Lunch Academy EP 013 with Dan Burgar

We're already live. Every episode is always the first sound bite.

It's always a sound bite of me being like, are we live?

We take behind the scenes, literally. So welcome Everybody, to episode 013, the Steve Nash episode. Shadow's looking at me. He's totally confused.

Steve Nash. What? Steve Nash. Steve Nash went to my high school. I should know this.

You should know that.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Anyway, so as join with me, Sam here. As always, my words are all jumbled up. Now I have here Sade.

Hi, everyone.

Hello. And we have a guest here. Wanna introduce the guest?

We've got my good friend Dan Berger on the show here today. Dan is going to talk to us about everything VR, AR. Dan's got a really everything everything. He knows everything. He's got a super impressive career in the tech industry and specifically in the vrir space, has been the president of the VR.

So while you guys are listening to this ramble, have a second screen open and then just look him up on LinkedIn.

Just look him up on LinkedIn. He's got so much. Even us, before the show, we're just like, okay, we need to know.

Dan did this. Dan.

I don't sleep. They call me the man with the many hats.

And he does that thing where. And this is true of a lot of Vancouver. It's not just you, but he does that thing where you can build, like, you can have 10 years of experience in five years if you just do like five things at the same time.

Yeah, I know.

And there's like 10 years, like, I don't know, Facebook experience. Like, Facebook's been only around for 10 years. And it's like, okay, I was just.

Scrolling down on LinkedIn, like, wow.

Oh, wow.

Okay. Wow.

Don't go too low.

So. So I mean, like, to get back on board, like, Dan's obviously had very impressive career in tech. A lot of experience in VR, AR. Mr. Doesn't get enough love in that. You need to add more to the name.

Maybe there's too many acronyms. There's STAR R. There's way too many Rs.

STAR R. STAR.

Being coined. And I think a lot of the film guys are using that. No, we're gonna call it vrar.

We're gonna go through all the R's so everybody feels represented. But you are the president of the Vancouver VRA A for almost two and a half years now. So we'll definitely go a little bit into that. But with our show, as always, because we are a Vancouver show, there's a couple. Couple things that we have to talk about. And we always start with the weather. So what's your weather report?

Yes. Weather forecast for the upcoming days is rain. Yeah, that's it.

Rain for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, it's rain with a really high.

Chance of rain, so probably rain. Yeah, this is gonna be. We can just. Yeah, we can just clip this. What you. Exactly what you said. We can just use it again for the next five episodes.

A lot of rain, guys. There's a rain jacket brand called Rains. Go out and buy yourself one plug.

Shout out to rains. And today, if you go today only today, exclusively on this podcast, you'll probably get a discount. Because it's Black Friday.

Yeah. Not because of us. There you go. So that's your forecast.

Yeah. You got a discount. You got a weather forecast. Because this show is called Lunch Academy, we always want to bring our guests in, introduce them to some foods. So with you being the infamous Dan Burger Sade and I thought, well, what. What would be appropriate? There's nothing more appropriate. So I'm gonna go grab.

We got you some burgers. Oh, yep. We figured you would be a master, so we got two different kinds and. Oh, my God, we'll let you taste.

Amazing. This is the best podcast already.

I know. So I went to pick up these burgers and I was telling the guy what it was for, and he was like, oh, it's going to take a little while. And I'm like, no worries. I've got to go pick up another burger. And he's like, what do you do for a living? I was like, I'm just. Just burger runs.

It's not your first time there? Eh?

No.

Oh, this one came with complimentary fries.

Yeah. So he threw in complimentary fries because I told him it was for a podcast. So I'm going to cut this in half and then you can have.

So we're not going to tell you where the burgers are from, but we do want you to try both burgers. Great. Shade picked one and I picked one. And we've been kind of going back and forth in the office because we don't do any actual, you know, work.

Ray. Sorry.

Sorry, Ray.

Ray's not watching this.

But. But we've been debating, like, which one would be better. So we need you today to kind of give us either. We did a scale of 1 to 3.

I'm trying to cut this in half.

She's trying to just, like, make it all clean and pretend like we're pretentious eaters but three means you'd recommend it. Highly recommended. Two means it's okay, it's all right. And then one is definitely, like, just stay away. Super simple. We're not gonna make it too complicated. This isn't Yelp here. Yeah, you just give them the whole burger. I thought that was the plan anyway. Just half.

I sort of cut it.

Watch. Watch Dan eat two burgers on the show. That's the show.

Just take a bite and then take a bite of the other one and tell us which one you like best.

Over there.

The burger master. Has anyone ever called you that?

I am what I eat.

Right.

This one's good.

Yeah.

Do you want to cut that one or are you good?

Yeah. I hope you don't mind my fingers all over this food.

We do wash our hands.

Speak for yourself.

Not not. I mean, not. Not before the show. I just mean it's a general statement. Dad's never coming on our show again.

This is a rough start.

All right, so. So that one's good. That one's A. We'll call that A. You're keeping track of which one's which, right?

Burger A. Yes.

Burger A is good.

Yeah. Okay.

Should I rate it out?

No, eat the second one first.

Tell us which one you like best. Yeah.

Wash it down.

I gotta clear my palate.

Yeah. Dang, that was loud.

You also. You tell us which one you like best, because you would know these things. Me? Yeah.

So. So here's a secret. Well, we spent all of season one as. You kind of enjoy your bites. We spent all season one, you know, you feeding me vegan food. And it's been well known now that I don't partake in the. The vegetables. So I look at this burger. I see, you know, your classic tomatoes and pickles and all that kind of stuff. I'm like.

