Cayden Pierce, CEO of Mentra, joins the show to discuss how his team is building an operating system for the next generation of personal computing through #smartglasses. Drawing on experience from MIT, building #AI agents, and earlier work with Steve Mann, he explains why all day wearability is the true barrier to mass adoption and how Mentra approaches power, latency, and ergonomics differently. Cayden breaks down the distinct roles of display glasses and camera glasses, why accessibility use cases like captions and support for blind users are leading adoption, and how enterprise workflows benefit from hands-free AI assistance. He also outlines how developers can build with Mentra OS using open web technologies, how emerging opportunities in consulting and enterprise deployment are forming, and what new hardware the company plans to release in 2026.

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Nuno Leiria, founder and CEO of Nilo and former performance lead for Unreal Engine 5 and Fortnite at Epic Games, breaks down how Nilo lets anyone build playable 3D worlds in the browser in minutes without complex #GameEngines. He explains the sketch to #3D pipeline, where #AI handles modelling, rigging, animation, and starter code, and why latency is the key design constraint. We dig into real-time co-creation, remixable templates, and “creative generation” that assembles complex scenes from primitives. Nuno also shares how aspiring builders from #Roblox or Minecraft can ramp up without learning traditional DCC tools and monetise their creations.
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Viren Tellis, co-founder and CEO of Uthana, joins the show to discuss how generative AI is reshaping motion creation for games, VFX, and interactive worlds. With over 15 years of experience leading product and operations teams at AppNexus and Hedado, Viren explains how Uthana’s technology can generate animation from text, video, or even in real time, giving creators instant, controllable motion without traditional mocap setups. He breaks down how developers use Uthana’s SDKs and APIs in Unreal, Unity, and web platforms, what defines high-quality motion, and how foundation models for human movement could power the next generation of AI-driven characters. 

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Tejas Kulkarni, CEO of Common Sense Machines and PhD in Brain and Cognitive Sciences and AI from MIT, explains how CSM turns images and sketches into game-engine ready 3D assets. He breaks down why CSM ranked highly on the 3D Arena human evaluation, what “good” means in 3D generation, and how geometry, texture, topology, and parts segmentation affect real workflows. We discuss modular pipelines, UV mapping, controllability, and integration with Blender, Maya, Unity, and Unreal. Tejas contrasts mesh pipelines with splats and NeRFs, then argues that neural network driven game engines are coming, with artists guiding structure while networks fill detail. He also tackles ethics, brain hacking loops, and adoption advice for students and studios. Listeners get concrete guidance on quality metrics, parts based editing, and near term toolchain decisions.

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Nikola Todorovic, filmmaker, VFX supervisor, and co-founder of Wonder Dynamics (now Autodesk’s Flow Studio), shares how AI is reshaping 3D animation and post-production. In this episode, he explains how Flow Studio simplifies motion capture and compositing through video-based mocap, motion prediction, and automatic generation of passes like lighting and camera tracking. Nikola discusses the shift from black-box AI tools to transparent, editable workflows, the importance of synthetic data, and the tension between human creativity and automation. He also reflects on how AI can expand access for indie creators while elevating professional pipelines. Listeners will gain insight into the future of VFX, synthetic data training, and the evolving role of artists in AI-driven production.
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Will Eastcott, CEO of PlayCanvas and veteran of EA, Sony, and Activision with credits on GTA, Call of Duty, and Max Payne, explains how Gaussian splatting is moving from experiments to production. He breaks down SuperSplat, an open source editor for cropping, recoloring, and optimizing splats for the web, and details a streaming level of detail system that scales from phones to desktops. Will shares how the new SOG format, built on lossless WebP, can cut files by up to 95 % while preserving quality. You will learn practical capture options like lidar based rigs, when to use streaming, how to ship WebXR viewers, and where splats are gaining traction in ecommerce, real estate, and cultural heritage. 

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Thomas van Bouwel is an indie XR game developer known for Cubism, one of the most successful puzzle games on Quest. In this episode, he shares the three-year journey of building Laser Dance, a rhythm stealth game that turns your living room into a laser-filled obstacle course using mixed reality. Thomas explains how rapidly evolving SDKs, scene meshing, and body tracking changed the game’s design mid-development, why real room geometry creates both magic and technical chaos, and how extensive playtesting across player abilities and physical spaces shaped the final product. He also discusses accessibility settings, music design, and the realities of sustaining an indie career in XR. Listeners will learn the hidden challenges of room-scale MR development, how to design for unpredictable environments, and how shifting market demographics impact creative and business decisions in today’s XR ecosystem.

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Bobak Tavangar, co-founder of Brilliant Labs, joins the show to unpack Halo, the lightweight open-source AR glasses built for AI-first computing. Unlike camera-heavy smart glasses designed for social media, Halo focuses on continuous low-power sensing, on-device AI inference, and full-day wearability—turning an AI agent into a true “second brain.” Bobak explains how Halo handles privacy by discarding raw media and storing only embeddings, why open source is critical for innovation, and how developers are already building real-world applications across healthcare, construction, manufacturing, and robotics. He breaks down the tech stack behind real-time multimodal AI, memory recall, and “vibe coding,” a natural language way to create apps without writing code. The conversation also explores pricing strategy, hardware trade-offs, business models, and where AR input and display technology must evolve next. Listeners will learn what it actually takes to build meaningful AI glasses and where the industry is heading in 2026–2027.

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Preston Platt, CTO and founder of Rock Paper Reality, joins the show to share how his team pushes the limits of XR development by blending AI workflows with rapid prototyping. With more than 16 years of experience in 3D modelling, animation, and spatial computing, Preston has built AR and MR projects for mobile, smartglasses, and headsets like the Apple Vision Pro. In this conversation, he explains how his studio embraces AI to accelerate code and asset generation, the role of generalists in creative teams, and why open XR remains critical for cross-platform development. He also reflects on the challenges of AI-driven characters, latency in NPC interactions, and the tradeoffs between artistry and automation. Listeners will gain insights into emerging workflows, platform adoption, and the future of shared immersive experiences across devices.

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Roy Rodenaheuser is a London-based Creative Technologist with over 12 years of experience at Yahoo, Unity, and Capgemini. In this episode he shares the story behind Canvastique3D, a project he launched in 2024 that blends physical creativity with real-time 3D visualization. Canvastique3D allows designers, artists, and even industries like textiles and furniture to project physical materials and artwork directly onto digital 3D models, opening new possibilities for rapid prototyping and product visualization.

We discuss how creatives across fashion, interior design, toys, and even beverage branding are experimenting with the tool, and why simplicity often wins over photorealism. Roy also explains his approach to balancing full-time work with side projects, the role of storytelling in product demos, and why sharing prototypes early is crucial. Listeners will gain insights into bridging physical and digital workflows, strategies for validation, and practical advice for creative technologists.

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