Professor Steve Mann - Chairman 

Professor Steve Mann (PhD, MIT '97), widely regarded as the Father of Wearable Computing[1], is an inventor best known for his work in wearable computing, augmented reality, and the invention of HDR (high dynamic range) imaging[2].   Mann created the world's first wearable augmented reality computer in his childhood in 1974 to visualize electromagnetic radio waves, and has been building the field of phenomenological augmented reality for over 40 years, including the founding of the MIT wearable computing project as its first member [3], inventing the world's first smartwatch [4], the world's first contact-lens display [5], the first implantable eye camera [6], and the first underwater musical instrument [7] (for which he coined the term Natural User Interface [8]).  Mann is a tenured full professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto and General Chair of the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society.

Kyle Simmons - Chief Prototyping Engineer

Kyle was Electromechanical Wizard at Active Surplus, Canada’s legendary hub for makers and the birthplace of the world’s first wearable computer made by Steve Mann. Before that, he led R&D at an educational robotics company delivering custom solutions to a wide range of clients. His experience with physical neural networks, air-engines, and human-machine interfaces earned him a reputation as an in-demand project freelancer for clients ranging from major corporations to renowned film directors.

Ryan Janzen - Lead Research Advisor

Ryan Janzen is a scientist, engineering researcher, and entrepreneur. Featured on the Discovery Channel, Wired magazine, and Through the Wormhole, Janzen's innovations have been featured in 110+ international lectures, media interviews, and scientific publications. Janzen's work has led to entirely new fields of research, including extramissive optics, veillance flux, swarm modulation, and the world's first aircraft PLC research. His innovations have led to advances in acoustics, aerospace electronics, mathematics, and vehicle propulsion. 

Arkin Ai - Chief Development Officer

Arkin directs fundraising and development efforts for MannLab, and serves as its chief liaison to investors, patrons and collaborators in mainland China.  Arkin is the Chairman & CTO of VisionerTech Ltd., a Shenzhen-based company specializing in Video-See-Thru HDMs.  Arkin is also a consultant of the China Wearable Computing Innovation and Strategic Alliance.  Arkin holds a MASc in Computer Engineering and a BASc in Electrical Engineering, both from the University of Toronto. While at Toronto, Arkin worked under the direct supervision of Prof. Mann, where he focused on computational photography for wearable computers.  

Advisors

Joichi "Joi" Ito

Joi Ito is the Director of the MIT Media Lab, Professor of the Practice of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School.  Joi is also an Independent Senior Advisor to the Minister for Financial Services of Japan, a member of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and a member of the board of The New York Times Company.  Ito is a serial entrepreneur and venture capitalist, who has helped start and invest in numerous global technology companies, including Kickstarter and Twitter.  Ito has been listed by Time Magazine as a member of the "Cyber-Elite", and was named by Businessweek as one of the 25 Most Influential People on the Web.  In 2011, Ito was chosen by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers".

Philip Zimbardo

Philip Zimbardo is one of the most distinguished living psychologists, and brings to MannLab an unparalleled understanding of how human behavior is affected by situational and systemic forces. A professor emeritus at Stanford University, Zimbardo has spent 50 years teaching and studying psychology and is best-known for his controversial Stanford Prison Experiment that highlighted the ease with which ordinary intelligent college students could cross the line between good and evil. Philip has served as President of the American Psychological Association, designed and narrated the award winning 26-part PBS series, Discovering Psychology, and published more than 50 books including Shyness, The Lucifer Effect, The Time Cure and The Time Paradox.   He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University.

Jeremy Bailenson

Jeremy Bailenson is a professor at Stanford University and the founding director of Stanford’s world-renowned Virtual Human Interaction Lab.   Jeremy is one of the world’s leading experts in virtual reality (VR), and a co-founder of StriVR Labs, the global leader in using VR to train individuals and teams.  StriVR is used  by the world's top sports leagues and multinational companies, including the NFL, NCAA, MLB, NHL (who all use StriVR's 360-degree virtual reality training system to help players and coaches analyze plays and prepare for games) and WalMart (which uses StriVR to train employees).  Jeremy's findings have been published in over 100 academic papers and he is a co-author of the book Infinite Reality, which was recently quoted by the Supreme Court in arguments about the effects of immersive media.

