Category Archives: Futurist

Science fiction writer Neal Stephenson has joined the tech start-up Magic Leap as "chief futurist". The author of "Snow Crash" and "Cryptonomicon," who has also been involved in creating video games, blogs about why he signed on with the company on its website.

"In a teeming, overcrowded hardware lab in a South Florida strip mall, I got the demo from Rony [Abovitz], the founder and CEO. Shortly thereafter, I agreed to become Magic Leaps Chief Futurist.... what fascinated me wasnt what Magic Leap had done but rather what it was about to start doing. Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniques--some tried and true, others unbelievably advanced--to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment."

In other words, Magic Leap, which recently raised $542 million, is planning to create augmented reality technology that could project 3-D images in real space. The company's website shows images of schoolchildren sitting at a table surrounded by suspended seahorses, cupped hands holding a levitating elephant or a tiny girl holding a puppy, and dragons flying across the sky.

Stephenson spoke to the website io9 about his role: "[I]f you're not actually doing practical things with the technology and engaging with the engineers and understanding the science, then it's impossible to futurize. So I've been telling Rony and the other people involved with Magic Leap from the very beginning that I wanted to have direct involvement in actually using this hardware as a creative platform."

Stephenson's next novel, "Seveneves," is coming from HarperCollins in May 2015.

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Neal Stephenson signs on as tech company's 'chief futurist'

If nothing else, Magic Leap knows how to capture the imagination.

Silicon Valley is already abuzz over this stealthy augmented-reality startup, mainly due to some funding from Google and a brief glimpse of the companys technology that shows a 3-D virtual elephant floating above someones hands. And now, the company has raised its cachet even higher by teaming up with big-name science fiction writer and game designer Neal Stephenson, author of such sci-fi classics as Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

Stephenson will hold the title of Chief Futurist at the mysterious Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company, which recently announced a $542 million round of funding led by Google. The sci-fi writer revealed his new title with a blog post, saying hed been swayed to join Magic Leap after receiving a demonstration of the companys technology.

Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniquesto produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment, he writes, saying its a tool that will serve not only gamers but readers, learners, scientists, and artists.

As one of the companys visionaries, Stephenson will work with the startup in a more theoretical, rather than technical, capacity. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public, he writes.Hell join other notable names at the company, including founders Rony Abovitz, the former head of a medical robotics company MAKO Surgical, which was sold for $1.65 billion, and Richard Taylor of WETA Workshop, the company that created the props and creatures seen in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Thus far, the startup has been extremely tight-lipped on what its final product will be. Publicly, it released little more than a GIF of a tiny elephant appearing in an open pair of hands as a puzzling hint of what it would eventually debut. But some have speculated that the company could be making a Google Glass-like wearable that realistically blends computer-generated graphics with real world.

In this manner,Magic Leap adds to a wealth of efforts by othersnotably Google Glass and the Oculus Riftto bring augmented reality and virtual reality into the mainstream. When the company landed that $542-million pile of cash, the investment didnt come from Google Ventures, Google Capital, or any of the search giants other investment armsbut rather Google Inc. itself.

Additionally, Magic Leap nabbed senior vice president Sundar Pichai, the man in charge of Googles core products, as a member of the startups board. And other investors carry their own cachet, including Qualcomm, Legendary Pictures, and venture capitalist bigwigs Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, and KPCB.

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Sci-Fi Author Neal Stephenson Joins Mystery Startup Magic Leap as Chief Futurist

Magic Leap, a startup which is working on wearable augmented reality tech with games applications -- and which has also been invested in, by Google, to the tune of $500 million dollars -- has hired author Neal Stephenson as its chief futurist.

In a new blog post, Stephenson hints at the potential for the tech, particularly vis-a-vis games.

"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions," he writes. "It feels like the right time to give those people a new medium: one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain, and in which itas possible to get up off the couch and move -- not only around your living room, but wherever on the face of the earth the story might take you."

The company has recruited game industry veterans including 7th Guest creator Graeme Devine, and is currently recruiting for game projects involving Devine and Weta Workshop (Lord Of The Rings) concept designer Greg Broadmore - Weta's Sir Richard Taylor is an advisor to the firm.

Stephenson's latest game-related project was a Kickstarter-funded prototype called Clang aimed at creating realistic swordplay for games, which ran out of money before getting picked up for production; the project was ultimately killed.

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Magic Leap recruits writer Neal Stephenson as chief futurist, games hinted

Chris Davies

If you thought Google-invested startup of augmented reality mystery Magic Leap couldn't get any more intriguing, think again: famed science-fiction author Neal Stephenson is now onboard. The writer - perhaps best known for his novel Snow Crash, which included plenty of augmented and virtual reality technology - will be Magic Leap's Chief Futurist, it was announced today, joining the hype-causing team experimenting with ways to project light fields onto the retina and use them to deliver believable three-dimensional environments. Turns out, Magic Leap's demonstration was enough to convince the award-winning author that the technology has some serious potential.

Published back in 1992, Snow Crash was Stephenson's third novel, set in the near-future - or what the author believed was nearly possible given the technological landscape at the time - and making heavy thematic use of the so-called Metaverse.

This, a successor to the internet, was a virtual environment in which users were each represented as digital avatars. While public access terminals offering simple black and white access were available in the novel's universe, the most common method of access were personal display goggles, though which a first-person view of the Metaverse would be delivered.

At the time, Stephenson says, he believed that sort of personal virtual reality environment would be just around the corner. Instead, it's taken considerably longer to get anywhere close, and the nearest to mass-market wearable display approaches have either focused on delivering basic notifications, like Google Glass, or some sort of game arena, like Oculus Rift.

Magic Leap surged from near-unknown status back in October, after it was revealed that Google - among others - had made an investment totaling more than half a billion dollars.

