Mind-Blowing Interviews with Tech Pioneers
A collection of our favorite mind-blowing interviews with world-leading emerging technology pioneers.
Miss Teen Crypto
Event Speaker and Host of the Miss Teen Crypto Show
Miss Teen Crypto is a digital creator, event speaker and Host of the Miss Teen Crypto Show. 19-year-old cryptocurrency influencer Randi “Miss Teen Crypto” Hipper’s focus is Spreading Crypto and NFT Adoption to Gen Z.
Her experience spans from being a featured speaker at conferences such as NFT NYC, LA Blockchain Summit, Miami Crypto Experience, and Shitcoin Miami. She has been interviewed on FOX News, FOX Business, The New York Times, USA Today, CoinDesk TV, Coin Telegraph, Ledger’s The Story, and Market Insider to name a few.
Caspar Thykier
Co-Founder and CEO, Zappar
Caspar Thykier is the CEO and co-founder of Zappar, a leading developer of augmented reality (AR) tools and experiences and whose mission it is to democratize AR. Some of Zappar’s partners include the world’s biggest brands, including Shazaam, Warner Bros, Hasbro, PEZ, Nestle, Tilly’s, 7-Eleven, Manchester City and the San Francisco 49ers.
Prior to Zappar, Caspar was an adman. While at AMV BBDO, he worked alongside industry experts and company partners, which consequently led him to becoming the youngest board director on record at the time. Caspar went on to help found a London-based ad agency before moving into PR and then ultimately starting a successful company focused on democratizing Augmented Reality — Zappar.
About Zappar
Zappar, is an AR platform and creative studio rolled into one. It's mission is to democratize AR & MR. Their team has created groundbreaking experiences for the world's biggest brands - showcasing how AR technology can transform packaging, illuminate events and elevate marketing campaigns with innovative, engaging content. ZapWorks toolkit puts the power of AR in the hands of designers and developers, enabling them to push the boundaries of interactive creativity, both with and without code. ZapBox is the first affordable, Mixed Reality kit that allows developers and businesses to re imagine how they design, build and create 3D experiences.
In this episode Caspar explains and demonstrates features of a mixed reality kit with unique capabilities. Check out the video because Zappar is giving away FREE kits. Watch the video on how to turn your boring phone into MAGIC and make sure that you are subscribed to TDA.
Alan Smithson
CEO and Founder of MetaVRse
Alan Smithson CEO of MetaVRse, a company helping businesses leverage the transformative power of XR. He's also the co-founder of XR Ignite, a community hub and virtual accelerator for startups, studios, and developers wanting to connect with enterprise customers and their large business problems. His company also offers MetaVRse Engine, a universal, web-based 3D creation platform that enables anyone to leverage the power of spatial computing.
He is a proud Father, Business Leader, TEDx Speaker, and Podcast Host. Previous to MetaVRse, Mr. Smithson invented the World’s first touchscreen DJ system, Emulator - featured on Dragons’ Den and winning DJ Mag’s Innovative Product of the Year in 2011. He is an Independent Global Advisor on the Business of XR to a select group of the world's largest companies, chief investment advisors, and ultra high net worth family offices.
About MetaVRse
MetaVRse, a Global XR consulting and custom development firm with over 100 projects (including 7 world firsts) offers a tool for global organizations to create web-based 3D/XR experiences that will drive value across the worlds of business and education.
The MetaVRse Engine is a universal 3D/XR creation tool and editor for Marketing, Commerce, Training and Education. It is a fully web-based design and development tool for quickly and easily creating immersive 3D and virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (XR) experiences and deploying them across multiple operating systems, browsers, and devices using a no-code/low-code solution.
In this episode, Alan Smithson joins us LIVE for a game of “Would You Rather?” and “Hot or Not” After, we will be talking about XR for business, AWE, and his latest project, XR Ignite Community Hub & Hyper-Accelerator
Joel Breton
President of Sixense Studios
Joel Breton President of Sixense Studios, has produced and launched more than thirty top-selling video games across twenty-five commercial platforms in his career. His first role as a game producer was for GT interactive, where he produced several key franchises, including Doom, Duke Nukem, Total Annihilation, Unreal, and the first version of the Unreal Engine.
He then worked for Bethesda Softworks, where he launched top-selling games Sea Dogs, Burnout, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Joel is currently VP of Global VR Content for HTC VIVE. He is actively working with development studios around the world to ensure a vibrant content portfolio across all categories of VR content including games, education, video, music, social, health, and entertainment.
About Sixense
Sixense Enterprises Inc. is a leading developer of immersive computing solutions for companies across industries, including healthcare, training, retail, and entertainment. Our team leverages years of experience in virtual and augmented reality to create a powerful competitive advantage for our customers and partners. The Sixense Full-Presence System is a turnkey VR/AR solution that enables companies to develop and commercialize products that improve lives.
In this episode, we'll be talking with our special guest President of Sixense Studios Joel Breton about the future of job training. We discuss how Sixense Enterprises Inc. is pioneering immersive and precise experiences.
Dimitri Mikhalchuk
Co-Founder & CRO of TeslaSuit
Dimitri Mikhalchuk is the founder and co-founder of several tech companies and start-ups. He is also in charge of the London based digital marketing agency. Previously he worked with some of the world’s leading chip and electronics manufacturers.
Dimitri is an expert in electronics, haptics, wearables, robotics and software development. He’s at the top of the most influential people in the field of VR / AR (according to Evening Standard, UK). Dimitri is also passionate about space technologies. Dimitri graduated from Belarusian State University of IT and Electronics and holds a master's degree in Electronic Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Surrey.
