What’s a sci-fi book you recommend?
I really like The Master Key by L. Frank Baum. It was written in 1901, and it’s crazy to compare the themes to 2018 … specifically the way we’re thinking about AI now and how that turn-of-the-century audience was thinking about electricity.
We don’t think of electricity as being some drastic part of our lives because it’s so expected. What will people a hundred years from now observe about our attitudes and presumptions about artificial intelligence? We’re in that same phase of collective thought, which is super cool.
The Master Key gives you crazy context about when a new disruptive technology comes around. People trip out about it, thinking demons or spirits are involved in electricity. Plus, it’s a quick and easy read.
What’s your favorite restaurant in Portland?
This is a good question, also very hard. Man, as somebody who’s like 90% vegan, it’s ironic that I would say Ox, which is an Argentinian steak house.
It’s so good. A husband and wife team runs it. Husband from Vermont, wife from Argentina, so they have things like maple-infused spicy chorizo sausages.
There are a lot of good breakfast options too. I think my favorite brunch is Tasty n Alder. It’s consistently amazing, as is Olympia Provisions. Amazing brunch, you can buy Olympia’s charcuterie and sausages in Brooklyn too.
What are you listening to right now?
A really good band called Maribou State. I like them a lot. There’s another one, they’ve been pretty well known for a while, called Jungle, they just came out with a new album that I’ve been a big fan of.
I’m trying to think of how Rough Trade would tag it, I don’t even know. Yeah, I call it like indie rock, very melodic, you know there’s some electronic components to it. Yeah, it’s very chill.
What technology do you need to upgrade in your home?
We have very lo-fi needs, like upgrading my desk chair. It’s not even a desk chair, it’s a dining room chair!
It’s only recently that I’ve started to look at the whole picture of my work space. Legroom, the height of the chair versus the table, stuff like that. When you move cities and apartments you get stuck with all these different pieces. So I have all this advanced technology around, but I need the most offline thing in the world because it creaks, I slouch in it, and it drives me crazy. It must go, it has to go.
What’s an obscure area of knowledge that fascinates you?
Strangely, I know a lot about the maritime industry. When I was growing up, my dad worked for a large holding company of oil tankers and large container ships.
The shipping industry is like a barometer for the global economy. How much trade is happening, what the shipping rates are … all of that stuff directly translates back to how healthy the world is when it comes to GDP.
One of the things I love about my job is we talk about different industries, and sometimes I’ll have a conversation where it comes up randomly. Someone will say something like, “Oh yeah, we’re working with this large maritime company. They want to learn about blockchain.” I understand at a high level what’s going on there and it kind of surprises people.
What’s going to take AR and VR to the next level?
Once AR/VR gets more into the hands of people who think visually, versus an experience primarily guided by software engineers … people are going to start coming up with more interesting ideas. Getting people at Pratt, RISD, The New School, and all of these amazing design schools to start playing around with it … that’s what we need more of.
There’s a new wave of rapid prototyping tools for AR that allow designers to quickly and easily mock up things, versus rendering the graphics then actually having to code the experience in something like Unity. Those tools are helping a lot.
The recent combination of Citi Bike, Google Maps, and AirPods is so cool. The audio augmented reality of that experience, giving you directions to a restaurant, alerts about when food is ready, and instructions on the fly … that’s a form of augmented reality, but are the majority of users probably aren’t thinking about it as a great AR experience.
But maybe they don’t need to, right? They don’t necessarily have to identify the technology that’s powering their experience. It’s more about something delighting them or solving a problem.
There’s also a usage issue. Even with the furniture-placement apps, how often are you buying a sofa for your living room? You’re going to download that app, make your purchasing decision, then probably not touch that app again.
What city you’ve never visited but want to?
Ooh. There’s a lot. I’ve been lucky to be able to travel a lot, but one of the cities that’s the most intriguing is New Orleans. Everyone I know has found themselves there for some reason or another over the years. Through some quirk of fate, despite all the conferences and road trips and vacations, I’ve never been.
Awesome music, awesome food, cool people, lots of history and culture. So, yeah, I think New Orleans is just kind of like a funny, tricky one. I’m gonna call it my great white buffalo.
Favorite scene from a Star Wars film.
Whoo man, so many good ones. I think immediately of the famous Leia and Han Solo scene, where she says, “I love you,” and he just goes, “I know.” The backstory is great … the fact that line was unscripted … it’s just Harrison Ford being awesome.
When I was younger I hated all the Yoda scenes because it just was creepy and weird and slow. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve definitely gotten a better appreciation for those scenes.
My overall favorite is when Darth Vader dies in Luke’s arms at the end of Jedi. I think that’s it. That idea of ending on redemption, of the different ways people can be saved … it was just such a surprising, powerful message to sneak in there.
