Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human

World models have become one of the most hyped frontiers in AI — and for good reason. The technology is reaching a tipping point, it’s attracting some of the world’s best AI talent, and many believe world models could be the unlock for both AGI and general-purpose robotics.

But ask five people what a “world model” actually is, and you’ll probably get five different answers.

That’s because there isn’t one approach. There’s a whole spectrum of world models being built today, each trying to understand and simulate the physical world in a different way...

Today’s guest is Will McDonald, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Miris.

Miris is rethinking how high-fidelity 3D content gets delivered at scale. Their thesis: the future of 3D depends entirely on simplifying distribution.

In that vein… we talk about why pixel streaming falls short, how Miris uses volumetric data instead, and why that matters for everything from e-commerce and gaming to robotics and simulation.

Will and I worked together for many years at AWS, so we also dive into lessons learned from Amazon’s customer obsessed culture, what it gets right, and ex...

If you want to understand what it takes to get robots out of the lab and into production, this one’s for you.

Today, I’m joined by the cofounders of Bifrost: Charles Wong (CEO) and Aravind Kandia (CTO).

Bifrost is one of the leaders in synthetic data generation and simulation for evaluation. They’ve built some of the most impressive tools I’ve seen to date for helping robotics developers train, test, and deploy autonomy in the real world.

In this episode, we discuss:

* what most teams still get wrong with sim...

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Today’s guest is Will McDonald, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Miris.

Miris is rethinking how high-fidelity 3D content gets delivered at scale. Their thesis: the future of 3D depends entirely on simplifying distribution.

In that vein… we talk about why pixel streaming falls short, how Miris uses volumetric data instead, and why that matters for everything from e-commerce and gaming to robotics and simulation.

Will and I worked together for many years at AWS, so we also dive into lessons learned from...

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This was the most unique and fun episode I’ve done in a while, and it starts in a very unexpected place…

With the art of clowning.

Strange I know, but stick with us, because we quickly connect that world to technology, robotics, and why it holds surprisingly powerful lessons for this moment in time; especially if we want to design intelligent, embodied systems that humans actually want to engage with.

Our guest today is Pasquale D’Silva, CEO of The Illusion of Life...

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What if machines could learn the world the way humans do?

Not by crunching data and predicting tokens, but by understanding the world and how it works?

Imagine a robot that doesn’t just see a chair, but understands it— its purpose, its relationship to the table, the way you might pull it closer before sitting down.

That’s the world Matt Miesnieks is building.

Matt is the CEO of Primate.AI, a new kind of physical AI company rethinking how machin...

Today’s guests are building one of the most ambitious startups in the entire spatial computing industry.

The company is called RP1, and we’re sitting down with co-founders Sean Mann and Dean Abramson.

On its face, RP1 is the world’s first true metaverse browser, trying to do for spatial computing what browsers like Mosaic and Internet Explorer did for the web.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Beneath the surface, RP1 is so much more... They’re building all the infrastructure and protocols required for a truly spat...

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This interview is with Alvin Graylin — one of the boldest voices out there today on AI, reimagining civilization in the age of intelligence.

Alvin is the best-selling author of the book, Our Next Reality, which is a super thought provoking exploration of how immersive tech and artificial intelligence are going to reshape every layer of society.

Prior, Alvin spent over a decade on the front lines of the XR industry—building and leading HTC’s VR business in China, and serving as Chairman of the Virtua...

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Today’s guest is a legend within spatial computing. We're speaking with Philip Rosedale, one of our spaces most renowned pioneers and the visionary founder of Second Life.

Long before the 'metaverse' and 'web3' became buzz words, Second Life was the first, commercially successful, virtual world, with a self-sustaining, digital society where millions could create, trade, and become whoever they wanted to be.

Philip does a lot of podcasts, so I tried to make this one unique.

Call me biased, but mission ac...

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It’s time for some straight talk.

No hype, no press release optimism, no corporate spin. Just two guys with some scar tissue—and a lot of history—talking about what’s really happening in the world of spatial computing/XR.

In this episode, I sit down with Kharis O’Connell—former design leader at AR headset startup: Meta (the original Meta), Google, and Amazon.

Kharis has been in the XR arena since before the game began. From early experiments with Nokia's Point & Find in 2007...

Medium Energy is now Dream Machines, narrowing the focus on the most powerful force in technology today: the convergence of spatial computing and AI.

These tools are two sides of the same coin. Problem is... most people don't realize how and why. Nor do they realize what it means for their business, their careers, their children, their relationships, the list goes on.

