Let me give you some background and tell you something about myself. This should give you an idea of where I’m coming from, as a futurist, an artist and as a content creator.
The Early Years
My background begins as you might expect. I was a cute kid who colored inside the lines, outside them, on the walls, and even on a couch. In the late 1970s, video games and then computers came along and made quite an impression. Not content to just play games, I became interested in creating graphics and images. I didn’t have a computer, so I used machines that friends owned or that I had access to at work. In 1985 I got a job with a computer software retailer called Electronics Boutique. I was eventually promoted to manager, and helped the company open a number of locations in two states. Using DEGAS for Atari ST and DPaint for Commodore Amiga, I made art for demos that played in the stores.
Exciting Times
Eventually I got a job with Sun Television and Appliances. They were about to get into the business of selling computer hardware and software. I quickly went from manager to product specialist, trainer and eventually to buyer. It was a great experience at a time when personal computers were becoming affordable to the masses. It was also during the birth of the world wide web. I had the opportunity to develop classes, sales and service technician training and write training manuals. While at Sun I also built computer bulletin board systems and linked them to the internet. Manufacturers listened to my input on product designs. Diverse categories from music to movies and software gave me a steady stream of new things to learn. I also started working with software manufacturers to test and provide feedback on operating systems and applications.
New Online Adventures
After nearly a decade with Sun TV & Appliances, it was time for a change. Despite a retail background, I made the jump to MicroWarehouse. They were an international catalog and internet reseller based on the east coast. I managed a number of categories for them over the years, ranging from the short-lived Mac clone business to printers, peripherals, accessories, and eventually a number of Windows PC manufacturers.
As I forged relationships with my vendors, I was able to have input on product features and specifications. We worked together to develop go-to-market strategies. I got to experience the wonder years of online retailing. Along the way, I won a few accolades in Computer Shopper magazine for best component, peripherals, and digital camera reseller.
During a trip with a vendor to northern Canada, I picked up the fossil of a trilobite. At this point in my backstory, the cute fossil became a fixture at my desk. Eventually it led to being known as Trilo Byte. Throughout the 1990s, in my spare time I got involved with building early internet sites. The pages supported artists like Duran Duran, David Bowie and U2. This was a time before artists had web pages or music was widely available online. It was a way to combine my background as an artist and music enthusiast while learning and using new technology.
Go West Young Man
In 2002, I made the move to the west coast and eventually landed at Creative Computers. There, I managed printers, scanners and the consumables businesses for a couple years. I also connected with the underground art and music scene in Los Angeles. Along the way I met some amazing people, and eventually connected with Burning Man. At this point in my background, my life takes a significant turn.
Modern History
Becoming involved with Burning Man in 2004 added a new dimension to my art in more ways than one. Before then, the vast majority of my art was digital and two dimensional. Suddenly I was helping to build and decorate my camp’s shade structures in the Black Rock Desert.
I was also part of an art collective called Space Island. Together, we built and crewed the space pirate ship mutant vehicle known as the Space Wench. In 2005 I used Photoshop to take Stefano Novelli’s Space Island logo and designed a metal ‘doubloon’ pendant, shown above. We were subsequently able to send the electronic design to his brother, who was able to produce a large quantity to gift to friends and passengers.
From Two to Three Dimensions
By now, my background undeniably feels like a full-fledged biography. Making physical 3D art in the world was a profound experience for me. I knew how to use some tools. It was always in the context of things like DIY or making a repair to an existing thing. Getting a physical thing made from a digital design had a similarly profound effect. I needed to know more, and dove in deep on what’s known as CNC.
By mid-2006 I was living in San Francisco. Struggling to get by while learning to use software and tools that friends had access to. 3D modeling tools like Sketchup and Cinema 4D were opportunities to build without the need to buy raw materials. My background of making 2D art helped me figure out the programs. And when you make something, 3D modeling is a way to pre-visualize the project, before people start spending money on lumber or steel. I started using it on almost all my projects by 2007.
This is the part of my background where I get deep into CNC design. In 2013 I created the Ziggurati installation. It was a portable 700-piece wooden ziggurat that used no metal fasteners. It was something of a cross between TinkerToy and Lego. I brought the installation back to Burning Man in 2014 and 2015 before eventually retiring it.
In San Francisco I was able to use a shared MakerSpace. That gave me access to a wide variety of CNC tools, and use them on a variety of projects. I got trained and certified on as many tools as I could. Projects are often simple as a table or shelving units, but I enjoy more whimsical projects like the above giant Connect Four game or decorative signage for bike racks.
Virtual Background
In 2008, my partner and I saw a BBC documentary called Visions Of The Future, presented by Dr. Michio Kaku. It was a really fascinating program. In the first part he spent some time talking about virtual reality, and virtual worlds. He talked about Second Life, and we were immediately intrigued and started looking into it. That documentary is online now, you can check out Intelligence Revolution, Biotech Revolution, Quantum Revolution. It serves as a great background piece for any futurist. At this point in the backstory it feels like we were about to go down the proverbial rabbit hole.
