Engineering ArchiTECHure

In this interview, Kyle Vansice, co-founder of Cedar, shares his inspiring journey from architecture to building a design tech startup. Kyle discusses how his background in architecture and structural engineering, along with his passion for computational design, led him to start Cedar with his co-founders. The conversation delves into the challenges of developing a scalable software product for the architecture and construction industry, and how Cedar is addressing the complex problem of infill housing and mixed-use development. Kyle emphasizes the importance of establishing credibility, understanding customer needs, and finding the right balance between servicing customers and building scalable technology.Throughout the interview, Kyle provides valuable insights and advice for architects and designers looking to start their own companies. He highlights the significance of mentorship, learning to value one's skills, and the potential of AI in democratizing high-quality design. With an optimistic outlook on the future of Cedar, Kyle envisions a platform that enables AI-driven site planning and encodes design knowledge to build better neighborhoods on a citywide scale. Checkout : https://www.cedar.build/ Here are the key sections and chapter timestamps for the video transcript: 00:00 - Introduction and Kyle's background 01:33 - Kyle's architecture and engineering journey 05:47 - Challenges navigating architecture and engineering fields 10:01 - Phases and excitements in Kyle's architecture journey 13:20 - Role models and favorite buildings 16:01 - Transition from corporate job to startup 19:04 - Early days of developing the startup idea 22:59 - Strategy for getting early adopters 27:48 - Challenges of building a startup in the AEC industry 30:11 - Difficult choices during ideation and development of Cedar 32:47 - A day in the life of Kyle and managing responsibilities 36:47 - Cedar's journey with Antler and experience 39:59 - Vision for Cedar one year and five years from now 43:20 - Advice for computational designers or architects starting a company 49:03 - Kyle's fun fact and co-founders 50:27 - Importance of mentors and mastermind groups 51:23 - Rapid fire round

The interview covers Randall Stevens' career journey in architecture, 3D graphics, and software development. Stevens graduated in architecture in 1991 and became interested in 3D modeling, rendering, and computer graphics. He started the company Arc Vision, providing 3D graphics services, and developed innovative technologies like RPC (Rich Photorealistic Content). In the 2000s, Stevens recognized the need for simplified 3D modeling tools for a wider audience, as evidenced by SketchUp's success. He has focused on the "democratization of technology", making tools accessible. In 2013, Stevens had the idea for Avail, a content management platform to unite information from the many applications used in architecture firms. Avail was launched in 2017 and now serves leading architecture firms globally. Stevens discusses Avail's visual interfaces, universal content access, integration capabilities, and search functions. He shares his views on AI, focusing tools on quality inputs to get accurate outputs, and content management needs created by new technologies. Overall, the interview covers Randall Stevens' career, insights on technology adoption, and the development of innovative products addressing needs in architecture. It provides perspective on creating accessible tools and managing information in design firms. Chapters 00:00 - Introduction 01:00 - Early Days in Tech 02:00 - Emergence of Key Technologies . 10:00 - Anticipating Future Trends 19:00 - Student Dreams and Ambitions 25:00 - Origins of Avail 35:00 - Funding and Business Models 50:00 - Pricing Considerations 57:00 - Daily Routine as CEO 59:00 - Avail Demo Randall provides a demo of Avail, showing its visual nature for architecture content and capabilities like search, metadata, and previews.

Richmond Newman, CEO of Modulate, shares his background in architecture, his journey into technology and founding Modulate, as well as advice for entrepreneurs. Richmond studied architecture in college but was exposed to critiques of architectural software tools by his computer science roommates, sparking an interest in improving them. He gained experience at architecture firms and saw firsthand the inefficiencies in drafting tools like Revit. He co-founded Modulate to build 3D architectural design software from the ground up, focused on a better data model and semantics to automate drafting and detailing. The software is built on Unreal Engine for advanced graphics and collaboration.He shares insights into building a compelling startup vision and translating it into a successful enterprise software company. Here are chapter timestamps : 00:00 - Introduction 00:41 - Education and early experience in architecture 02:02 - Dissatisfaction with architecture software tools 03:34 - Working at architecture firms and identifying pain points 07:02 - Forming the idea for Modulate 08:48 - Modulate's innovations and technology 11:13 - Adapting to changing market conditions 13:23 - Demo of Modulate product 21:15 - Integration with Revit and future roadmap 25:54 - Technical details on representing building details in Modulate 31:30 - Distribution model and enterprise focus 36:02 - Advice for architecture professionals interested in startups 40:05 - Building the initial Modulate prototype and fundraising 48:03 - Tips for fundraising with a functional product 57:43 - Advice Rich would give his younger self

