Realizing the Future

Being the first to do something.

Published

One of my favorite things about my job is that I'm often doing things for the first time, of anyone, ever.

I had two instances of that this week while recording demos for Together. We just launched Together 1.0 last week and Elliot and I have been working on some fresh demo videos to share with investors.

The first instance was on Monday. I was outside, here in New York, in the East Village. I walked up to this nice meadow that's surrounded by benches, near where I live. A few people were already there, quietly reading or on their phone. I walked up to one of the empty benches, carefully pulled out my Vision Pro, paired it to my phone, then called Elliot on Together. He picked up and his hologram appeared. I said "hey!", waved, and dove right into talking about our shot plan, walking all around, setting up markers and cameras.

I chuckled to myself when I saw my neighbor glance over with a bewildered look on his face, wondering what on Earth I was doing and who the hell I was talking to.

A screengrab from our recording session outside. Elliot's on the left setting up virtual cameras, my unknowing neighbor sitting on the bench.
A screengrab from our recording session outside. Elliot's on the left setting up virtual cameras, my unknowing neighbor sitting on the bench.

The second instance was on Tuesday. I was sitting in my office, wearing my Vision Pro, preparing for another demo recording. I had my notes pulled up on my laptop and was sharing the display into the headset. I had three virtual cameras setup for shooting, using the cloud recording studio that we've made inside Together.

And as I prepared for the first take, it struck me — I'm probably the first person to ever do this.

I smiled and sat back, pausing to let it sink in. How freaking cool, I thought to myself.

I took a screenshot to remember the moment.

My mixed reality recording studio in Together 1.0.
My mixed reality recording studio in Together 1.0.

It can be really hard building at the bleeding edge of computing. I've found that being the first one to something is oftentimes more painful than exhilirating. But this was one of those times where it felt amazing. I could viscerally feel my place in history, right there in my apartment. I feel so unbelievably lucky to be where I am at that this exact moment, realizing the future.