://vrscout.com/news/this-ar-monocle-device-is-designed-to-be-hacked/) by Kyle Melnick for VRScout

- Article: [Singapore AI-Powered AR Wearable Startup Scores $3 Million From Oculus And Siri Cofounders](https://www.forbes.com/sites/zinnialee/2023/06/28/singapore-ai-powered-ar-wearable-startup-scores-3-million-from-oculus-and-siri-cofounders/?sh=47e427995d2a) by Zinnia Lee for Forbes

- Article: [Brilliant Labs raises $3M for generative AI-based AR glasses](https://venturebeat.com/metaverse/brilliant-labs-raises-3m-for-generative-ai-based-ar-glasses/) by Dean Takahashi at VentureBeat

- Article: [Brilliant Labs Monocle: The World's Smallest AR Glass Is Here!](​​https://blog.learnxr.io/extended-reality/brilliant-labs-monocle-review) by Dilmer Valecillos for Learn XR

- Video: [Monocle: The Future of Open Source AR + Interview with the CEO!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N3TPATaFyo) by Sumit Basra

- Book: [The Creative Act: A Way of Being](https://amzn.to/3Rb0suO) by Rick Rubin

- [Episode Transcript](https://otter.ai/u/IFvUlHLeMMXLtkDvGlKTe2ORnLY)

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.