The video features an insightful interview with Devin Bhushan, CEO and Founder of Squint. He shares his background studying computer science, working at Yahoo, Splunk, and ultimately being inspired to start Squint to leverage AR's potential to surface helpful information to users. After extensive research into manufacturing's challenges, Devin built Squint's initial product to address the industry's training inefficiencies. He describes Squint's AR ability to guide operators through procedures and leave contextual notes, reducing training time by 86%. Devin discusses Squint's fundraising, go-to-market strategy, being part of Sequoia's ARC accelerator, and most proudly hearing customers share how Squint enables them to accomplish goals more easily. He offers founders advice to stay laser-focused on users' needs. Overall, the video provides a fascinating overview of Devin's journey founding an AR startup and delivering immense value to enterprises. Here are timestamped chapter summaries 00:00 - Introductions 00:57 - Devin's background 03:41 - How Devin got interested in AR and started Squint 07:33 - Why Devin focused first on manufacturing 11:08 - Building the initial product and getting first customers 16:01 - Video demo of Squint AR training app in manufacturing 18:14 - Video demo of using Squint for airplane preflight checklist 21:07 - Discussion of spatial accuracy and performance of Squint AR 26:00 - Future roadmap - integrating external data sources and plugins 28:00 - Fundraising process 35:48 - Typical day - sales calls in morning, team walks in afternoon for bonding 38:03 - Go-to-market strategy - LinkedIn, content marketing, outbound 41:02 - Started with top-down sales approach, future bottoms-up potential 43:00 - Building founding team with people you know and trust 49:00 - Timeline for fundraising 50:00 - Pre-seed valuations - more about investor-founder match than formula 53:00 - Overview of Sequoia Arc program format 56:05 - Excited about new product features, scared about scaling company culture 58:00 - Proudest moment 59:00 - Contact details, advice for founders to stay close to users

Interview with Chloe Smith, co-founder and CEO of Mercator, a construction intelligence platform. Chloe provides background on her marketing and advertising career and how she came to start Mercator with her co-founder to bring data analytics to the construction industry. She outlines conducting customer interviews and POCs to validate the problem they were solving. Chloe explains how Mercator tracks construction projects through their full lifecycle and delivers insights on upcoming opportunities to general contractors, enabling them to get in front of projects earlier. She discusses focusing on specific customer profiles, building relationships with advisors, and taking an authentic approach to branding. On product features, Chloe describes the Mercator workflow of monitoring projects, companies and contacts with AI-driven alerts. Users can explore project details and connect with stakeholders. She positions Mercator as a unique, category-defining product bringing new strategic intelligence to construction firms. Looking ahead, Chloe is excited to grow their team, enrich data tracking, expand to new markets and build their product suite into a knowledge hub. She advises startups in construction to build what the industry needs based on customer conversations. Here are chapter timestamps and summaries for the YouTube video transcript: 00:00 - Introducing Chloe and Mercator AI 00:22 - Chloe's background and journey into construction tech 01:19 - Meeting co-founder and starting marketer AI 02:21 - Validating ideas through customer interviews 03:40 - Strategies for talking to construction customers as an outsider 05:04 - Applying a data perspective from marketing to construction 06:21 - Meeting co-founder and initial hypotheses 08:01 - Pivoting ideas and focusing on construction opportunities 09:13 - Early mistakes and learning to validate ideas 10:10 - Importance of customer interviews and narrowing focus 11:02 - Challenges reaching construction customers initially 12:33 - Iterating on customer conversations 14:14 - Prioritizing feature requests from customers 15:04 - Using quick POCs focused on specific users 17:00 - Advice on aligning vision and customer feedback 18:24 - Building a focused product for target customers 18:48 - Strategies for assembling a strong advisor team 21:07 - Finding advisors willing to help without equity 22:11 - Proving credibility as industry outsiders 23:51 - Tips for building a brand (focus on authenticity) 24:29 - Overview of Mercator AI platform and user journey 28:09 - Category defining product and points of differentiation 29:51 - Roadmap and future opportunities 31:31 - Advice for construction tech startups (talk to customers)

