A slow week at the end of the summer, punctuated by blockbuster earnings from Nvidia, the primary beneficiary of the AI boom, at least for now. Rony thinks they could be a ten trillion dollar company in five years. Our guest is Anurupa Ganguly, the founder of Prisms, a VR learning platform for middle and high school students. She's an MIT-trained engineer who taught in Boston Public Schools where she identified the need, and the opportunity, to transform math and science instruction with VR. Pri...
Aug 25, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Slow news week gave us a lot of time with our guest, Walter Parkes, academy-award-winning producer and co-founder and Chairman of Dreamscape location-based VR, and Dreamscape Learn, a joint venture with ASU to create immersive learning centers around the world. Walter talks about his movies, the founding of Dreamscape, and its spin-off Dreamscape Learn. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See...
Aug 18, 2023•55 min
Our guest this week is Inga Petryaevskaya, founder and CEO of ShapesXR, an app that enables you to prototype XR experiences in VR. They just raised an $8.6 round. Also in the news this week, Neuralink scores $280M to continue developing its brain implant, now being distastefully tested on chimps. Leia3D acquires competitor Dimenco, and Immersed going public through a SPAC. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! ...
Aug 11, 2023•47 min
Our guest is "Ready Player One" screenwriter Zak Penn. He is also a prolific filmmaker, earning nerd cred with the doc "Atari, Game Over." In the news this week, Siggraph's 50th kicks off in LA, $50M in funding for Inworld's AI NPCs, Virtuix (omnidirectional VR treadmill) raised $5M, and Hologate, the most successful LBVR company in the world, raised $8M. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. S...
Aug 05, 2023•1 hr 9 min
This week we're talking about Meta's reported losses on the Metaverse, Sam Altman's Worldcoin, a company that scans your eyes to confirm you're human, like Blade Runner . Our guest is Rob Tercek, author of Vaporized, and social entrepreneur, who is working on a project to create regional tech hubs to foster innovation in 3D technologies in places like Santa Fe, Charleston and Little Rock by bringing together local governments, universities and private industry. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! ...
Jul 28, 2023•48 min
This week the hosts are grappling with text-to-episode GenAI just released by the Simulation (formerly Fable Studio). Dan Olson, creator of the "Folding Ideas" YouTube channel and the film "Follow the Line," a debunking of crypto, which has garnered 11M views. The follow-up, "The Future is a Dead Mall," which takes on the Metaverse, earned 3M views. Olson schools the hosts on these topics, the future of AI, and the tech hype cycle. Dan's new movie tells the story of Meme stocks. Thank you to our...
Jul 21, 2023•1 hr
What writers and actors fear about AI, Zuck's Threads, Elon's X, and Roblox VR. Guest Shawn Frayne, CEO of Looking Glass Factory, who talks about their 3D displays and their new AI driven holographic characters, Lifeforms. Chatbots made of light. Listener question: "What is XR's killer app?" Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jul 15, 2023•54 min
The Zuck - Musk cage match, Threads v Twitter, is on, but it may play out in court. Our guest this week is the legendary Ken Bretschneider, founder of the Evermore and Grid theme parks, and co-founder of The VOID. He gave us a good taste of why he's been so successful at creating unmatched experiences: he thinks big. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informati...
Jul 07, 2023•47 min
Charlie and Ted celebrate show #150 by talking with Rony about Augmedics' big raise for its X-vision AR wearable that uses a patient's skin as a projection surface. Also, Google kills its AR project "Iris" (again), and Pokemon Go producer Niantic's layoffs. Our guests are David Ganek and Joel Newton, who co-founded City Lights, a VR Studio that finances, produces and distributes VR Experiences like "Spheres." They share details about their newest production "Yosemite," which uses photogrammetry ...
Jun 30, 2023•50 min
Rony is off again but this week we had a great conversation with guests Kylan Gibbs, founder and CPO, and Academy Award Winner John Gaeta, CCO of inWorld.ai, which enables game designers to create independent AI characters who interact with players in a video game. In the news, the Elon-Zuck "cage match," Kobold AI mining raises $200M, Elven Labs $19M, and Second Life turns 20! Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekI...
