XR pioneer Avi Bar-Zeev has been at the forefront of Spatial Computing for over 30 years: from launching Disney’s groundbreaking Aladdin VR ride in the early 90s and crafting Second Life’s 3D worlds to co-founding Keyhole (Google Earth) mirror-earth spatial browser, co-inventing the Hololens AR headset in 2010 and leading the Experience Prototyping team for Apple's Vision Pro and more from 2016-19.

Bar-Zeev's so ubiquitous he's been affectionately called the Forrest Gump of XR.

On today's show, Bar-Zeev returns to the podcast and illuminates his journey through immersive tech from those early days to his latest role as Founder and President of the XR Guild, a 501c3 nonprofit, his response to the urgent need to bring more thoughtful and ethical practices into emerging platforms and AI.

The XR Guild's Ethical Professionals Mixer is sold out. Zero to Start is proud to have joined primary event sponsor LA SIGGRAPH, and XRA as a "bronze" co-sponsor.

• Heading to AWE USA 2025 ? Road to VR readers can still get an exclusive 20% discount on tickets: https://geni.us/7ijTS - Ben Lang

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AWE JUNE 9th:

• 10:30 AM - 04:30 PM | Room 204 | XR Guild and Virtual World Society - UNCONFERENCE

Catch Avi and other guild members at these AWE panels:

JUNE 10:

• 04:30 PM - 04:55 PM | Room 102A | For XR/AI Makers, the Secret Sauce is Ethics - Aysu Unal - AiSU, Avi Bar-Zeev - XR Guild

JUNE 11:

• 11:45 AM - 12:15 PM | Builders Nexus Stage - Expo Hall |
  AI x Metaverse: Advancing Spatial Intelligence, Spatial Computing, and Beyond in Synergy

FEATURED LINKS

• Our AWE playlist !
• AWE Day One podcast guide!
• XR Guild
• XR Guild Library 2.0
• Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making
• Neely Purpose Driven XR Library

CONNECT WITH SICILIANA:
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On today's show we're spotlighting our AWE day one itinerary. Elevate your conference vibe with our AWE playlist !

Heading to AWE USA 2025 next week? Road to VR readers can still get an exclusive 20% discount on tickets: https://geni.us/7ijTS - BEN LANG

JUNE 10 ITINERARY HIGHLIGHTS

• 09:00 AM - 09:25 AM AWE USA 2025 Welcome Keynote - XR Is Going Mainstream! - Ori Inbar - AWE & Super Ventures
• 09:30 AM - 09:55 AM Accelerating the Spatial Computing Revolution for Developers and Enterprise - Ziad Asghar - Qualcomm
• 10:00 AM - 10:25 AM Bringing AI and AR Into the Real World Through Spectacles Evan Spiegel - Snap
• 10:30 AM - 10:55 AM Project Aura & More: XREAL’s Vision for the Present and Future of XR - Chi Xu - XREAL
• 11:00 AM - 05:30 PM Expo, Playground, Gaming Hub
• 01:30 PM - 01:55 PM From Storytelling to StoryLIVING: Our New Reality | Vicki Dobbs Beck - Lucasfilm & ILM
• 02:00 PM - 02:25 PM Evolving Bystander Signaling Norms and Industry Standards in the Era of AI - Dena Feldman - Meta
• 02:00 PM - 02:55 PM PANEL: The Next Revolution in Graphics: How 3DGS Changes Everything (Gaussian Splatting)
• 02:30 PM - 02:55 PM Beyond the Banner Ad: How AR is Reshaping Brand Engagement - Tom Emrich - The Next Dimension
• 03:30 PM - 04:15 PM AWE Wellness Walk with Caitlin Krause: A Somatic & Spatial Journey into Digital Wellbeing - Caitlin Krause
• 04:30 PM - 04:55 PM For XR/AI Makers, the Secret Sauce is Ethics - Aysu Unal - AiSU, Avi Bar-Zeev - XR Guild
• 05:00 PM - 05:55 PM PANEL: Igniting Cultural Institutions: AfroFuturism & Lincoln Center
• 5:00-5:25 pm From Code to Conduct: Building Healthy Communities in VR Games - David Neubelt | Another Axiom (Gorilla Tag)

How can we create XR experiences with purpose and why does it matter?

Last week's MeaningfulXR conference at UC Davis and in VRChat brought together a dynamic XR community from across the globe to explore the answers and featured some of the latest academic research using XR across disciplines including education, psychology, design, AI, health and wellness, tracking data and more.

On this special episode, I’m sharing the audio recording of our MeaningfulXR panel, Creating platforms and apps to better people's lives

Led by Carsten Becker, Faculty, Media Design and Extended Reality USC Iovine & Young Academy and featuring Avi Bar-Zeev, XR Pioneer, founder and president of the XR Guild.

I highlight some of the exciting projects I saw on Day One of the conference and Carsten shares his industry insights, the importance of ethics and purpose driven XR, as well as how to overcome building and investment challenges for new XR students and builders.

We also hear from Carsten’s Neely Center student mentees who are designing purpose driven XR for social impact.

Special thanks to Robby Ratan and the MeaningfulXR team!

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FEATURED CONFERENCE PROJECTS/CREATORS:

• Reimagining Land Acknowledgment: Co-Designing Location-Based AR with Indigenous Communities - Kai Lukoff, Sean Hauze, Madison Nguyen, Isabella 'Amne Gomez
• CN Vision: A Novel AR Tool for Enhanced SLP Neuroanatomy Learning - Maura Philippone, Jesse Sanderson
• Immersive Religion: Enhancing Religious Literacy through Extended Reality -John Soboslai
• Navigating Ethics in Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Design for Dyslexia Interventions - Aurelia O'Neil

FEATURED LINKS:

• MeaningfulXR Conference
• Neely Purpose Driven XR Library
• Neely Center for Ethical Leadership and Decision Making
• XR Guild
• XR Guild Library
• VIDEO Lightning talk: A Deep Dive into Eye-tracking in XR with Avi Bar-Zeev - Stanford Cyber Policy Center

CONNECT WITH SICILIANA:

• LinkedIn
• sicilianatrevino.com