Ross Finman (Augmodo) on Customer Discovery and Leveraging AI + AR (Part 2)

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/podcastsYou 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 NicholsonYou 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 GlassYou 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.

Kirin Sinha is the co-founder and CEO of Illumix, a company building the digital infrastructure for real world venues. You may be familiar with Illumix if you’re a fan of the horror franchise, Five Nights at Freddy’s, and the mobile game, Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery. While the game found a tremendous amount of success, the company has shifted its focus to enterprise customers and raised $18M in Series A financing in early 2023.Prior to founding Illumix, Kirin was the founder and Executive Director of Shine for Girls, whose mission is to transform the lives of middle school girls by cultivating a passion for mathematics through a program that incorporates both math and dance. Kirin has a BS in Theoretical Math and Computer Science from MIT as well as three Masters degrees spanning mathematics, machine learning, and business from Cambridge, The London School of Economics, and Stanford.Kirin and her team have been on this journey for over six years now. Kirin originally joined the podcast back in early 2021. In our most recent conversation, she shares how the company’s focus has evolved to working with major venues and brands, such as theme parks or sports stadiums, to provide the digital infrastructure for guest experiences.We go on to talk about:- the evolution of the company as they went through the Disney Accelerator in 2021,- how they are working with major venues and expanding consumer experiences,- the underlying cultural and technology shifts that are helping to drive success,- the fundraising journey,- confidence - how to build it and how to lose it, and- setting the right mindset to thrive during the fundraising process.Links From The Episode- Article: [Kirin Sinha’s Illumix AR Tech Could Be A Fashion Game Changer With New Round Of Investment](https://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccasuhrawardi/2023/03/20/kirin-sinhas-illumix-ar-tech-could-be-a-fashion-game-changer-with-new-round-of-investment/?sh=3a2f30fd1aea) by Rebecca Suhrawardi for Forbes- Article: [Kirin Sinha Is Leading the AR Charge With Illumix](https://foundr.com/articles/building-a-business/kirin-sinha) by Luke Ferris for Foundr- Article: [Mark Cuban just broke one of his own investment rules]() by Eleanor Pringle for Fortune- Video: [Mixing the Digital and Real Worlds at Disney’s Parks](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2021-12-16/mixing-the-digital-and-real-worlds-at-disney-s-parks-video) by Bloomberg Technology- Article: [Disney Accelerator Showcases Eight Companies at 2021 Demo Day](https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/disney-accelerator-showcases-eight-companies-at-2021-demo-day/)- Book: [Mythos – Book 1 of 3: Stephen Fry's Greek Myths](https://amzn.to/47rvxkX) by Stephen Fry. The hardcover is excellent. Also highly recommended as an audiobook.- Book: [The Alchemist](https://www.amazon.com/Alchemist-Paulo-Coelho/dp/0062315005/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2Q2FE3UVMGHXA&keywords=the+alchemist+by+paulo+coelho&qid=1700519903&s=books&sprefix=the+alchemist+by+paulo+coelho%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=1-1) by Paulo Coelho- Other handles: [Kirin](https://www.instagram.com/kirinsinha/) and [Illumix](https://www.instagram.com/illumixofficial/) on Instagram- [Episode Transcript](https://otter.ai/u/n6nwMYUeDVj14fvVzARjz-acOnI)You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Evan Rose is the founder and president of Rose Digital, a company specializing in using augmented reality to help brands engage and delight their customers. Beyond that, Rose Digital serves as an innovation partner for its clients. On the side, Evan is the founder of AR Post, one of the leading news sources for AR and VR. He’s also the co-founder and board president of The Steve Fund, which is the nation’s first organization focused on supporting the mental health and emotional well-being of college students of color. Prior to Rose Digital, Evan worked in finance at hedge funds and investment banks before pursuing his desire to create, and learning how to code. Evan showed his entrepreneurial drive early in life and then went on to attend Harvard to study anthropology.In this conversation, Evan describes his desire and early efforts to create and add value to the world. He goes on to describe: - how Rose Digital got started, - examples of how they are operating at the cutting edge of AR/VR and machine learning, - being the "Woz" to the client's Jobs-like vision, - whether clients/users know what they want, - potential implications and impact of the Apple Vision Pro device, - advice for startup founders borne from the experience of working with major brands, and- the challenges of being one of the fastest growing companies (as recognized by INC for the last four years).Links From The Episode- Site: AR Post – source for the latest news, reviews and opinions on augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality technologies.- Article: [ROSE Partners With Premier League for AR Experience Celebrating Summer Series](https://arpost.co/2023/07/12/rose-premier-league-ar-experience/) by Jon Jaehnig for AR Post- Case Study: [Bloomingdale's celebrates 150 Years with AR Catalog](https://www.8thwall.com/customer-work/bloomingdales)- Article: [Mastercard Launch Priceless Platform with Partners ROSE](https://www.xrtoday.com/augmented-reality/mastercard-launch-priceless-platform-with-partners-rose/) by XR Today- Article: [ROSE and Mastercard Augment the Miami Design District in a New Immersive Experience](https://arpost.co/2023/01/11/rose-mastercard-miami-immersive-experience/) by Jon Jaehnig for AR Post- Article: [FT ranking: The Americas’ Fastest-Growing Companies 2022](https://www.ft.com/content/6ee8f978-a2e0-4644-b7c7-0718a334adb7) and [INC profile](https://www.inc.com/profile/rose-digital)- Book: [Daemon](https://amzn.to/3FHr7Ko) by Daniel Suarez- Book: [Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears](https://amzn.to/3QIiHsQ) by William Hertling- [Episode Transcript](https://otter.ai/u/sV_2KIrnG9Z8SASF4eTMMgA53zw)You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com. Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Ross Finman is the CEO of Augmodo, a company utilizing AI and AR to revolutionize grocery store experiences and economics starting with the personal shoppers who fulfill online grocery purchases.Previously Ross spent 4 ½ years at Niantic. There he founded the AR mapping and Visual Positioning System (VPS) effort before becoming the AR Strategy Lead and then the general manager for the AR Headset group.He joined Niantic through the acquisition of his first startup, Escher Reality, which became the foundation for Niantic’s AR Platform, now called Lightship.He started Escher Reality as he was finishing his Ph.D. in Robotics from MIT, after previously completing his undergrad in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon.In this conversation, the second of two parts, Ross digs into his current startup, Augmodo.We discuss:- the problem they are solving,- the importance and approach to customer discovery,- how AR and AI work together to form a solution,- why now is the right timing and this the right opportunity, and- some recent progress and announcements.Ross goes on to share additional lessons learned and advice for deep tech startup founders.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- Article: [Innovating Category Management – Groceryshop 2023](https://retailwire.com/blog/innovating-category-management-groceryshop-2023/) by Georges Mirza for RetailWire- Article: [Pokémon GO creator Niantic buys Escher Reality AR startup](https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/01/niantic-buy-escher-reality-ar-startup/) by Lucas Matney for TechCrunch…and related [Niantic blog post](https://nianticlabs.com/news/escherreality).- Article: [BMW introduces Smartglasses for Motorcycling](https://mixed-news.com/en/bmw-connectedride-smartglasses-announced/) Benjamin Danneberg for Mixed News- Video: [Star Wars: Jedi Challenges Review - Lenovo Mirage AR Mobile Headset](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-hsJ0xeaT4) by TWiT Tech Podcast Network- Patent: [Augmented Reality Hat](https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2022219603A1/en) by Ross Finman, Michael Miller, and Maryam Sabour- YouTube Channel: [Perun](https://www.youtube.com/@PerunAU)—an Australian covering the military industrial complex and national military investment strategy.- [Episode Transcript - Part 1](https://otter.ai/u/5KVmmaOHVjMliriCJLzbsA1Tj8E)- [Episode Transcript - Part 2](https://otter.ai/u/m50rbDodqw1gwz1NHJgMytTr9vw)Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.