Hosted Chuck Driesler to discuss Nodepen, an open source project he has been developing to create a web-based version of Grasshopper. He provided a history of the project, which started in 2018 and has gone through multiple revisions. The current version utilizes Speckle technology to handle the 3D geometry and visualization, allowing Chuck to focus on the node-based logic and interaction. Key topics covered include leveraging React for fast rendering, integrating Grasshopper computation on the backend, and designing an intuitive user interface. While Nodepen started as a way to recreate Grasshopper online, it has now evolved into a more flexible visual programming environment. Chuck outlined his goals to simplify sharing and collaboration around Grasshopper scripts, support open source contributions, and explore capabilities beyond desktop Grasshopper. 0:00 - Introduction 05:10 - The beginning at a 2018 hackathon 09:15 - The first version of Nodepen 15:00 - User feedback inspires the second version 18:10 - The third version focuses on mobile 21:00 - Grasshopper 2.0 changes the project scope 23:30 - Using Speckle for the fourth version 29:00 - A technical dive into Nodepen's code 49:20 - The visual design process in Figma 55:30 - Wrap up and questions

00:00 - Introduction 00:30 - Transition from architecture to technology 01:37 - Current work and starting a consultancy 02:28 - Podcast and panel discussions 03:05 - Event driven programming and new platform 04:00 - Inspiration and need for the initiative 05:03 - Developing a new visual scripting platform 06:13 - Event driven vs functional programming 07:07 - Existing visual scripting options 08:40 - Applications in architecture workflows 10:00 - Interoperability and communicating with other apps 11:18 - How events work under the hood 12:23 - Options for visual programming libraries 13:10 - Limitations of other visual programming tools 14:51 - Goal for the new platform and empowering users 15:22 - Overview of components built so far 16:10 - Example script - countdown timer 18:03 - Event arguments and data types 18:34 - Challenges with UI and data structures 19:40 - Debugging errors in the console 20:01 - Example - bounce function for smoothing data 22:27 - Benefits for automation and UI 23:15 - Use cases in architecture and design workflows 25:09 - Easy interoperability setup 26:43 - Applications in building automation 27:01 - Handling data from sensors and IoT devices 28:39 - Data structure challenges 29:49 - Sharing the development timeline and roadmap 30:35 - File format for saving scripts 31:00 - Tech stack and architecture 32:38 - Approach for visualization and geometry 33:20 - Emergent use cases from experimentation 33:38 - Applications in business automation 34:28 - Open source plans and community feedback 35:20 - Scalable business model 36:00 - Learning resources for software development 36:48 - Tips for freelancing and finding clients 37:29 - Dream team for an AEC software startup 38:46 - Initiatives needed to encourage software developers in India 39:20 - Thoughts on AI and blockchain in AEC 40:41 - Closing rapid fire questions 42:13 - How to get involved and final thoughts