Jun 23, 2023•44 min
Charlie and Ted, and everyone else, are still talking about the Apple Vision Pro, even as three AI start-ups land over $450 M between them. One of them is four weeks old! Our guests this week are Dr. Simon Taylor, Co-Founder & Chief R&D Officer, and Kirk Ewing, Co-Founder & General Manager of Zapbox, here to introduce the new $80 AR headset, ZapBox. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Ac...
Jun 16, 2023•48 min
Ted and Rony rip into Apple Vision Pro as they dig into the future of spatial computing. Guest is producer Ed Saatchi, founder of Fable Studio (“Wolves in the Walls”), creator of virtual (AI) beings, and an upcoming movie created exclusively with AI. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 10, 2023•57 min
A brief recap of AWE, the surprise reveal of the Quest 3, and the upcoming launch of the Apple Reality One are the topics this week, followed by on-site interviews from AWE in Santa Clara with Unity CEO John Riccitiello and Hugo Swart, VP and GM of Qualcomm. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Jun 04, 2023•48 min
This week Charlie and Ted are going old style - without Rony, who joined us last fall. Charlie and Rony are having a fireside at AWE next week. The news conversation includes Anthropic's $50M raise for its Claude chatbot, Meta licensing Magic Leap tech, Nreal rebrands to XReal, launches new Beam 3DOF headset and director Doug Liman launches Area 15, a mobile AR experience to the app stores. Our guest this week is Artur Sychov, founder and CEO of Somnium Space, a SocialVR platform with a decentra...
May 27, 2023•49 min
In the wake of OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman's plea for regulation in a Senate hearing, the hosts question whether this is even possible. Also in the news is the launch of Sightful's new screenless Spacetop, which uses Nreal Light smart glasses as a display. Disney is closing its Star Wars hotel. Our guest is Ori Inbar, Executive Producer of AWE, who gives us a preview of the world's largest conference focused on XR, May 31 - June 2nd in Silicon Valley. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget t...
May 19, 2023•37 min
This week's top stories are Google I/O and the launch of PokemonGo maker Niantic's new mobile AR Game, Peridot. Our guest is entrepreneur and NYU Professor Joost van Dreunen, game industry expert and author of One Up. We discuss the Metaverse, AI in games, consolidation, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, and the future of VR games. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privac...
May 12, 2023•48 min
The hosts are their own guests in this second week after Ted's open heart surgery. There was no XR news so we jumped right into AI. Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic were at the White House to meet with the President and Vice-President. This comes as Jim Hinton, an AI pioneer, left Google to warn the public about AI's potential to flood the world with disinformation and destroy democracy by creating confusion about what is real. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don’t forget to like, shar...
May 05, 2023•16 min
Ted heroically co-hosts four days after open heart surgery. Lots of talk about AI this morning, Charlie's new "AI Weekly" column in Forbes, Replit AI Github-like scored $97 M, and Hugging Face launches. The guest is Anand Agarawala, co-founder and CEO of cross-platform collaboration and world hosting space, Spatial.io, which recently integrated with Unity. They have effectively replaced the role of AltSpaceVR (RIP). AI is going to play a big role in their future. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar...
Apr 28, 2023•53 min
Rony and Charlie take a journey into the heart of Roblox with Product VP Raj Bhatia while Ted's recovering from surgery. This week the hosts share hot takes on five XR/Metaverse funding announcements (what recession?), Snap's Partner Summit, and YouTube tech critic Dan Olson. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Apr 21, 2023•49 min
Ted picked up RSV or something worse on his travels to Augusta and points east. He's on the mend after a scary stay in the ICU, but he has been there for FIVE days. This week we talk about VR's top ten, and welcome guest Sid Odedra, Head of UI/UX of AUDI who's been using the Magic Leap 2 to visualize the future of the automotive experience. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/pr...