Ross Finman is the CEO of Augmodo, a company utilizing AI and AR to revolutionize grocery store experiences and economics starting with the personal shoppers who fulfill online grocery purchases.Previously Ross spent 4 ½ years at Niantic. There he founded the AR mapping and Visual Positioning System (VPS) effort before becoming the AR Strategy Lead and then the general manager for the AR Headset group.He joined Niantic through the acquisition of his first startup, Escher Reality, which became the foundation for Niantic’s AR Platform, now called Lightship.He started Escher Reality as he was finishing his Ph.D. in Robotics from MIT, after previously completing his undergrad in computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon.In this conversation, the first of two parts, Ross describes his perspective on the AR market opportunity. Specifically, we get into his journey at Escher Reality: how it started, a couple of key moments during the company’s early days, the sale process to Niantic, and some lesson learned along the way.He discusses some reflections on his time at Niantic, including the open mindset they had about developing new hardware. And he shares his current perspective on where AR has the most immediate potential.We come back in part 2 with a discussion about his current startup, Augmodo.Links From The Episode- Article: [Innovating Category Management – Groceryshop 2023](https://retailwire.com/blog/innovating-category-management-groceryshop-2023/) by Georges Mirza for RetailWire- Article: [Pokémon GO creator Niantic buys Escher Reality AR startup](https://techcrunch.com/2018/02/01/niantic-buy-escher-reality-ar-startup/) by Lucas Matney for TechCrunch…and related [Niantic blog post](https://nianticlabs.com/news/escherreality).- Article: [BMW introduces Smartglasses for Motorcycling](https://mixed-news.com/en/bmw-connectedride-smartglasses-announced/) Benjamin Danneberg for Mixed News- Video: [Star Wars: Jedi Challenges Review - Lenovo Mirage AR Mobile Headset](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-hsJ0xeaT4) by TWiT Tech Podcast Network- Patent: [Augmented Reality Hat](https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2022219603A1/en) by Ross Finman, Michael Miller, and Maryam Sabour- YouTube Channel: [Perun](https://www.youtube.com/@PerunAU)—an Australian covering the military industrial complex and national military investment strategy.- [Episode Transcript](https://otter.ai/u/5KVmmaOHVjMliriCJLzbsA1Tj8E)Please consider contributing to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/theARshow.