Ep. 85: Solving for Shared Experiences in XR—with Anjney Midha CEO of Ubiquity6

“Clearly, the killer use case, the most valuable thing 6DoF can do is allow two or more humans to interact—just be with each other from wherever they are.” The internet has succeeded in connecting people to machines and information. So, what’s missing? Anjney Midha argues that the element of human interaction is what the web lacks, and he is on a mission to develop the tools creators can use to design shared experiences online through XR. Anjney Midha is the cofounder and CEO of Ubiquity6, a startup using computer vision to create multiplayer experiences for augmented and virtual reality. Founded by alums from Metamind, Facebook, Tesla, Twitter and Stanford, the Ubiquity team is leveraging spatial computing to bring people together in valuable new ways. Anjney began his career in venture as Founding Partner of KPCB Edge, a Kleiner Perkins fund formed to support founders in AR, VR and computer vision. Today, Anjney joins us to share his background in frontier tech and explain how his experience in VC led to the creation of Ubiquity6. He offers insight on the problems in venture capital, describing how good and bad investors can impact a startup. Anjney also discusses the particular challenges of the deep tech space and the futility of the AR versus VR debate. Listen in to understand the tech advancements that have facilitated networked capabilities and learn how Ubiquity6 is solving for shared experiences—at six degrees of freedom. Topics Covered Anjney’s background in frontier tech Formed fund within Kleiner (AR, VR + computer vision) Influenced by Bing Gordon, Mike Abbott Time spent investing AND building software Founded Ubiquity6 to solve for shared experiences Anjney’s take on good vs. bad investors Great investors = 100X or more Bad investors destroy value More pretenders than ever Look at track record of success, failure How Anjney communicates with investors Text message, reply within 10 minutes Best investors view as service industry The role of Ubiquity6 in solving for shared experiences Serve creators with tools Launch own experiences ‘Shared AR in persistent way’ Anjney’s insight around the challenges of deep tech Timing (invest in real tech that doesn’t exist) Bring research to market in compelling way How Anjney built a tribe of support Early-stage founders vocal about problems Obvious from listening to early adopters Why Anjney is excited about audio As powerful, immersive as visual AR Shared audio channels for consumers Why Anjney believes AR vs. VR is a false debate Different viewing modes of same experience High level of abstraction = unproductive debate The positive mass market signals for Anjney and his company ARKit, ARCore (networked AR) On-device capabilities to shared capabilities Connect with Anjney Ubiquity6 https://ubiquity6.com/ Ubiquity6 on Medium https://medium.com/ubiquity6 Ubiquity6 on Twitter https://twitter.com/ubiquity_6 Ubiquity6 on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/ubiquity6/ Anjney on Medium https://medium.com/@anjneymidha Anjney on Twitter https://twitter.com/anjneymidha Anjney on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjney/ Resources Kleiner Perkins https://www.kleinerperkins.com/ Bing Gordon https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/bing-gordon/ Mike Abbott https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelabbott/ Virtual Human Interaction Lab https://vhil.stanford.edu/ Jeremy Bailenson https://vhil.stanford.edu/faculty-and-staff/ Adam Arrigo https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-arrigo-b4637620/ TheWaveVR http://thewavevr.com/ LYNX Capital https://www.lynxtrading.com/ Benchmark Capital http://www.benchmark.com/ Index Ventures https://www.indexventures.com/ Vinod Khosla Interview https://blog.ycombinator.com/vinod-khosla-on-how-to-build-the-future/ John Doerr https://www.kleinerperkins.com/people/john-doerr Marc Andreessen on a16z Podcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O91S1NL-B0Q&t=14m34s ARKit https://developer.apple.com/arkit/ ARCore https://developers.google.com/ar/ Connect with Boost VC Boost VC Website https://www.boost.vc/ Boost VC on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/boostvc/ Boost VC on Twitter https://twitter.com/BoostVC