An interview with Dr. Ranjit Suman, a construction technology researcher, about his career journey and insights on AI applications in construction. He discusses his background starting from civil engineering studies in India to PhD research on knowledge systems and reinforcement learning for construction scheduling in the UK. Key topics include leveraging codified knowledge instead of large datasets for AI in construction, implementing a reinforcement learning algorithm to generate construction schedules, and insights on construction analytics, blockchain, metaverse and the future of the construction sector. Overall, the interview provides perspectives on Dr. Suman's cutting-edge research to integrate AI methods like reinforcement learning into the construction industry for applications like optimized scheduling. 00:00 - Introduction 00:33 - Ranjit's background and journey 02:00 - Education and early interest in construction technology 03:00 - Internship experience and competitions 04:00 - Graduate studies at IIT and research 05:00 - PhD research on construction automation 06:00 - Implementing research on real construction projects 07:00 - Postdoc research on semantics and machine learning 08:00 - Idea for decentralized construction technology 09:00 - PhD research on reinforcement learning for construction scheduling 10:00 - Research at ETH Zurich 11:00 - Current projects 11:24 - Applications of AI in construction 12:00 - Scheduling and optimization 13:00 - Computer vision 14:00 - Ranjit's interest in reinforcement learning 15:00 - Knowledge systems instead of datasets 16:00 - Implementing reinforcement learning for floor plan design 17:00 - Modeling constraints for construction scheduling 18:00 - Providing data-driven insights to managers 19:00 - Benefits seen in industry collaborations 20:00 - Growth of reinforcement learning research 21:00 - Need for open benchmark construction datasets 25:00 - Potential for industry platforms and standardization 30:00 - Importance of systemic innovations 31:00 - Digital twin for full building lifecycle 32:00 - Knowledge blockchain system 33:00 - Opinions on metaverse and blockchain for construction 34:00 - Real certificates and accountability with blockchain 35:00 - Metaverse for collaboration 38:00 - Interactive models instead of separate metaverses 39:00 - State of research in construction analytics 40:00 - Warning systems and predictive analytics 41:00 - Research role models and inspirations 42:00 - Influential books 43:00 - Advice for young construction tech researchers 44:00 - Importance of systemic innovations 45:00 - Closing message on sustainability and systemic innovation construction technology, artificial intelligence, AI in construction, construction industry, civil engineering, PhD research, knowledge systems, reinforcement learning, construction scheduling, construction analytics, blockchain, metaverse, future of construction, optimized scheduling, research interview, career journey, researcher interview, AI applications, engineering research

Firas is an architect working across multiple disciplines including neurotechnology, AI, and the metaverse. He shares his background and journey getting into architecture, including his masters studies at IAAC in Barcelona.Firas talks about his early interests in the human body, technology, coding architecture, and responsive environments. He created interactive installations and explored how neurotechnology can inform architecture, such as through brain-building interfaces. He founded the Barcelona chapter of NeuroTechX, a global neurotechnology community. He also started a podcast exploring the intersection of neurotechnology and design. Firas is working on a neurotechnology hackathon happening soon.Professionally, Firas has worked on architectural and urban design projects around the world. He also creates art projects incorporating AI, neurotechnology and virtual environments.Looking ahead, Firas is further exploring metaverse development, aiming to create a more democratized and accessible version compared to current game-engine based metaverses. He is also planning an educational neurotechnology roadtrip to engage young people with DIY neurotech devices.Firas shares key concepts relating to his work - virtual urbanism, rule-based urbanism, understanding scale in the metaverse, city-as-world thinking, address ecologies, tokenizing life, attention economies, and more.He envisions architects designing directly for human perception via brain implants, rather than external mediums. Firas also discusses rethinking architectural practice itself towards decentralized governance models suited for metaverse collaboration. Overall, Firas is exploring new territories in architecture and urban design at the intersection of neuroscience, AI, and digital environments. He aims to engage these technologies for more participatory, experiential and ecologically-aligned outcomes. 00:00 - Introduction 05:00 - Educational background 10:00 - Early work exploring technology and architecture 15:00 - Getting into neurotechnology 20:00 - Community building and events 25:00 - Architectural practice work 30:00 - Art and speculative projects 35:00 - Key concepts and ideas 45:00 - Getting involved in the metaverse 55:00 - Rethinking architectural practice 1:05:00 - Tokenizing cities and infrastructure 1:10:00 - Neurotechnology and the future 1:15:00 - Rapid fire questions 1:20:00 - Closing thoughts neurotechnology, metaverse, virtual urbanism, neuroarchitecture, responsive architecture, interactive installations, artificial intelligence, urban design, Barcelona, masters degree, architect, coding architecture, podcast, hackathon, decentralized governance, virtual environments, brain-computer interfaces, neuroscience, perceptual engineering, participatory design, experiential design, ecological design, attention economy, tokenizing life

