Sight - Sohail Inayatullah & Samantha Wolfe

Join Sight and  Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies. In this interview, they discuss how to predict the future, Sohail's classes in future studies, and how they connect to Samantha's teachings at NYU. Sohail Inayatullah, a political scientist and futurist, is the UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity. Malaysia. He is also Professor at Tamkang University, Tamsui and Associate, Melbourne Business School, the University of Melbourne. Previously, he was adjunct professor at the Centre for Policing, Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence at Macquarie University, Sydney. He is listed in the top two percent of the world's scientists as measured by the highest impact of citations.  

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Nezka Pfeifer, Museum Curator at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum. In this interview, they discuss Nezka's research in olfaction to support her exhibits, her work in curation and the community she has found in the Smell field.  Nezka Pfeifer is an interdisciplinary museum curator who develops botanically-themed exhibitions at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, a world-renowned research and horticultural organization. She focuses on projects where botany, culture, and art are intertwined through exhibition narratives and multicultural experiences.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Liam R. Findlay, Themed Attraction and Historical Scenting Consultant at AromaPrime. In this interview, they discuss Liam's research in smell, his work with amusement park scent curation and the impact of historical scent preservation.  Liam R. Findlay is a Themed Attraction and Historical Scenting Consultant for AromaPrime, where he also manages the company and its factory. His role involves guiding theme parks, museums and other attractions through the processes of using immersive scents. These scents might be specially created, perhaps based on careful research, or selected from AromaPrime's collection, with the purposes of telling stories, evoking emotions, influencing behaviour or educating. In his spare time, Liam researches the uses of scents at visitor attractions throughout history, he makes YouTube videos on the topic, and he has contributed to the academic Odeuropa project. Liam's current focus is a handbook for attractions hoping to use scent.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Nils Lommerin. In this interview, they discuss how Nils got involved in the food industry and his current endeavors as an entrepreneur in the business. Nils Lommerin was president and CEO of Del Monte Foods. During his tenure growth in EBITDA increased more than $46 million in three years.Nils has also worked at Texas Pacific Group, Oxford Health Plans, PepsiCo, Post Cereals, and in consulting roles at Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Texas Pacific Group and KKR.Nils earned a Master of Science degree from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from East Stroudsburg University. 

Join Touch Expert Yulia Sion as she interviews Craig Shultz and Joe Mullenbach. In this interview, they discuss haptics research and the future of touch technologies. Craig is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois College of Engineering and co-founder of Fluid Reality. He specializes in interactive embedded systems and haptic actuation. His work has won 6 best paper awards and nominations at premiere ACM and IEEE venues and has been featured in venues such as NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TechCrunch, and Engadget.Before UIUC and Fluid Reality, Craig finished his post-doc at the Future Interfaces Group at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and was the VP of Research and Development at Tanvas, where he developed novel electroadhesive touchscreens based on his work in surface haptics at Northwestern University's Center for Robotics and Biosystems.Joe Mullenbach has spent his career focused on the physical interface between human and machine. A researcher and technologist in the field of haptics, Joe is co-founder and CEO of Fluid Reality, a technology startup producing the first practical high resolution tactile displays to let humans feel what robots feel in teleoperation. Fluid Reality technology imprints small bubbles into the skin, providing instant understanding of contact location, edges, orientation, and pressure. This work has been honored with numerous awards including as a Fast Company Innovation by Design Honoree 2024.  Joe was an early employee at haptic touchscreen startup Tanvas, and holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Spyros Drosopoulos. In this interview, they discuss Spyros' experience as a perfumer, how he has cultivated his brand, and how his processes have adapted overtime. Born in the Netherlands, raised in Greece and educated in Germany, Spyros Drosopoulos has an unusual background for a perfumer. Aside from being a self-taught perfumer, he also happens to be a former academic with a doctorate in cognitive neuroscience. After several years of intensively studying and experimenting with hundreds of perfume materials, Spyros released his first creations onto the market and founded BARUTI. Aside from that, Spyros works on other fascinating fragrance projects like The Red List Project — an initiative dedicated to conserving endangered plant species through recreating their scent. He creates for other brands, has worked on AI and perfume, provided scent(s) for various art expositions and projects, performs live with scent and also regularly teaches perfume courses at the Institute for Art and Olfaction in Los Angeles.

