Jeri Ellsworth is launching a consumer-friendly augmented reality platform, castAR, this fall.
Serial inventor and entrepreneur Ellsworth worked at Valve Software, helping to found and grow the hardware department. The hardware department teams went on to release other products including the HTC Vive and the Steam Box controller, while she focused more on augmented reality.
That augmented reality platform allowed players to wear specially-designed glasses and use a wand to interact with holographic creations that came to life on a flat surface like a tabletop, much like a real-world version of the HoloChess concept introduced in the original Star Wars back in 1977.
In 2013, Ellsworth decided to leave, and since Valve was focused on virtual reality, she asked Valve president and owner Gabe Newell if she and colleague/programmer Rick Johnson could take that still-early prototype technology with them. He agreed, and castAR was born.
“What I learned from working at Valve and some of the amazing people there was that the company is hyper-focused on the customer experience,” Ellsworth said. “Almost every decision that’s made is studied under the microscope of how it impacts the end-user experience.”
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“Andy told us to refund the Kickstarter backers’ money and focus on the future,” Ellsworth said. “We decided to give back their money and give them a free pair of the fully-integrated glasses when they’re ready. Our CFO had a hard time with us giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars in free AR glasses, but the marketing guys said this was great for marketing the technology.”
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