The video features an interview between KP Reddy, founder and managing director of Shadow Ventures. They have a wide-ranging discussion touching on Reddy's career highlights, innovation and technology in the AEC industry, Reddy's thoughts on startups and entrepreneurship, and the future of the AEC industry. Reddy shares stories from his long career as a tech entrepreneur, including founding a construction tech startup during the dot-com boom. He discusses shadow ventures and his approach to investing in construction technology startups. Reddy provides perspective on opportunities for innovation in areas like AI, VR, computer vision and blockchain to transform the AEC industry. He talks about the importance of focusing on solving real problems versus chasing revenue in early stage startups. Reddy also shares advice for students and talks about the need for more collaboration and openness in the industry. The interview offers an insightful insider's view into technology's role in the future of the AEC industry. 00:00 - Introduction 00:42 - Early career highlights - working at startups 01:18 - Running Georgia Tech's incubator 01:53 - Launching Shadow Ventures 02:13 - Key lessons from running an incubator 03:01 - Learning about the startup ecosystem 03:43 - Advice for launching a new startup today 04:07 - Innovation opportunities in construction sectors 05:38 - Rethinking construction productivity 06:34 - Applications of computer vision in construction 07:48 - Starting small and focusing regionally 08:28 - Making hackathons impactful 09:00 - Rapid fire questions 10:53 - Role models and influences 11:18 - The importance of critical thinking 11:51 - Passions outside of work 12:16 - Formula 1 fandom 12:44 - Rant about the AEC industry 13:20 - Open source business models 14:53 - Misconceptions about open data 15:16 - Generational differences in data sharing 16:37 - Adoption timeline for AI tech 17:48 - Allowing failure in a risk-averse industry 18:36 - The need for generational change 19:16 - An example of generational attitudes 20:15 - Engaging digital natives 21:55 - Software market dynamics 23:10 - Authentic belief in industry disruption 24:05 - Challenges combining services and products 25:31 - Externalizing innovation 27:11 - TT's approach to innovation 28:52 - Leadership mindset driving disruption 30:02 - Complacency about disruption 30:47 - Opportunities for ground up innovation 32:04 - Applying blockchain thinking 33:08 - Adoption challenges for open source 34:13 - IP misconceptions 35:15 - Millennial attitudes on sharing 36:37 - Encouraging transparent collaboration 37:48 - Timeline for integrating AI 39:27 - Improving multidisciplinary education 41:07 - Focusing on applied innovation 42:20 - Solving real problems to force adoption 44:00 - Prioritizing tech development 45:50 - Finding early customer budgets 46:09 - Solving real problems brings customers 48:00 - Building tech that feels like magic 49:18 - Timing challenges with new tech 51:20 - Rethinking the industry with a blank check 52:29 - Examples of being early to market 53:46 - Patience required for transformation 55:01 - Founder mindset for focus 56:55 - Origins and impact of Shadow Summit 59:00 - Bringing the nerd conversations to Summit innovation, technology, architecture, engineering, construction, AEC industry, collaboration, multidisciplinary work, problem solving, revenue, blockchain, AI, failure, IP sharing, creativity, education, siloed thinking, Shadow Ventures, summit, conference, industry insights

The interview covers the journey of Alessio Grancini, a senior AR prototype engineer at Magic Leap, who transitioned from an architecture background into XR development. Grancini discusses leveraging his architectural skills in 3D modeling and visualization when first working in gaming studios. He then realized the potential of XR technologies like AR and VR in architecture and wanted to deepen his technical skills in areas like Unity development. Grancini shares insights on bridging architecture and technology, including the need for computational thinking and strong technical foundations. He advocates for defined industry roles to drive XR adoption and highlights Magic Leap's enterprise focus on healthcare, transportation, and other fields. Looking ahead, Grancini sees XR expanding into specialized use cases like surgery, manufacturing, and architecture overlays. He emphasizes the importance of solving real problems with XR while envisioning a future where these immersive technologies become seamlessly integrated into daily life. Learning Resources: Dilmer Valecillos    / dilmerv   Unity Learn https://learn.unity.com/ Unity certifications AWE https://www.awexr.com/ AR Foundation(Unity) - AR Kit (iOS) - ARCore (Android) - Vuforia - Lightship SDK Spark AR - Studio Lens - Effect House XRI Toolkit (Open XR) Unity Magic Leap Developer Portal Twitter @alessiograncini EverthingEverywhereXR Discord :   / discord  00:00 - Intro 02:38 - Background and Journey in AR/VR 13:15 - Pivoting to Focus on AR/VR Career 22:28 - Challenges integrating AR/VR in Architecture 34:19 - Making the Leap to AR/VR Industry 44:41 - Day in the Life at Magic Leap Alessio 51:09 - Virtual Keyboard Project 57:22 - Future of AR/VR Alessio 1:03:04 - Increasing Adoption in Architecture/Engineering #xr #magicleap #architecture

