We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brett Leonard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brett below.
Brett, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful area I’ve been a part of is in the development of the spatial web and spatial computing, which will revolutionize the delivery of all things virtual and immersive. UbiquityVX (UVX) is an example of a company that is developing at the cutting edge of the spatial web, to truly deliver the promise of virtual therapies that have been developed over the past 30 years to great efficacy but have not been able to scale to the larger populace because of the barriers to delivery.
I believe spatial computing and the spatial web are the logical evolution of computing and of how humans will interact with these machines that are now evolving to truly become part of ourselves. Looking back on my career, the most meaningful moments came from realizing that my function as a cinematic storyteller focused on the mythology of virtual reality (VR) which led me to creating actual virtual experiences that can help people in their healing journey. This shift from fictional to real life has been quite an experience, in a way I have entered into and am living in the movies I created a number of years ago about virtual reality! Obviously, meeting Dr. Skip Rizzo and my Co-Founder David Kerzner led to the synergies necessary to bring together UbiquityVX, and to fulfill a vision I had only thought possible in storytelling and the movies!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My journey to becoming the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of UbiquityVX really started, surprisingly enough, with my career as a cinematic storyteller, a film director in Hollywood. One of my first feature films as writer/director was “Lawnmower Man”, which introduced the term and concept of virtual reality to global popular culture over thirty years ago. It was a hit film, and it started a lot of discussion and excitement around what actual virtual reality technology could be used for in the world, and also what its possible downsides could be. Ironically, it was really a cautionary tale in many ways.
Many years later, I met Dr. Skip Rizzo, who is one of the top clinicians and researchers in the area of virtual therapies for healthcare. It turned out “Lawnmower Man” was one of the inspirations for his work in this area. He then inspired me to get involved with actual virtual reality in the healing arena of life, which fulfilled a desire of mine to be involved with positive uses of this technology that I was already so identified with because of movies I had made. The other equally important event was meeting my Co-Founder of UbiquityVX, David Kerzner, who as a pioneer in tech startups and innovation also wanted to develop positive uses for this technology. David and I bonded in that desire and mission, and he really understood how to bring the vision of UbiquityVX to fruition as a business with Dr. Rizzo and I.
Now with the team in place and with the addition of a revolutionary web-based platform for simplified, more “ubiquitous” delivery of gameified virtual therapies, UbiquityVX was born!
David and I’s core mission was to bring the science of virtual therapies that Dr. Rizzo had proven the efficacy of through years of clinical trials and over 350 peer-reviewed papers, with a revolutionary web-based delivery platform that enabled immersion and embodiment through marker-less motion capture. Additionally, we wanted to eliminate the traditional barriers and create a platform that worked with any device camera through the browser alone without the need for complicated hardware or technical configurations that are usual in the delivery of virtual experience (VX). With this, we knew we could deliver virtual therapy in a way that could scale, providing this clinically-proven therapeutic methodology in a mass-accessible way.
One of the things we are most proud of has been to create a foundation of WebXR technology that is sophisticated enough to fulfill the needs of the kind of clinically-proven virtual therapies that Dr. Rizzo has studied and created throughout his career. For a number of years, WebXR had been a bit of a toy, not taken too seriously within the virtual reality industry. Our tech and product team, led by Nathan Burba and Summer Perry, have been exploring the outer reaches of what is possible with delivering virtual immersive experience through the spatial web, in the browser alone with just a link and no special gear. This approach is revolutionary in terms of delivering virtual experience without the usual technical overhead and friction of having special hardware and complex technical configurations, etc.
The core of the UbiquityVX vision is to democratize delivery of gamified healing virtual therapies for everyone who has a simple laptop, tablet, mobile device, or smart tv without the usual barriers of delivering virtual experience. We are also focusing on the use of marker-less motion capture technology that allows the feeling of embodiment in a virtual environment without the use of a headset or other immersive virtual technology. Our browser-based Embodiment Engine tracks human movement for physical therapy, occupational therapy, autism treatment and training, and many more use cases utilizing the engagement of therapeutic games in the virtual healthcare arena.
I think one of the most interesting technical aspects of UbiquityVX is how we are using the concept of embodiment through the use of marker-less motion capture enabled in the browser with just a link, to create an immersive gameified therapeutic experience that can be healing, engaging, and even fun! The revolutionary aspect of our tech is that it delivers all of this without the difficulty of using specific hardware and technical configurations that have made it impossible for these kinds of embodiment therapies to scale to everyone.
In terms of the future of UbiquityVX, we plan on developing our platform to be the greatest, most accessible, inter-operable virtual therapy marketplace in the world. We see the ability to utilize many of the virtual therapy protocols that have been developed by so many brilliant clinicians, therapists, and doctors, and
provide our way of delivering those therapies for everyone without the friction and complexity that is usually associated with the delivery of virtual experiences. UVX gives patients and individuals alike the ability to control their healing journey through the use of our technology and platform.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
The experience that has most exemplified my journey with UbiquityVX has been bringing together so many multi-disciplines, and such a diverse team of people who have such unique focuses in the areas of virtual therapy, WebXR tech delivery, and productization. Developing this incredible team of top talents and having the experience of us all working together toward our shared goal of delivering virtual therapies to everyone has been the greatest experience of my varied career! I hope this story will signal to your readers that through companies like UbiquityVX, a new era of virtual medicine and the use of sophisticated immersive technologies for healing will become part of the norm in the evolution of healthcare, healing, and wellness. An era where through technology people can guide and take greater control of their healing journey with stronger results, efficiency, and engagement.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect for me has been in my creative journey from being a cinematic storyteller/film director in Hollywood, and how that has led me to being a part of UbiquityVX, and the vision of bringing virtual healing therapies to everyone through spatial web technologies. I started as an artist telling cautionary tales about virtual reality technology, and that eventually led to my becoming part of it in a way that hopefully can be used for positive gains in healing and healthcare. I guess the final lesson is to be aware of the stories you tell as an artist and creative, because they can lead to the creation of your reality in ways that can truly surprise you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ubiquityvx.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ubiquityvxr/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ubiquityvx
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ubiquityvx/
- Twitter: https://x.com/ubiquityvx
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ubiquityvx
Image Credits
UbiquityVX