The technology that's paying for is far from detailed at this stage, though Stephenson describes it as "a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment."

What the author is clear on, however, is that tech alone won't be enough to make Magic Leap a success. Instead, he writes, it will demand a whole new world of entertainment like games, specially written to take advantage of the virtual reality potential.

"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. Its hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment. It feels like the right time to give those people a new medium: one in which three-dimensionality is a reality and not just an illusion laboriously cooked up by your brain, and in which its possible to get up off the couch and move--not only around your living room, but wherever on the face of the earth the story might take you. Making such games is not going to be a matter of porting existing ones to the new system. Its going to mean redefining the medium from the ground up" Neal Stephenson, Chief Futurist, Magic Leap

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Magic Leap adds Neal Stephenson as VR chief futurist

Wearable Spotlight: Brian David Johnson, Futurist at Intel
Brian David Johnson, Futurist at Intel sat down with us at WEST: Wearable Entertainment and Sports Toronto to talk about wearables and IoT and what needs to ...

By: We Are Wearables

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Wearable Spotlight: Brian David Johnson, Futurist at Intel - Video

Daniel Simon: Conceptual Designer and Automotive Futurist (Part 1)
Daniel Simon is a designer #39;s God. Blessed with talent, he worked for Volkswagen in Wolfsburg and Barcelona before giving up the car industry to move to Brazi...

By: Form Trends

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Daniel Simon: Conceptual Designer and Automotive Futurist (Part 1) - Video

Cary, NC (PRWEB) December 16, 2014

How do you prepare for an uncertain and unpredictable future? The answer, says Global Futurist Jack Uldrich, "is that you and your organization must start unlearning old ineffective ways of thinking, embrace new ideas and be willing to act in unorthodox ways. You have to be ready, not just seem ready."

Future-proofing the state of North Carolina, says Uldrich, "Will begin with their state motto: 'To be rather than to seem.' In order to truly prepare for the onslaught of change that is coming, the leaders of North Carolina are going to have to be aware, be engaged, and be innovative."

North Carolina expects to add nearly 3 million people between now and 2030. If that happens, North Carolina will become the seventh most populous state in the country. In order to get North Carolina ready for such a population explosion the NCCC members are gathering at the Future of North Carolina Forum today to ask the questions: Are We Ready? Do we have the necessary infrastructure in place? Enough clean water? And will job growth keep pace with the growth of our population? The North Carolina Chamber of Commerce is one of the most influential institutions within the state, and they plan to facilitate an engaged discussion and discover some of the answers to those questions with Uldrich's help.

Jack Uldrich intends to encourage the Forum's participants to look both inside and outside the box for their answers. Uldrich says, the NCCC must go inward first. By going inward, "and becoming aware of the obsolete knowledge and old ways of doing business, they will then be far better positioned to seize tomorrows opportunities."

Uldrich travels the world speaking on the topics of future-proofing, unlearning, and the transformational trends of tomorrow. In 2014 some of his speaking highlights included touring the country with the Verizon Wireless Technology Tour, presenting at ABB's latest product launch, speaking in Kuala Lumpur at the Million Dollar Round Table, and addressing Emerson's 24/7 Exchange. He also often leads follow up sessions with his clients, helping them to strategize and create practical yet bold action plans.

The author of over eleven books, Uldrich has written on subjects ranging from nanotechnology to Lewis and Clark. His latest articles focus on the Top 10 Trends of 2015 and his Predictions for 2015.

"Being rather than seeming" really is key to so much of what I speak on, says Uldrich. "I look forward to addressing the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce and helping them adapt for the tides of change that are soon to roll in."

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The Key to Future Proofing: Being vs. Seeming

futurist #39;s Editing constest #2 response
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futurist's Editing constest #2 response - Video

Ford #39;s "futurist" predicts upcoming trends
Sheryl Connelly is Ford #39;s manager of global consumer trends and "futuring." While she works for the auto giant, her job has little to do with cars. Connelly joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss...

By: CBS This Morning

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Ford's "futurist" predicts upcoming trends - Video

Charlotte, NC (PRWEB) December 13, 2014

According to population studies: North Carolina expects to add nearly 3 million people between now and 2030." If a population explosion like that actually occurs, North Carolina will become the seventh most populous state in the country.

To that end, North Carolinas Chamber of Commerce is gathering at the Future of North Carolina Forum on December 16th to ask questions like, Are We Ready? Do we have the necessary infrastructure in place? Enough clean water? And will job growth keep pace with the growth of our population? As one of the states most influential leaders, the Chamber of Commerce is aiming to facilitate an engaged discussion and discuss what some of the answers to those questions might be. Keynote speaker, global futurist Jack Uldrich will encourage them to look outside the box with his presentation "Business as Unusual: How to Future-Proof North Carolina Against the Ten Trends Transforming Tomorrow."

Jack Uldrich, Global Futurist and Best-Selling Author likes to quote baseball great, Yogi Berra. Berra once said, The future aint what it used to be. Uldrich says, He was right. In fact, the future is going to be downright unusual. Uldrich says, This begs the obvious question: How do you prepare for an uncertain and unpredictable future? In his Business as Unusual keynote address he will encourage NCCC members to think and act in unorthodox ways.

In his unconventional keynote presentation, Jack Uldrich intends to help the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce Members attending the 2014 Forum unlearn the barriers currently holding them back so they can unlock new levels of creativity and innovation. Hell conclude by guiding participants through a series of tangible actions that will unleash their ability to create their own future and, in the process, achieve uncommon levels of success regardless of how large the population grows.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website. Media wishing to know more about either the event or interviewing Jack can contact Amy Tomczyk at (651) 343.0660.

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North Carolina Chamber of Commerce: Asking Questions & Gathering Answers with a Futurist