The video features an interview with Robert Salvador, CEO of DigiBuild, a blockchain and construction management software company. Robert discusses his background growing up around construction projects and getting into blockchain after discovering its potential to enable trust in the construction industry. He outlines how DigiBuild started out building general construction management software but pivoted to focus specifically on supply chain and procurement where they are addressing major pain points. Other topics include the challenges of getting construction companies to adopt new technologies like blockchain, ideas for using blockchain and web3 to align incentives and enable new behaviors in the industry, thoughts on crowdfunding and network states, and recommendations for how construction firms can start exploring and implementing blockchain. Overall, the discussion centers around using blockchain and web3 to digitize and transform processes in the traditionally slow-to-change construction industry. 00:00 - Introduction 00:55 - Robert's background and entry into blockchain 03:30 - Founding DigiBuild and pivoting the business model 06:05 - Overcoming friction when introducing blockchain to construction companies 09:00 - Emerging blockchain use cases in construction 15:00 - The future of blockchain, web3 and crowd funding in real estate 23:00 - Fundraising journey and advice for startups 26:05 - DigiBuild's roadmap and future plans 41:00 - Network states and blockchain ecosystems 48:00 - Preparing construction firms for blockchain adoption 51:00 - Censorship resistance and decentralization 56:00 - Accessibility and crowdfunding for smaller contractors 59:10 - Robert's background and interests blockchain, construction, construction management, construction technology, supply chain, procurement, digitization, innovation, web3, incentives, trust, software, construction industry, transformation, emerging technology, interview, ceo

The interview with Patrick Chopson, co-founder of Cove.tool, covers his entrepreneurial journey building a software company in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Patrick discusses the highlights of getting the daylight simulation engine and energy modeling engine working after years of bootstrapping and consulting work. He explains how they validated the product idea through extensive customer research and finally launched their MVP in 2017. Since then, Cove.tool has expanded the product capabilities, raised funding from investors like Robert Downey Jr., and grown to over 20,000 users. Looking ahead, Patrick shares his vision for creating a building information network by connecting people and data through APIs. Throughout the interview, he provides insights on startup challenges, company culture, recruiting, sales, pricing, and more based on his experience as a technical founder and CEO in the AEC tech space. 00:00 - Introduction 00:18 - Patrick's background and getting started with Cove.Tool 01:23 - Developing the daylight simulation engine 02:30 - Bootstrapping the business in the early days 03:21 - Bringing on technical co-founder to build the product 04:26 - Launching the MVP at Greenbuild 2017 05:13 - Raising funding and growing the team 06:09 - Developing the product based on customer feedback 07:38 - Selling to architects and overcoming skepticism 08:36 - Learning from old research papers for efficient computations 09:03 - Developing business and sales skills 10:36 - The challenges of extensive business travel 11:58 - Advice for founders - listen to feedback but believe in your vision 13:20 - Upcoming product launches and the building information network 14:25 - Advice for pitching and finding the right investors 15:00 - Growing the product team in 2022 15:44 - Leveraging APIs and integrations with other platforms 16:29 - The biggest challenge is articulating the value proposition 17:18 - Middle managers as the biggest roadblock to tech adoption 18:59 - The potential of AI in architecture and construction 20:06 - The infrastructure needed to apply AI and generative design 20:25 - The importance of linking geometry and data in generative tools 21:51 - Perspective on blockchain and the metaverse 23:27 - The problem solving culture and rapid iteration cycles at Cove.Tool 24:50 - Recruiting and demonstrating the exciting things happening 25:41 - Patrick's advice for new founders 26:29 - Cove.Tool's global customer base 27:53 - Pricing based on the value delivered to customers 29:01 - Starting with the largest addressable market 30:50 - Getting the first customers through face-to-face meetings and trust 32:15 - Similarities in architecture globally 33:35 - Closing thoughts - focus on the fundamentals and math startup, entrepreneurship, SaaS, AEC industry, architecture, construction, energy modeling, simulation, validation, customer research, MVP, fundraising, investors, Robert Downey Jr., product development, building information, APIs, technical founder, CEO, startup challenges, company culture, recruiting, sales, pricing #covetool #sustainability #architecture

