01/20/2024
When I was a kid, fun (to me) was shooting 2 min spools of 8mm film making movies, waiting 2 weeks to get it back from the lab then sitting on the kitchen counter with a magnifying glass, scratching light sabers into the celluloid with a sewing needle, frame by frame, for days… just to get a minutes’s worth of FX. Other times I was hot-wiring my minimoogs together voltage controlling the keyboards to get them to play more than one note at a time. Still other times I was splicing 8mm movies and the resulting synthesizer music soundtrack cassette tapes with an Xacto knife and scotch tape (yes, my mom’s kitchen counter forever bore the scars of my childhood passions that all seemed to involve an Xacto knife).
Fast forward to adulthood. Always an early adopter of technologies, in this realm, I typically felt like what I suppose the pilot of an F22 might feel… blazing the clear skies high above the fray. It’s fun to be at the bleeding edge of technologies, but it does get lonely. Many times you feel like there’s no one else out there… to relate to… to learn from…. or just to high five sometimes (since no one typically ever knows what the hell you are going on about).
Then, all of a sudden, out of the peaceful silence, high up above you, an SR 71 tears past you at such an altitude and speed it leaves you stunned… sitting there mouth open… in completely in awe…. and smiling.
That’s how I feel listening to the This Week in XR Podcast. This week, host Charlie Fink and Guest Host Jason McDowall interview Shelly Palmer, who’s life and professional trajectory (to me), is like that SR71 soaring overhead.
While I was voltage controlling my minimoogs together with wires, Shelly was replacing the moog’s analog circuitry with digital components to automate and save patches on a cassette tape back up 😳 While I was touring around playing in a rock band, Shelly was writing, producing and directing thousands of productions. While I was helping pioneer and teach digital media, motion picture vfx and immersive technologies, Shelly was helping guide entire industries and their leaders! 🤯
This Week in XR truly brings to you (and me) the best of the best…. consistently. Thank you Charlie, Ted , Rony, guest Host Jason McDowall and this weeks guest Shelly Palmer, for the opportunity to visit with, and learn from, the best of the best of the best! 🙏🏻
Jason McDowall of the AR Show podcast sits in the co-host chair as Ted and Rony are traveling. They missed a great show. With Rony absent we take a deep dive...