This newsletter/pod will change that.

You see... Spatial computing has been misunderstood.

It's far more than just AR/VR headsets and the 'metaverse'.

Spatial computing is...

Today’s episode is an inspiring ride through the future of medicine, healing, and human potential.

My guest is Dr. Walter Greenleaf, a legend in the world of virtual reality and healthcare. For nearly 40 years, Walter’s been building and studying how immersive tech can treat PTSD, chronic pain, anxiety, addiction, and even rewire how we think and feel.

Walter's primary role today is within Stanford Universty, where a Direector within Stanford Medical Mixed Reality center, and the resident AR/VR expert within ther Virtual Human Interaction Lab. His work sits at the cutting edge of n...

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I recently sat down with Ashley Crowder, CEO of VNTANA, on her podcast Connected in 3D. We discussed all things at the intersection of spatial computing, digital twins, and AI, and where this convergence is heading within the enterprise space.

We covered…

* Why spatial computing is more than just headsets—it’s any system that sees and simulates the world

* The real reason most companies are stuck in pilot purgatory

* What a “spatial data plane” is and why companies need one

* How...

How much of your life is spent staring at a screen?

Probably more than you care to admit.

Now imagine, all that distraction and friction disappearing. No more scrolling, typing, tapping. No more barriers between you and the information you need. No more heads down moments, getting lost in an array button, menus, and icons, breaking the flow of conversation and connection.

Instead, AI gets unleashed from tiny text boxes. It greets you as a companion in the real world, enhances your day without distracting from it, and moves us from a world...

We’re closing out the year with a special one…

As most of you know, part of the Medium Energy mission is to explore what it means to be human in the age of exponential technology.

If that question interests you, this conversation absolutely delivers.

We’re peeling back the layers of the human psyche and exploring the future of emotional and psychological well-being. At the heart of the conversation is the power of curiosity.

We’ve all felt curiosity. But let’s be honest—how many of us truly know how to harne...

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Welcome to our quarterly market update for Q3 2024, with Hatem Dhiab, Managing Partner at renowned investing firm, Gerber Kawasaki.

In this series, we share our observations & leanings from the most recent quarterly earnings calls. The goal of this series is to help you stay calibrated to the latest market & investing trends.

This conversation kicks off with an exploration of modern investing strategies and psychology (hint: I think traditional market theory is erroding, and the traditional strategies are breaking down)

We then focus on...

Alright folks, we're taking a different tack with this episode.

We’re diving into some more… soulful topics, while also getting rather personal and vulnerable.

Part of our core thesis at Medium Energy is that exponential technologies like Spatial Computing and AI… these are democratizing tools. They’re going to help more people climb the proverbial ladder that is Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, all the way to that top rung, i.e. the mystical notion of self-actualization, or the idea of becoming who we're meant to be, finding our purpose, and fulfilling potential...

Now I know so...

Today’s episode is as sci-fi as it gets.

We're exploring the complete merging of man and machine via spatial computing and BCIs (brain computer interfaces); a combo that will give us the ability to control machines with our minds.

And yes, this stuff is way more real and way more imminent than you think.

To explore the topic, we're diving into a company at the cutting edge of this frontier.

The company is called uCat (strange I know, but you’ll see why), and this conversation is with their Founder/CEO...

Friends, been a little while! But we’re back in action with what I think is our best episode yet…

Here are the podcast player links:

* Apple Podcast

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This conversation was an absolute blast, and if you're at all interested in the psychological and philosophical implications of spatial computing, you're going to love this one.

Once again, I'm on the hot seat, this time being interviewed by Sky King on his podcast, Sky King's Mental Playground.

We explore all kinds of fun topics related to this ongo...

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If you're interested in how to build a more immersive and experiential internet (aka the spatial web), than this is your episode

We're interviewing an old friend and old colleague, Felix Herbst

Felix the CEO and co-founder of Needle, which has the most impressive suite of tools I've seen to date for building web-native, spatial applications.

For years now, the web has been highly sought after by the 3D and XR developers. But its been difficult to build web apps that are as...

This is Part II of our mini-series with prominent bitcoin investor, thinker, and creator, Marty Bent in which we chart the necessary path towards ‘Bitcoin Enlightenment’, aka the phases of knowledge required to fully appreciate Bitcoin's purpose and potential.

The goal of this series is to address Bitcoin's marketing problem as one of the most misunderstood yet important technologies in common parlance today

If you've not listened to Part I, I'm going to refrain from shouting at you emphatically, and just say with complete patience and kindness... Press pause and go give Part I a list...

