Kari Wu

[Sterling Crispin 🕊️ @sterlingcrispin]

I spent 10% of my life contributing to the development of the #VisionPro while I worked at Apple as a Neurotechnology Prototyping Researcher in the Technology Development Group. It’s the longest I’ve ever worked on a single effort. I’m proud and relieved that it’s finally announced. I’ve been working on AR and VR for ten years, and in many ways, this is a culmination of the whole industry into a single product. I’m thankful I helped make it real, and I’m open to consulting and taking calls if you’re looking to enter the space or refine your strategy.

The work I did supported the foundational development of Vision Pro, the mindfulness experiences, ▇▇▇▇▇▇ products, and also more ambitious moonshot research with neurotechnology. Like, predicting you’ll click on something before you do, basically mind reading. I was there for 3.5 years and left at the end of 2021, so I’m excited to experience how the last two years brought everything together. I’m really curious what made the cut and what will be released later on.

Specifically, I’m proud of contributing to the initial vision, strategy and direction of the ▇▇▇▇▇▇ program for Vision Pro. The work I did on a small team helped green light that product category, and I think it could have significant global impact one day.

The large majority of work I did at Apple is under NDA, and was spread across a wide range of topics and approaches. But a few things have become public through patents which I can cite and paraphrase below.

Generally as a whole, a lot of the work I did involved detecting the mental state of users based on data from their body and brain when they were in immersive experiences.

So, a user is in a mixed reality or virtual reality experience, and AI models are trying to predict if you are feeling curious, mind wandering, scared, paying attention, remembering a past experience, or some other cognitive state. And these may be inferred through measurements like eye tracking, electrical activity in the brain, heart beats and rhythms, muscle activity, blood density in the brain, blood pressure, skin conductance etc.

There were a lot of tricks involved to make specific predictions possible, which the handful of patents I’m named on go into detail about. One of the coolest results involved predicting a user was going to click on something before they actually did. That was a ton of work and something I’m proud of. Your pupil reacts before you click in part because you expect something will happen after you click. So you can create biofeedback with a user's brain by monitoring their eye behavior, and redesigning the UI in real time to create more of this anticipatory pupil response. It’s a crude brain computer interface via the eyes, but very cool. And I’d take that over invasive brain surgery any day.

Other tricks to infer cognitive state involved quickly flashing visuals or sounds to a user in ways they may not perceive, and then measuring their reaction to it.

Another patent goes into details about using machine learning and signals from the body and brain to predict how focused, or relaxed you are, or how well you are learning. And then updating virtual environments to enhance those states. So, imagine an adaptive immersive environment that helps you learn, or work, or relax by changing what you’re seeing and hearing in the background.

All of these details are publicly available in patents, and were carefully written to not leak anything. There was a ton of other stuff I was involved with, and hopefully more of it will see the light of day eventually.

A lot of people have waited a long time for this product. But it’s still one step forward on the road to VR. And it’s going to take until the end of this decade for the industry to fully catch up to the grand vision for this tech.

Again, I’m open to consulting work and taking calls if your business is looking to enter the space or refine your strategy. Mostly, I’m proud and relieved this has finally been announced. It’s been over five years since I started working on this, and I spent a significant portion of my life on it, as did an army of other designers and engineers. I hope the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and Vision Pro blows your mind.

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

@heyBarsee Free

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

@vidIQ Why not both?

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

@KapwingApp To the point

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Thanks Digitimes for publishing my article on AR/VR!
Read about why Metaverse is the new social media, the new office, and how the business model impacts what we'll see further down the road:

#AR #VR #MR #Tech https://t.co/zBrf8tXrmE

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

I want to take a moment to appreciate the people in my network for all the supports and inspiration. I am also thankful for the existence of LinkedIn so that I can build up my professional network across different platforms and see the impact.

LinkedIn i…https://t.co/4tGFuhdzT0

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

The best demos and talks are those that you remember the most after the event.
Niantic, Inc. ,TRIPP, Inc. and Tilt Five were my favorite experiences. The Varjo,
Lynx and HTC Flow also indicates where the future is heading.

Big applause for ShapesXR wi…https://t.co/cEBlow4lxo

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Video sells. So I am curious,

#video #videoforbusiness #videomarketing #videoads #realestateadvertising #editingservices #videocontent #videocreation #videofilming #shootingvideo #editingvideo #storyboards https://t.co/pHl2NSMD2q

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Nothing is better than demoing the success of the product, getting feedback, and taking questions. My startup team got into the SPARK Accel and we're currently competing to be the Fan Favorite. Please vote for FilmIt here before the end of today!…https://t.co/4D1YHwvXMU

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

In Aug 2015, I moved to Boston from my home country Taiwan. Fast forward six years, I'm building my second startup in the bay area. The 0 to 1 journey is not easy, but very rewarding. 

A mentor asked me if there was anything in the US that I absolutely c…https://t.co/0B1v8Uk6I7

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Introducing the end-to-end video creation app designed for business professionals: FilmIt. 🗳️ Please vote for FilmIt today and help my team win the $5,000 Fan Favorite Prize from SPARK Accel.
https://t.co/ik65gHGwv9

#videoforbusiness
#videocreation for…https://t.co/fjBcZFs0B3

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Cloud 2021 report from @BessemerVP: cloud software tools are helping SMBs get back to business in Sales & Marketing, IT, Customer Success, HR, etc. SMBs are using cloud software to create a better experience for their customers and more efficient operations.

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

Taken in https://t.co/pnfrfQqmIr - join me now at https://t.co/hwkm4emN2R! 🐤

[Valentin Perez @valentin_pd]

1) My Digital Brain System

Last week I gave a talk at @NotionHQ about how I use Notion as my Digital Brain to create my best year.

[Ray Soto @RaySotoTech]

I think I've found the opening slide for all my upcoming presentations.

[Georgina Dean 🪄 #SBSWinner #TheFutureIsNow @redefineED]

Too much #FUN #sparking-UP a #CreateEDU #photo with the @AdobeVideo & @AdobeXD #Team s, to kick-off the last day of #BETT2020 with @Adobe! 👌🏼🤩💡🇬🇧📸🔥❤️ @Stephanie4XD

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

It was talking to many university students at BETT in London to gather product feedback. Video creation for students - Adobe Premier Rush nails it!

#bett2020 #createEd #video #edtech #rush

[Dom Traynor @dom_traynor]

Teachers! Do you get your students between 11-17 to make 🎥 videos 📽 in the classroom? If so, please answer this short survey. We will announce Amazon Gift Card Winners by Saturday! https://t.co/32cLiLcDy5 #Bett2020

[Kari Wu @kari_wu]

I am so curious to see how many people I meet in person in London this week are already my connections on Twitter or LinkedIn. #BETT2020 #VIDEO #education #edtech