The Future Of Community
Second Life turned out to be a lot of fun. We met a lot of great people, and had some great experiences. To me, a virtual world is a cross between a social network that you go into and walk around in, and a large sandbox video game. We had a virtual home in the steampunk city of New Babbage. Eventually built our own island that housed a studio workspace for testing, a shop for customers to see items ‘in-world’ and plenty of space to show off art and building designs. We participated in dances and other social events, Burning Man events, and even virtual fashion week runway shows. You may play games in a virtual world, but there is no single storyline that every user experiences. We also discovered that we could upload our own art and images and create our own buildings and clothing.
In the image above, my virtual Trilo avatar is seated in a chair at a table, using a steampunk laptop I designed and called the SteamBook Pro. To top it off, My avatar is wearing an outfit that my partner BlakOpal designed. We had a lot of fun creating all manner of victorian, steampunk, gothic and pirate clothing designs, and were able to sell virtual clothing to others for in-game currency. BlakOpal Designs became quite successful in Second Life, and continues to this day on the SL Marketplace.
Marketing Background Comes Into Play
While we were active in Second Life I volunteered to help test and improve the software where I could. Aside from helping with technical issues with the SL app, I helped the company design and build a new online marketplace. Think of their marketplace as a big online shopping site for users in the virtual world. As development seemed to slow down, it became clear the developers were focusing on a next generation world (which I’ve commented on). Unfortunately, their new world would not work with our computers. We felt like it was time to see what else was out there.
Next Generation
In November 2016 we discovered SineSpace, a next generation virtual world built on Unity. The idea made a lot of sense. By building on the established Unity game engine, somebody else was doing most of the heavy lifting. SineSpace developers could focus on the specifics of building a virtual world. It was an exciting experience from the start. Much better support for 3D models and support for PBR (physically based rendering) materials made it a much more immersive experience. In no time we were uploading and testing content. By the end of December 2016 I was able to get cloth physics (so the 3D model would bend and move like real cloth) working on a dress. It was a first for SineSpace, and the first time anyone in any virtual world. Within a year we had moved BlakOpal Designs.
Our Second Life background was helpful for understanding the concepts. Over the next several years we created hundreds of new items, ranging from wearable fashions to customizable homes and massive regions that spanned dozens of square kilometers. We worked closely with the developers to help test their app, online marketplace, and tools for creators. I also did a fair amount of posting about our creations, and made tutorials to help other creators get started. In May 2019 80 Level interviewed us about making clothes for video games.
A Postponement Or A Failure To Launch?
By the end of 2019 the SineSpace developers indicated they were on track for a public launch in the year ahead. At the start of 2020, I was finally able to create the first long gown with cloth physics. You can check that piece out in the video above. The thrill and excitement of the achievement, as well as the upcoming launch all disappeared quickly. The world ground to a halt due to the covid-19 pandemic. Though most online games were doing massive business, the SineSpace developers felt it was too risky an environment for an unknown company to attempt a big launch. They paused SineSpace development and focused their efforts on an offshoot product called Breakroom. It was aimed at corporate clients whose staffs were all working from home for the foreseeable future.
Still Holding Out Hope
I periodically hear from staffers. They insist that development is coming along, but it has been months since I’ve seen any meaningful signs of activity. New builds of the SineSpace app and Editor Pack for content creators used to come on a daily or weekly basis, but as of this writing it has been months since the last update. The desktop apps currently work and users are able to log in, but mobile apps no longer function and the Editor Pack for content creators is only compatible with a version of Unity that went end of life in May of 2023.
According to a summary on PitchBook Sine Wave Entertainment (developers of SineSpace) was acquired by Amazon last year. Individuals I’ve heard from at the company insist that’s not correct. The lack of communication and activity from the company since the pandemic has been concerning. Amazing natural environments, realistic materials, cloth physics, early support for VR and mobile apps for phones and tablets, plus the potential to have large numbers of users in the same regions at the same time. I do hope they are able to rally and bring SineSpace to market. The team were really great to work with and the world showed an incredible amount of promise.
A Vision Of The Future
Over the last few decades, I have had the opportunity to test and work with a number of headsets. Many were ambitious, and some held promise. Apple Vision Pro has been profound. I would be foolish to pass up an opportunity to work with this new spatial computer and document using it as a creative tool.
In the image above, I placed a 3D model onto the corner of my desk. It’s a robot I created for another project last year. I can turn it around and look at it from every angle, resize it, or get up and walk around it. The model is being lit by the actual lights in the room, and it is all happening in real-time.
2D art. 3D modeling. Making physical objects with CNC tools. Creating immersive content in virtual worlds. It feels like everything in my background is converging. Hopefully it brings new opportunities, a better job, and even better art. This is an exciting time.
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