About Teslasuit
TESLASUIT is a human-to-digital interface designed in the form of a full-body AR/VR suit. Our three integrated systems include haptics, motion capture, and biometry to provide realistic immersion and accelerates mastery.
Teslasuit is used in virtual and augmented reality industry as an interface between human and virtual environments. Teslasuit, a smart textile two-piece full bodysuit that consists of a jacket and trousers designed by engineers, programmers, doctors and AR/VR experts.
Teslasuit makes the experience in virtual and augmented reality more realistic and effective through the synergy of systems: haptics, motion capture, and biometry. At present, Teslasuit is intended for integration into a diverse range of enterprise applications and training solutions.
TESLASUIT award winning haptic technology allows to transmit touch: an additional channel of communication and a new way of making VR experience deeper, immersive, and more realistic. Electrostimulation based haptics increases immersion and improve learning. By means of stimulation of muscles and nerve endings, the human body becomes more alert and active, which favors learning.
In this episode, we'll be talking with our special guest Dimitri Mikhalchuk Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer of Teslasuit to discuss the future of full-body haptics, bio-metrics, and motion capture.
Christopher Lafayette
Founder of Flotilla, HoloPractice, & Immersive Directory
Christopher Lafayette is an emergent technologist with a focus on the medical industry, Silicon Valley National & International speaker advocating for Diversity in Technology. Founder of XR platforms, Flotilla, HoloPractice, and the Immersive Directory. He's creating a series of immersive medical incubator platforms, building fully equipped immersive Holodecks and creating emergent technology applications and hardware.
About Black Technology Mentorship Program
A mentor-mentee program that inspires, educates, and brings underserved Black communities into technology. That also works with companies to enable impact through cultural training and development.
Build a career pipeline of black talent that’s prepared for the evolution of industry 4.0 and emergent technologies.
Create environments where new entrepreneurs are inspired to contribute their complete working selves and are guided well.
In this episode, we'll be talking with our special guest Christopher Lafayette, to discuss the importance of making sure communities and industries outside of tech have a voice in emerging technologies.
Dalia Lasaite
Co-Founder & CEO of CGTrader
Dalia Lasaite co-founder and CEO of CGTrader, the world’s largest source for licensable stock and custom 3D models, CGTrader operates the self-service CGTrader Marketplace which features more than 1,000,000 3D models and a managed community of close to two million users, including highly-skilled 3D designers and the CGTrader Enterprise 3D Modeling platform which allows enterprise customers and online retailers to transform their 2D product images into photo-realistic 3D models.
Before she co-founded CGTrader in 2015, Lasaite gained experience as a founder and managing director. She founded a popular ride-sharing service in Vilnius, Lithuania, and worked in New York developing software solutions for enterprise social media analysis. Dalia is an Award winning tech entrepreneur with a BSc degree in Economics and Business Administration from Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, and a MSc degree in Finance from University of Lausanne.
In this episode, we'll be talking with our special guest, Dalia Lasaite co-founder and CEO of CGTrader, to discuss the launch of their brand new enterprise solution ARsenal, and how Augmented Reality is revolutionizing retail.
Simon Che de Boer
Creative Visionary Officer of RealityVirtual.co and DeepPBR.io
Simon Che de Boer is a virtual reality content creator, renowned photogrammetrist, and founder of realityvirtual.co - a visual effects technology company streamlining real-world encapsulation - allowing them to deliver a true sense of ‘being there’. His work has received international recognition for the level of quality and is commonly cited as the gold standard for photo-realistic digital-twin experiences.
Simon was part of team that won a Lumiere award for Queen Nefertari's Tomb experience in 2020. He has also digitally captured the Large Hadron Collider as well as many other sites of cultural significance across the world. In New Zealand Simon headed up Mana VR, NZ Parliament, Sky Tower experience and the Wallace Trust Art Gallery.
Simon’s work is commonly referenced in Forbes, Autodesk, and other technical publications for being something of a gold standard for photo-realistic real world encapsulations, gaining the company support from the likes of Epic games, Reality Capture and NVIDIA to name a few.
Simon is the team leader at realityvirtual and continues to innovate and direct research and development programs.
Simon’s real-world digitization of sites of cultural significance span the globe — from King Tutankhamun and Nefertari’s Tomb in Egypt to local experiences for indigenous Māori in New Zealand, and other heritage projects such as New Zealand Parliament and the Treaty of Waitangi. Most recently Simon has been working on bleeding-edge AI to streamline deep learning techniques and set the stage for a visual effects automation revolution. These tools will aid in the digitization of vast sites across the globe - a means to back up our planet.
About RealityVirtual
realityvirtual.co is a world leading New Zealand based creative technologies R&D collective with an enthusiast towards the visual realm. - In a nutshell, we are streamlining VFX & capture technologies for real-world encapsulation - allowing us to deliver a true sense of presence in many forms, a ‘being there’ sensation. We heavily focus on automation / optimization of the VFX pipeline as to allow rapid production ready real-time simulations of places, spaces and faces.
Volumetric capture, computer vision, photogrammetry and deep learning are in the forefront of our technologies. Our experiences are applicable in virtual productions, education initiatives and slice of life experiences of culturally significant locations around the world.
In this episode, we'll be talking with our special guest Simon Che de Boer, world's leading expert in photogrammetry and 3D scanning techniques to discuss the future of capturing memories, early beginnings of starting a band in New Zealand, recalling the experience of his home burning down and recreating it in Virtual Reality, his early ventures into home automation design and photogrammetry, capturing the sacred tombs in Egypt and more.
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