Despite being around for a while now, bitcoin remains woefully misunderstood.

It’s alarming to me how many people still roll their eyes at the topic. Yet, more often than not, these same people haven’t made any effort to understand why Bitcoin exists, what problems it solves, and why its useful.

This is especially alarming considering the current fiscal and economic environment we're in (as I discussed in this essay here: Why Bitcoin (Really) Matters)

So, to tackle said marketing problem, there's few people in the world more qualified than our guest, Mart...

This episode was a huge milestone for the podcast and a major personal goal, which was to interview Matthew Ball, author of the renowned best-selling book, ‘The Metaverse’.

If you want a quick and robust download on the latest/greatest in immersive tech + spatial computing, this is as good as it gets...

Matthew is one of (if not the) world’s most esteemed experts on the metaverse and spatial computing (AR, VR, immersive 3D).

In today’s show, we discuss the revised and updated version of Matthew’s book, coming out in mid-July. The new ti...

Welcome back to our mini-series on spatial computing in the enterprise with Sven Brunner, CEO of Sphere: one of the top apps for enterprise grade collaboration/communication.

If you missed Part I, highly suggest you back and take a listen. Lots of important context around the state of enterprise adoption today, along with where & how companies are having success with AR, VR, and 3D more broadly.

Here in Part II, we cover:

* The convergence of Spatial Computing and AI

* How & why they're really a marriage made in heaven

* Where...

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Good day friends! We have another great show for you all today… especially if you're interested in all things spatial computing in the enterprise, along with its intersections with AI.

This interview is with Sven Brunner, the Founder & CEO of Sphere.

Sphere is one of the leading spatial computing apps in the enterprise space today. I liken them to a spatial Swiss army knife, satisfying a variety of use cases centered around immersive collaboration, and really any moment of knowledge transfer that would benefit from im...

Alright folks, we’re launching a new addition to the content lineup: ‘The Quarterly Market Update’

Typically, we cover the more philosophical and practical sides of AI, Spatial Computing and Crypto.

Today, we’re exploring how to make money and grow wealth from these innovations.

Towards that end, this new segment will explore the most important things happening in financial markets and in the economy, with the goal of helping you better invest and plan for the future.

The plan is to do this right on the tails of earnings season... after al...

Welcome back friends to Medium Energy!

This is another live panel recording from SXSW. It’s also one of my favorite panels to date…

It was titled ‘Redefining Reality’, so as you probably guessed, it’s about all things spatial computing i.e. the full spectrum of immersive, interactive real-time 3D experiences… from 3D on the web, to headsets like the Vision Pro, to simulations on phones/tablets/laptops.

If you’re in search of talk tracks to pitch friends, family, or colleagues on why spatial computing matters, and why its worth inve...

Welcome back friends to Medium Energy!

This is another live panel recording from SXSW. It’s also one of my favorite panels to date…

It was titled ‘Redefining Reality’, so as you probably guessed, it’s about all things spatial computing i.e. the full spectrum of immersive, interactive real-time 3D experiences… from 3D on the web, to headsets like the Vision Pro, to simulations on phones/tablets/laptops.

If you’re in search of talk tracks to pitch friends, family, or colleagues on why spatial computing matters, and why its worth investing in, you're goi...

This is a live recording of a panel with Artist & the Machine during a 'Spatial Computing Salon' in LA.

Artist & The Machine is an awesome new event series put on by my friend Dani Van De Sande. She's pulling together an amazing community of builders, brands, and investors to connect in-real life to share ideas, co-create, and meld minds; all with a similar focus as Medium Energy: to champion the elements of tech that make us more human, not less.

This panel featured a very diverse and awesome line up of entrepreneurs within spatial computing.<...

This is a live recording of a panel we did with Artist & the Machine during a 'Spatial Computing Salon' in LA.

Artist & The Machine is an awesome new event series put on by my friend Dani Van De Sande. She's pulling together an amazing community of builders, brands, and investors to connect in-real life to share ideas, co-create, and meld minds; all with a similar focus as Medium Energy: to champion the elements of tech that make us more human, not less.

This panel featured a very diverse and awesome line up of...

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Welcome to Part II of our conversation with Vince Kadlubek, co-founder of Meow Wolf, aka the next-gen Disney, or what I like to call the ‘real-world metaverse’.

If you haven't listened to Part I, trust me… Press pause and check out that episode via this link (or the Apple/Spotify links above).