Join Sight and Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Brandon Powers. In this interview, they discuss Brandon's background in performance and how he has been able to connect this with his love of innovation.   Brandon Powers is a creative director + choreographer who creates experiences across physical and virtual space. Blending his background in contemporary dance, theatre, and immersive technology, his work focuses on capturing liveness in the digital, building interdisciplinary communities, and shifting culture towards a more embodied future. His projects span technologies and forms incorporating AI, extended reality, and live performance including Queerskins: ARK (Venice International Film Festival, Cannes XR), Frankenstein AI (Sundance Film Festival), Duet (New York Live Arts), and Kinetic Diffusion (FilmGate Interactive, New Images). This past year, he created Echoes in Motion, a mixed reality dance experience celebrating the Library of the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in New York City. Brandon is the founder of constellation, an immersive strategy and production studio building digital communities and multi-platform experiences for theatrical brands. Brandon is on staff at Musical Theatre Factory, where he leads MTFxR, the USA’s leading program supporting the development of XR musical experiences. He is a Lincoln Center Collider Fellow, Onassis ONX Studio member, NEW INC alum, and has spoken on the intersection of arts and technology across the world at TCG National Conference, Verizon’s 5G Lab, DanceXR Singapore and more.Brandon Powers website: www.brandon-powers.comMTFxR Garage: https://www.mtf.nyc/garage25

Join Sight and  Emerging Tech Expert Samantha Wolfe as she interviews Dana Ware, Chief Creative Officer at ARound. In this interview, they discuss Dana's background in AR & VR and how she has been able to connect her work to the entertainment industry.  Dana Ware is a creative innovator and leader in immersive technologies, blending her expertise in augmented and virtual reality with a passion for diversity and inclusion. As Chair of Women in Games+ IGDA SIG, Dana champions opportunities for underrepresented groups in gaming and tech. She is currently the Chief Creative Officer of ARound and an Advisor for The VOID. Spearheading cutting-edge projects that merge storytelling and technology, including partnerships with leagues, theme parks, and major global brands. An advisor for GDC’s Future Realities Summit and The Webby Awards, Dana also developed Utah's first Immersive Technology class at the University of Utah. A UCLA graduate and member of the Producers Guild of America and TV Academy, she continues to influence the entertainment and technology industries with visionary leadership.

Join Smell Expert Sofia Ehrich as she interviews Emanuela Maggioni, CEO and CTO of OW Smell Made Digital. In this interview, they discuss Emanuela's background in smell research and how she has been able to adapt her research across multiple fields.  Emanuela has over 16 years of experience in research and consultancy related to smell, including working with Unilever, Benetton and IFF. With over 45 scientific publications and a PhD in Psychology of Smell Perception and Emotions, she is also a Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Fellow and Honorary Research Fellow at the UCL Department of Computer Science. Her work and research have led to two invitations to exhibit novel smell technology at the World Economic Forum.

Join Haptics Expert Yulia Sion as she interviews Marina Toeters, Co-Founder of the Fashion Tech Farm and Owner of by-wire.net. In this interview, they will discuss the accessibility of fashion and how her research has created new types of garments. Marina Toeters is a Red Dot winning Fashion Tech Designer. She operates on the cutting edge of technology and fashion design. Through her business by-wire.net she stimulates collaboration between the fashion industry and technical innovators for a relevant fashion system and supportive garments for everyday use. She advises on product development via prototyping and a research through design approach. She designs and develops concepts to inspire the world how fashion could be.As a teacher, coach and researcher, she works for the fashion department (HKU) and the industrial design department (TU/e). In 2019 Marina edited the book Unfolding Fashion Tech: Pioneers of Bright Futures and recently opened the Fashion Tech Farm, a studio, incubator and small-scale production facility for innovative fashion, based in Eindhoven, The Netherlands.Check out more of her work below:www.by-wire.net www.fashiontechfarm.comwww.bilihome.org