Apr 14, 2023•47 min
Charlie does the news solo as Ted was late because he couldn't find a place to talk at The Masters golf tournament where smartphones, even in airplane mode, are not allowed. Rony is off for Passover. In the news this week, funding for display companies, Mojo Vision and OQmented. Styly, an AR company digitizing the physical world, and Sony's new 3D display. Our guest is James Kaplan, CEO of MeetKai, a browser-based Metaverse company that uses AI to assist content creation. The company was co-foun...
Apr 07, 2023•42 min
This week our guest is Mathieu Nouzareth, CEO of the Sandbox metaverse. In the news and on our minds this week are Epic's Fortnite metaverse, Disney's dead metaverse, Apple's Reality One, Pico's Tik Tok problem, and Fat Boy Slim's amazing VR concert in EngageVR. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 31, 2023•52 min
This week we're talking about GDC, Epic's "State of Unreal," its Fab new asset store, its virtual economy, and now users can upload content from UE5 into Fortnite. Spatial is doing something similar with Unity. Also, Luma 3D AI, Second Life mobile, and Adobe introduces Firefly AI. Our guest is CEO Steve Zhao of SandboxVR, a chain of 43 VR centers worldwide. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast....
Mar 24, 2023•46 min
Ted and Charlie made good on their promise to record a special edition of the podcast this afternoon to finish their conversation about the multidisciplinary social musical mash-up that denizens call South-by. More about Leia 3D Lume Pad, Holokit, and meet Miroki, a helpful robot with a cartoon face. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Mar 18, 2023•37 min
Charlie and Ted are back with tales from SXSW. In the news: Meta layoffs, Adept AI's massive round, JP Morgan Payments backed Tilia raises $22M for metaverse currency and the Apple XR launch. Our guests are Karen Palmer, producer, and director of “Consensus Gentium” a smartphone movie that won first place at SXSW for Best XR Experiences Cameron Kostopoulos, whose VR experience “Body of Mine” won the special XR Jury Prize, and Roman Rappak of Miro Shot, which performed a sold out mixed reality co...
Mar 18, 2023•1 hr 3 min
Charlie is live in Austin at SXSW and Ted soon will be. Our guest is Blake Kammerdiener, who's responsible for programming the XR Exhibition. Also up this week, RIP Altspace, Pimax Hi-Res HMD scores $30M, Live, free Rec Room music festival. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Mar 10, 2023•35 min
This week we're talking about Mobile World Congress, Xiaomi's AR smart glasses, Meta's product roadmap, Hexa 3D and the AI driven conversion of 2D photos into 3D assets. Our guest, Qualcomm VP Hugo Swart, will be joining us from MWC in Barcelona, to talk about Qualcomm's dual compute, carrier partnerships and Snapdragon Spaces. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor...
Mar 03, 2023•53 min
The hosts are focused on AI this week, and in particular its application to immersive media. Bigscreen's making a VR HMD, and guest Alex Herrity, CEO of Anima, has launched a line of AI enabled virtual pets which you see and interact with in AR. Rony's full of startup advice for his developing business. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information....
Feb 18, 2023•35 min
This week we're talking about real Holograms, Realwear's $375M SPAC, and $50M new financing for Light Field Lab, whose CEO Jon Karafin is our guest. Mawari and Looking Glass also raised money this week. More layoffs hit the depleted mixed reality group Microsoft. Rony says he thinks XR is doing a big exhale. Karafin's Light Field Lab means Holograms, and Rony knows a lot about this topic, too. Ted is scouting new tech for the six new theme parks Paramount Global, and is planning a trip to San Jo...
Feb 10, 2023•47 min
On this week's podcasts the hosts talk about Meta (as always), the stock buyback, and the share spike; Samsung, Qualcomm, and Google are working with Meta and Microsoft to make an AR headset; what will the Apple device really look like? Our guest is HoloLens co-inventor and head of the XR Guild, Avi Bar-Zeev, who talks with us about Apple, Assisted Reality, why AR needs AI and the ethics of XR. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar! Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all s...
Feb 03, 2023•47 min