It’s garnered the best + most feedback of any piece of Medium Energy content to date. It also sets important context and provides ideas that underpin this conversation, such as…

* The future of...

Welcome to Part II of our conversation with Vince Kadlubek, co-founder of Meow Wolf, aka the ‘next-gen’ Disney, or what I like to call the ‘real-world metaverse’.

If you haven't listened to Part I, trust me… Press pause and check out that episode via this link here.

It’s garnered the best + most feedback of any piece of Medium Energy content to date. It also sets important context and provides ideas that underpin this conversation, such as…

This was my favorite conversation of the past year, both on and outside of Medium Energy. It’s a chat with entrepreneur, dreamer, and dear friend: Vince Kadlubek.

Vince is one of the most compelling thinkers I know. He's also the co-founder of Meow Wolf: one of the world's most original and exciting ventures within arts and entertainment.

For those unfamiliar, Meow Wolf is akin to a next-generation Disney, but with a unique twist… catapulting visitors into a vortex of childlike wonder & awe.

More concretely, they transform huge physical spaces into a kaleidoscope of i...

This was my favorite conversation of the past year (both on and outside of Medium Energy). It’s a chat with entrepreneur, dreamer, and dear friend: Vince Kadlubek.

Vince is one of the most compelling thinkers I know. He's also the co-founder of Meow Wolf: one of the world's most original and exciting ventures within arts and entertainment.

For those unfamiliar, Meow Wolf is akin to a next-generation Disney, but with a unique twist… catapulting visitors into a vortex of childlike wonder & awe.

More concretely, they transform huge physical spaces into a ka...

Welcome back to another episode of Medium Energy! We have a fun and enlightening episode for you all today: a chat with Dani Loftus, the founder and CEO of DRAUP.

Draup  is one of the leading platforms and marketplaces out there for digital  fashion and accessories. Think of them as a blend between E-Bay and  Etsy, but for digital luxury goods. You can also liken them to a  ‘digital fashion house’ of sorts, designing their own items while  cultivating discussion & community around the latest trends.

This  might seem like a rather esoteric topic, but think again… The...

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Welcome back to another episode of Medium Energy! We have a fun and enlightening episode for you all today: a chat with Dani Loftus, the founder and CEO of DRAUP.

Draup is one of the leading platforms and marketplaces out there for digital fashion and accessories. Think of them as a blend between E-Bay and Etsy, but for digital luxury goods. You can also liken them to a ‘digital fashion house’ of sorts, designing their own items while cultivating discussion & community around the latest trends.

This...

“We’re bringing digital things into our world for the first time. That’s going to be incredibly radical. And I think there are very few things you can work on as a technologist that are more meaningful than spatial computing. Because spatial computing is ultimately the eyes and ears and the proprioception, the physical understanding of the world, for AI. When you’re building spatial computing, you’re building the sensory apparatus of our future AI companions. And that’s a really meaningful thing to do.”- Nils Phil, CEO Auki Labs

Today's episode is with Nils Pihl, the...

On today’s episode, we’re flipping the script. This time I’m in the hot seat, interviewed by David Mattin on Real Vision’s new segment ‘The Exponential Age’.

You can check out their show/channel via this link here. (I have a few other interviews with them coming down the pipe, so stay tuned!)

We cover a range of topics under the spatial computing umbrella, including:

* Why the metaverse needs a reckoning, and how it should be defined (per my essay: How to Defend the Metaverse)

* The key unlocks for spatial...

Today’s guest is Cam Mullen, the CEO and co-founder of Nevermet, the #1 VR dating app in the world.

This was a fun one. Think of Nevermet as the Hinge, Bumble, or Tinder of the metaverse, yet… quite different, and certainly more engaging. As you’ll hear in this interview, they’re enabling so much more than the mindless swiping and hollow chit chat plaguing dating apps today.

If you're still on the fence about all things metaverse, you'll probably wince at the idea of finding love in virtual worlds. But hear Cam out. He’s a great...

Today's guest is Nanea Reeves, the CEO and co-founder of Tripp.

Tripp is one of my favorite AR/VR applications. It’s also one of the most important use cases for spatial computing: leveraging the power of immersive experiences for mental health and emotional well-being.

You can think of Tripp as the Calm or the Headspace of the 'metaverse'.

Nanea has had an impressive business career, operating as a C-Suite executive across numerous media & gaming companies, including Electronic Arts as the SVP & COO of Global Online. But what I find most compelling is he...