Timothy Bates provides his perspectives on key 2023 technology topics based on decades of industry experience.       On AI, Bates notes the industry's transition towards human-centric models tailored for specific use cases versus generalized models, citing issues with bias. He contrasts corporate, group-specific, and individual models optimized for different needs.     Regarding automotive, Bates discusses digital twin benefits demonstrated at General Motors, like improving factor productivity by virtually validating manufacturing processes. He outlines the software in ..read more

Aras Pranckevičius reminisces about his formative years at Unity, detailing the transition from a Mac-only platform to a gaming revolution with the advent of the iPhone. He critiques Unity's package management and advocates for keeping core functionality within the main codebase. Aras favors text-based programming languages, given their clarity compared to visual nodes. He delves into 3D file formats, underscoring the resilience of simpler formats like OBJ and PLY, and prefers GLTF over the complex USD, which lacks a clear specification. Aras introduces Gaussian splatting as a more editable an ..read more

In this episode of the "Building the Open Metaverse" podcast, guest Yonathan shares his journey to becoming a pioneer in the metaverse through platforms like Roblox. He discusses how young people today are "metaverse native," immersed in virtual worlds and using avatars to socialize.       His company, Super Social, builds virtual experiences for brands on Roblox and Fortnite Creative. He sees these platforms emerging as leaders, with interoperability between them unlikely in the near future.     He believes virtual worlds will empower entrepreneurship for young people ..read more

This episode features Tino Millar, CEO of Move AI, a company aiming to make 3D animation more accessible. Millar outlines his background, including PhD research in material science and sports injuries, which sparked his interest in digitizing human motion.     He explains Move AI’s markerless mocap technology, which uses AI and computer vision to turn 2D video into 3D character animation. This contrasts with expensive legacy mocap that requires special studios and suits. Millar says their precision approaches optical mocap using only consumer cameras.     Applications span ..read more

In this episode of the Building the Open Metaverse podcast, Ken Russell and Corentin Wallez from the Google Chrome graphics team discuss using web browsers and technologies like WebGPU, WebGL, and WebAssembly to build an open and accessible metaverse.     They explain how new browser capabilities like WebGPU's compute shaders and multi-threading support can enable complex 3D experiences on par with console and mobile games. Russell and Wallez examine performance considerations like streaming assets and reducing security overhead. An open question is supporting multi-user experiences ..read more

In this episode of Building the Open Metaverse, hosts Patrick Cozzi and Marc Petit discuss artificial intelligence ethics, safety, and governance with attorney Liz Rothman. Rothman provides an overview of the key issues being debated regarding responsible AI development and use.     She explains that conversations are focused on three main areas - algorithmic bias and fairness, workforce impacts from automation, and existential risks from advanced AI. On the topic of bias, Rothman emphasizes the need for equity, transparency and privacy protections as AI can amplify discrimination an ..read more

In this episode of the Building the Open Metaverse podcast, hosts Marc Petit and Patrick Cozzi are joined by computer graphics legend Jim Blinn. Blinn recounts his pioneering work in CG, from developing bump mapping while a PhD student at University of Utah in the 1970s to producing animations for the Voyager spacecraft's flybys of Jupiter and Saturn at NASA JPL.     Blinn traces his journey from growing up fascinated by astronomy, animation and education, to falling into computer programming and graphics at University of Michigan. He recounts moving to Caltech and JPL, where through ..read more

Bilawal Sidhu joins the podcast to discuss his background in emerging tech and experiences working at Google. Sidhu became interested in mixed realities at a young age when he saw visual effects being used to blend the physical and digital worlds in movies. This inspired him to learn 3D animation and visual effects software.     Later, Sidhu studied computer science and business at USC while continuing to flex his creative muscles. At Google, he worked on VR media, digital twins like Google Earth, and consumer products like Immersive View in Google Maps.     Sidhu shares le ..read more

Pixar CTO Steve May has spent 25 years in animation and visual effects, pioneering tools behind classics like Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and Cars. In the 1990s, Pixar faced fundamental challenges in making 90-minute animated films. May helped develop new techniques like animated fur and realistic water. The pace of innovation was intense with unsolved problems. Now May spearheads cutting-edge pipelines using Universal Scene Description (USD), an open standard he co-created. He chairs the new Alliance for OpenUSD to evolve USD into a formal international standard. The goal is making USD the ..read more

Peggy Johnson, CEO of Magic Leap, joins Patrick Cozzi (Cesium) and Marc Petit (Epic Games) to discuss her leadership journey, building an ecosystem, and augmented reality in the metaverse ..read more