Links * ⁠⁠https://iancurtisdesign.myportfolio.c...⁠⁠ * ⁠⁠https://cofolios.com/⁠ 00:06 - Introduction 00:39 - Ian's career highlights 01:00 - Ian's passion for creating AR experiences 01:39 - Ian's dream project 02:23 - Ian's background and path to XR 03:15 - Pivotal moment trying VR in architecture school 04:02 - Incorporating VR into architecture thesis project 05:41 - First XR job after architecture school 06:18 - Getting laid off due to COVID 07:09 - Pivoting to focus on XR 08:02 - Joining 8th Wall and getting acquired by Niantic 09:07 - Key learnings from XR bootcamp 11:42 - Focusing on XR design and experience building 13:11 - Current role as developer support engineer at Niantic 17:00 - Typical day and projects 21:27 - Thoughts on how VPS will affect architecture 24:57 - Portfolio tips for getting an XR job 31:32 - Interview process and focus on portfolio 41:00 - Advice for getting an XR job 45:00 - Career growth and goals 54:11 - Educational course on XR for architects 58:35 - Rapid fire questions augmented reality, virtual reality, AR, VR, XR, architecture, Niantic, career journey, career change, portfolio, projects, creative design, user experiences, UX, interview, advice, development, coding, opportunities, passion, skills, storytelling

The video features an insightful interview with Eveart Foster, Director of Technological Adoption at Built Worlds, where he shares his career journey from mechanical engineering into construction technology and data analytics. Foster provides advice to founders on user-centric design, easy integration, and leveraging influencers to promote adoption. He discusses emerging technologies like VR/AR, 5G, computer vision, blockchain payments, and centralized data lakes. Foster advocates for open data sharing to enable machine learning and metaverse digital twins that connect entire project teams. He envisions an AI system that analyzes contracts and documents to automate compliance, payments, and risk management. Overall, Foster offers a forward-thinking vision of technology's potential to transform construction through open data ecosystems, automation, and immersive collaboration platforms. 00:01 - Introduction 00:44 - Early career background 07:00 - Pivotal career moment 13:00 - Most challenging aspects when starting new roles 18:31 - Key insights from "How to Win Friends and Influence People" 25:24 - User interface and experience driving adoption 32:26 - Impact of VC funding on construction tech Darwinism 39:29 - Centralized data structure benefits 44:47 - Metaverse myths and potential 49:27 - Data ownership 51:51 - Addressing safety, quality and risk management 56:07 - Dream startup idea combining computer vision and language processing construction technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, VR, AR, virtual reality, augmented reality, 5G, computer vision, blockchain, data analytics, open data, data ecosystems, digital twins, metaverse, automation, compliance, payments, risk management, user-centric design, integration, influencers, adoption, collaboration platforms, construction innovation, construction digital transformation, construction tech, construction tech adoption, construction technology adoption

The interview covers Alicia Nahmad's background growing up in Mexico City, studying architecture, and working in construction before moving to the UK to pursue digital design methods. She discusses her fascination with using robotics and digital fabrication for efficient and sustainable construction, and her research bringing advanced fabrication techniques to local tradespeople and communities globally. Nahmad explains projects creating flexible micro-factories to make complex geometries accessible, using AI and robots, while training local workers. She emphasizes the need to engage industry in terms of efficiency and sustainability when presenting new technologies. Overall, the discussion focuses on Nahmad's mission to democratize digital fabrication and empower local economies worldwide through participatory design and upskilling. 00:14 - Introductions 01:00 - Alexia's background and career journey 06:00 - Moving to the UK and discovering digital design 09:00 - Building complex structures in Mexico 12:00 - Alexia's varied interests and being a generalist 16:00 - Encouraging more women in construction tech 23:00 - Democratizing digital fabrication tools 29:00 - Adopting new technologies in the industry 38:00 - Advice for taking advanced fabrication back home 43:00 - Interdisciplinary education 45:00 - On-site micro-factory in Honduras 54:00 - Micro-factory box for on-site fabrication 59:00 - Facade retrofitting project - digital fabrication - robotics - construction technology - sustainable building - AI - micro-factories - participatory design - upskilling workers - empowering local communities - efficient construction - democratizing technology - Mexico - architecture - building industry - construction industry - future of construction - green building