The following notes were prepared for my upcoming interview with Emergent Technologist Christopher Lafayette. They are a record of the amazing experiences and collaborations I have been fortunate to have, and also serve as a sort of resume for Bubiko Foodtour.
Who are you?
- After rewarding life experiences in art, photography, game production, writing and network TV*, I am now focused on location-based Augmented Reality, most accurately called GeoPose-based AR. GeoPose is a frontier, and my path so far has been full of self-initiated, self-funded projects that include research, education, production, networking and art.
- I use the term “spatial cinema” to describe the possibilities of this new platform.
- I am the co-creator, with Sayuri Okayama, of Bubiko Foodtour. Bubiko is our test pilot, our mascot: our way to gain experience with AR/spatial cinema possibilities and show we have “skin in the game”, despite our lack of capital and technical skills. From 2015–2019, we used a paper cutout of Bubiko to demonstrate spatial cinema techniques and possibilities.
- I am also a writer and publisher(Book Merah). Titles include: Bubiko Foodtour’s Unusual Guide to Augmented Reality, Obama Search Words, The Agaricus blaze Murrill Notebook and Newspaper Drumsticks. One book, i ate tiong bahru, is a bestseller in Singapore.
- I was born in Ohio, have resided in New York, Los Angeles and Paris; but have lived most of my adult life in Asia; mainly Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Bali. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology.
AR/VR Timeline
2015
The Oculus buzz begins. I commit myself to re-entering the world of spatial computing.
2016–2018
Sayuri Okayama and I create Bubiko Foodtour as we begin a period of research as digital nomads in Southeast Asia. We study AR and food in Singapore, Bali, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Presentations: Sasin School of Business (Bangkok), Hong Kong PolyU, TechCrunch Shenzhen.
2019
- Presentation at MIT/ARIA (Augmented Reality in Action). Title: Bubiko and the Unicorn
- Supported by Novaby, a 3D/AR version of Bubiko debuts at Tech in the Tenderloin in SF.
- SB discovers the OARC (Open Augmented Reality Cloud) via the AR Show podcast.
- Completed/published Bubiko Foodtour’s Unusual Guide to Augmented Reality.
- Research on AR in regards to road traffic, autonomous vehicles and bicycling.
- Presentations in Detroit, London, Paris, Berlin. Attends AWE and the OARC’s second general meeting, both in Munich. Attended the VIEW Conference in Turin, Italy.
-At the PARIS event (Paris Augmented Reality International Symposium), a relationship is started with Vincent Trastour/Flamingo Filters. One result is a hack on Facebook Spark which is used to create images and very short films with Bubiko Foodtour and other characters.
- Experimental VR project in which Bubiko plays drums, tech by Transient.
2020
- Second presentation at MIT, focusing on Bubiko and GeoPose.
- The VIEW Conference,+ Covid complications unexpectedly result in a short film called Bubiko: First Flight to be made in Bari, Italy. There, the AR testbed created by Augmented.City allowed Bubiko to fly through, and interact with, the city. Jan-Erik Vijne (Managing Director/Co-founder of the Open AR Cloud) has said that the film is as historically significant as the world’s first website.
- A number of educational GeoPose/AR videos created and put online.
2021
- Soda Bread in Time and Space testing begins at the Irish Cultural Museum of New Orleans. The testing includes motion capture by Mad Marker. XRMasters provide technical support.
- Experimental music video made at Mardi Gras, with music by Galactica.
- Testing with Chef Suzanne Johnson-Sharpe, with the goal of creating a Bubiko Food food-related/cooking program.
- Producer/host for two panels on GeoPose for the Altimetrik Collider in Detroit.
- A Flock of Bagels created with Steven Pagnotta (Moe’s Broadway Bagels) and support from XR Masters. The bagels are also called UFMoes.
- A monthlong stay in NYC, specifically to introduce GeoPose-based AR. The Snake Lighter exhibition combined GeoPose with sculptures by Daniel Bainbridge, a project with the Les Petit Versailles tested the possibilities of video in a public space. A Flock of Bagels was tested in Times Square, and later included in the second Brooklyn Bagel Fest. These would all seem to historic uses of GeoPose, and some might say that are the start of the metaverse.
- The month in New York is now the foundation of a book project, with the working title of A Month with Normal Appendices.
- Thanksgiving Day Parade Hack
- Mentor to Beyond the Runway, as part of the FashionTech Startup Bootcamp.
- Named the OARC’s artist in residence/evangelist/spatial cinema artist. The exact wording has not yet been finalized.
What are you currently building?
- Thanksgiving Day Parade AR Hack. Kickstarter for funding.
- Looking for licensing opportunities for Bubiko.
- Hoping to convert my experiences with Bubiko+ into winning situations with character-based companies such as Pixar, Disney, Marvel, Geico etc.
- Maith
- Research grants and loans to enable more research an projects with Bubiko
- Create opportunities for both OARC and Beyond the Runway
- Officially form a company, formalize business plans
- Creation of GeoPose-based artworks and films.
The most important thing about me
I am driven to connect with those who understand that “Augment” means, literally, “to improve”. Simply, I want to connect with those who want to improve reality, whether by using AR or something as simple as a broom, a seed or a kind word.
Example: the OARC is a group of volunteers who are committed to an open and ethical AR Cloud.
I would like to deeply thank the following: OARC, Novaby, Augmented.City, XR-Masters, Mad Marker, Flamingo Filters, Abby Hotel (Ipoh, Malaysia) The Irish Cultural Museum of New Orleans, Moe’s Broadway Bagels, Lady Wong, Mary O, Hawkeye Crates, Patrick Desmond, Henk Werner/Trouble Maker, Hybrid Design, my family and Sayuri Okayama.
*Cartoon Network, CNN, Fuji TV, France 2, Fox and Turner Classic Movies