Thomas Furness

Thomas A. Furness III is an American inventor, professor, and virtual reality pioneer based in Seattle, Washington best known for his contributions in developing human interface technology, for which he has earned the title, "Grandfather of Virtual Reality."  Furness is a Professor in the University of Washington Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, and the founder of the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington and its sister labs at the University of Canterbury and University of Tasmania.[1]  Furness recently received the first-ever lifetime achievement award for his 50 years service in the field of VR (virtual reality) and AR (augment reality) from the Augment World Expo in Santa Clara, California.

Hiroshi Ishi

Hiroshi Ishii is the Jerome B. Wiesner Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab. Hiroshi joined the MIT Media Lab in October 1995, and founded the Tangible Media Group, which he currently directs. Hiroshi’s research focuses upon the design of seamless interfaces between humans, digital information, and the physical environment.  In 2006, Hiroshi was elected to the CHI Academy in recognition of his substantial contributions to the field of Human-Computer Interactions through the creation of new genre called “Tangible User Interfaces.”  

Carly Janson

Carly Janson is the Director of Career Development for MBA and mid-career students at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she works with MannLab to develop collaborations with Stanford Business School and to attract top Stanford talent into the lab.  Carly has been an educated and social entrepreneur for close to 2o years, and is the founder of the New Sector Alliance, a globally recognized nonprofit organization that places college students and recent graduates in paid summer and year-long fellowships with nonprofits and other social enterprises.  Under Carly's leadership, New Sector has recruited, trained and supported more than 2,000 young professionals to complete more than 750 projects for over 400 organizations in Boston, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Twin Cities, and other locations.  Carly is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Business School.

Dr. Michel Kliot

Dr. Kliot is currently a Clinical Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at Stanford University School of Medicine where he is also Director of the Peripheral Nerve Center.  During his 30-year career. Dr. Kliot has pushed the frontiers of peripheral nerve surgery by pioneering new imaging and surgical techniques.  Dr. Kliot brings invaluable expertise to MannLab as a founding scientist of several biotechnology companies where ideas were successfully taken from the lab to the clinical arena.  Kliot received his BA and MA from Harvard University and completed Medical School at Yale University. 

Michael Snyder

Michael Snyder is the Stanford B. Ascherman Professor and Chair of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine.  Snyder has been a co-founder of a number of successful biotech companies, including Exelixis, Protometrix (purchased by Life Technologies, now part of Thermo Fisher), Affomix (purchased by Illumina), SensOmics and Qbio.  In January, 2017, Snyder conducted a ground breaking study at Stanford that demonstrated how wearable sensors that monitor heart rate, activity, skin temperature and other variables can indicate the onset of infection, inflammation and even insulin resistance. The study portends a future where consumers will use wearable devices not only to track activity, but to directly track health measures and provide early detection of illness.  

Lin Zhongqin

Lin Zhongqin is the President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.  Established in 1896 as Nanyang Public School by an imperial edict issued by the Guangxu Emperor, the university is one of the first national institutions of higher learning in China, and renowned as one its most prestigious and selective universities. It is one of the nine members in the C9 League of universities.

Liu Heung Shing

Liu Heung Shing is a Pulitzer Prize winning photojournalist whose work over 4 decades has documented China's economic boom and changing aspirations. His photography has captured news from around the globe and been plastered throughout the world’s best known papers, and his work depicting the fall of the Soviet Union won him a Pulitzer prize in 1992.   He is the author of the widely acclaimed China After Mao, which was first published in 1983, and he also served as the editor of China, Portrait of a Country published in 2008.

Professor Guozhong Dai

Professor Dai is Chief Engineer at the Software Institute of the Chinese Academy of Science, China’s national science academy.  Professor Dai is regarded as China’s leading pioneer in the development of Computer User Interface research and development.  Dai is also the lead Consultant to the Chinese National Basic Research Program, which is among the largest science and technology initiatives of the Chinese Government.  

Professor Tony Chen

Professor Chen has been working on wearable computing for over 20 years, and is China’s leading authority in the field.  Professor Chen was a student of Professor Mann’s at MIT in the 1990’s, after which he went on to introduce wearable computing into China. Professor Chen’s students are now leading the Chinese wearable tech industry, and together with Professor Chen are focusing on developing industrial wearable computers and promoting cross industry collaborations.