Makers of The Metaverse: James Shannon Of Auras Studios/XONE On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Be real with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are. For example I am not good at creating visuals myself, I can do music alright but the visual side is not my forte. I am too impatient haha. Luckily my co-founder Alica is a design savant.

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing James Shannon.

James Shannon grew up in Montreal, Canada balancing his time between hockey, music and a love of technology. After attending a music business master’s program in Valencia, Spain James threw himself head first into the world of music technology and eventually web 3.0. He is now CEO & Co-Founder of an exciting startup called XONE which aims to onboard the next 100 million users in web 3.0.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I grew up in Montreal, Canada playing hockey as is required in Canadian culture. I am incredibly fortunate to have been raised by wonderful parents. My mother is a successful business woman who made her career in languages and translation at a company called Lionbridge. My father is a creator, a musician, and an English teacher. I am a musician myself and released music both as a solo artist and in a Toronto based rock band.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Ocean by John Butler. This isn’t actually a book, film, or podcast but rather a song. An instrumental song at that. I remember watching a video of John Butler playing this song on youtube as a kid and remember thinking how unfair it was that someone could play something so beautiful and I could not. From that day forward I have devoted myself to music.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.

I’ve always been very intrigued by the way music and visuals work together. When I was writing music I would often find it easier to put words to visuals rather than the other way around. When I started really following music technology in 2017/2018 I noticed that musicians were increasingly using Augmented Reality technology to create visual experiences around their music. More importantly though, I could see how quickly this tech was evolving from a visual perspective as cell phones got more powerful. I wanted to get my foot in the door because I truly believe that AR has the power to create unforgettable visual experiences. The tech is getting better each day:)

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

I would have to say that joining Abbey Road Studio’s music accelerator program takes the cake. Abbey Road Studios is where the Beatles recorded all of their albums but a lesser known fact is that they run a music tech incubator which helps young startups build up their technology for the music industry. We recently were accepted into this program and I had the good fortune of touring the studios. I’ll never forget the feeling of walking into Studio 2 and sitting down at the piano that John Lennon and Paul Mccartney used to write almost every song they recorded. Playing a few notes I noticed cigarette burns on the left hand side of the piano from where they’d rested them down almost 60 years ago. That was pretty surreal, to have built a technology and company that led me to that piano, in that moment. Crazy.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Ha! Too many to count.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Again, too many to count. But if I had to choose just one I would probably go with my boss from my previous company. He is one of the kindest, brightest people I’ve ever met.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Yes, we are in a music accelerator program with Abbey Road Studios. The project itself is to build an immersive AR performance or experience inside XONE alongside a major label artist. The is a 6 month program where you work directly with their team to refine your technology and use case for the music industry. The end goal here is to create an experience which brings fans and artists together in a world that pushes the boundaries of AR technology. I don’t think anyone will have seen something like this before.

Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

1. MR supporting technology (phones, headsets) is improving rapidly. This directly impacts the quality of the visuals and the amount of 3D information you can include inside MR experiences.
2. The next generation of creators have grown up using AR technology. For example face filters on Instagram and Snapchat lenses are commonplace among gen-z creators. The fact that we have so many people coming online who are already comfortable with MR tech is very exciting.
3. Brands, artists, and corporations are embracing MR. Fueled by the move to a digitized society in 2020/2021 we have started to see marketing and activation campaigns which include both physical and digital elements in order to maximize reach.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Today the smart phone is the only real form factor for experiencing augmented reality. We need this to change quickly for mass adoption. The real magic for augmented reality will come when it’s hands-free and completely immersive. This could happen via a heads up display on a car windshield or via consumer glasses. On the VR

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

Sure, at the most basic level they make us feel closer. This is particularly important as remote work becomes the new normal. MR can virtually place you in the room with your colleagues or create a shared, persistent virtual meeting room. The travel industry will also change. While in-person meetings will always be important, we’ll start to see less of a requirement to hop on a plane for customer meeting if MR technology can bridge that gap virtually.

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

Yes, there are a few very clear use cases that can be explored immediately. Heads up displays in cars will be interesting. E.g. Having digital information embedded in a car windshield (directions, accident warnings etc). This will also be a breeding ground for competition between car manufacturers. We’ll of course have to balance this against the risks of having digital information in your field of view while driving. (not a problem with driverless cars?!)

Anything requiring complex training processes can greatly benefit from MR — specifically thinking of healthcare and surgeries. Engineering and design also makes a lot of sense if you’re able to project the entire design process into the real world with 3D models.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?

I don’t know of any myths that surround the MR industry but I certainly know some that surround the crypto markets. I think the most prevalent is that crypto is ONLY used by bad actors and criminals. While this is true in some cases the vast majority of people I’ve come across really believe in the underlying benefits of blockchain technology. I hope that over the coming years we’ll start to see the technology mature and the bad actors weeded out.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”

1. Visual/Design Chops. MR is about visual storytelling so you’ll have to surround yourself with people who can harness the technology and create visual magic.
2. A basic understanding of the concepts of 3D design. One example is knowing the importance of optimizing 3D environments for performance. Nothing is worse than an immersive experience with poor performance.
3. Pick a niche. Try to find an industry, or maybe application of MR technology that you’re passionate about. For me that was the intersection of AR + Music + Business. I had experience in each so was able to carve out a narrative that made sense.
4. Find a mentor. This is more general advice but trust me when things get difficult or you don’t know where to turn your mentors will be your saving grace.
5. Be real with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are. For example I am not good at creating visuals myself, I can do music alright but the visual side is not my forte. I am too impatient haha. Luckily my co-founder Alica is a design savant.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would push people to never forget that everyone in the world is fighting their own battles. A little more empathy from everyone goes a long way.

We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Childish Gambino aka Donald Glover! I’ve never met a more creative person and watching his show a few summers back changed my life. A dinner/breakfast/coffee with him would be incredible.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!

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Makers of The Metaverse: James Shannon Of Auras Studios/XONE On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.