I'm pretty sure they gave me the wrong burger because the one I ordered did not have mushrooms.

So bonus. Who's gonna complain? Oh, no, you threw it in. You threw it in. Extra. Extra mushrooms. Oh, no. I guess some people don't like mushrooms, but whatever.

Mmm.

This one's good, too. Let's hear.

All right, so let's. Let's hear the results.

I'm gonna have a fry.

The first one. I would give two out of three.

Okay.

This one, probably a three out of three.

So this one's better.

This one's better? Yeah.

This one's better. What. What about it is better?

More flavor on this one.

Okay.

And the fake cheese. I don't know it.

He knew it was fake cheese.

You know what I told the guy? No cheese because I wanted it to be both plain burgers.

Yeah.

And then when I came and picked up the burger, he was like, I added some cheese in there for you as like a bonus. And I'm like, God damn it. I asked for no cheese.

So we knew the fake cheese would be a giveaway.

So.

So it turns out this one's from where?

So this one is from Meat. It's actually vegetarian.

Oh, I could tell, actually.

This one. This one's.

But it's good.

And this one is. This one's from Meat. And this one's from Save on Meats.

This one's from Save on Meats. But this one.

Veggie burger.

No, this is a regular burger.

Oh, okay.

Real meat does prevail.

Yeah.

But I will try it later for. For those of you guys like, it looks enough like meat that meat.

Meat on in Gaston is delicious. But we really wanted to represent Save on Meats because I'm not going to go into the whole spiel. Just Google them. They're doing some really, really great work. Pretty much proceeds that go to Save on Meats go to feed others in need. So they've got like a tally of like how many people they've helped feed, and it's really high. So if you ever crave a burger that's just like your regular delicious diner style burger, go to Save on Meats. They're doing some great stuff. Yeah, it's a good.

Cause I do like a good diner, though. There's. There's like, I live in Coquitlam. There's like no diners there almost no diners. Now, if you run a diner in Coquitlam, let me know. Feel free. But before we get too far away, I do also have an announcement. This is new for, I guess Dan as well, but our producer, it's her birthday tomorrow, so if you guys are watching this live, please leave a happy birthday comment to Giselle. Make sure it's straight to Giselle. We want to show her some love.

Happy birthday, producer lady.

Producer lady. Two words. Space in the middle. No, Dash.

We don't like to give her. It just makes her feel too special.

Yes. So make sure. And if you're listening later on the podcast, stop what you're doing. Like, just, you know, be safe. Park to the side and then go on Facebook, Find. Find this episode and then wish her a belated happy birthday. So. So that's what we want everybody to do. So. So, Dan, for those that you know, I mean, obviously we're live on. On air right now, but we do have a podcast, so people make sure you're subscribing to it. We do post teasers and stuff on our Instagram as well. Facebook, Twitter. Which one am I missing? YouTube, other networky thingies. Launch Academy HQ for all of that. So make sure you're following us, all of that there, especially the next two weeks on Instagram. At the end of the show, we'll talk a little bit about a new project that we're gonna be doing in preparation for the next episode.

Sweet. I know nothing about this.

You're the one who plot. Forget it. We're not gonna have this debate on air. Is this a schnick? No, it's not a schnick. This is real.

That's why I pick fights with Sam. All right, let's go back to.

Let's focus, though.

Our special guest, Dan.

So obviously we're gonna talk a lot about VR and ar, but it's actually one of the leading tech hubs now in terms of the technology sector. I'm reading the stats here, and 150,000 people driven, more than 2.3 billion in revenue for the province itself. That's some crazy statistics for something that wouldn't be something that people normally think about. And right now there's over 150 VRAR companies. And I know we'll go a little bit further into that in the future, but you're expecting a lot more even in the year to come.

Yeah, it's actually 250 now.

Yeah.

In Vancouver.

In Vancouver.

It's crazy.

That's like skyrocketed. What was it like, three years ago?

Three years ago? Fifteen.

Yeah.

Nuts. But let's. Let's kind of get back into the very beginning. Like, what. How did you get involved? I guess first with tech and then. And then VR. Like, what did you study and like, kind of your journey up?

Yeah. So went to school for business and then got my degree in that. And then what brought me to Vancouver, actually, was going to Vancouver Film School, and I took a program called Entertainment Business Management. Had no clue which angle I really wanted to go. I was just like, ah, it'll take me to Vancouver, so see how it goes. And turns out that I didn't get into the film industry because I knew early on within a few months that film wasn't for me. But it really kind of got me to understand more on the entertainment business side of things. And it was kind of a good step to understand what I really wanted to do. But what got me into tech was just by accident, like, I had no clue. I wanted to get into tech and started working for a few companies. And one that really stuck was working with Momentous. And I helped them build out their business development side of their company and really help, you know, get them to work with companies like Lululemon. We're working with, you know, some of the biggest brands in the world, building technology solutions for them. And that's really when I started getting this love for technology and seeing how we could actually, you know, help companies out how it can empower people. Yep. And they sent me to this conference called Mobile World Congress back in 2014 or 2014 in Barcelona.

And I think I have a friend going this year.

Oh, really? What's up? It's one of the biggest conferences in the world. It's Matt. It's too. It's too big almost. Oh, Ashton's going.

Yeah, shout out to Ashton. I don't know you, but.

And I put on my first VR headset and it was this profound experience where I was just like, wow, holy shit, this is gonna change the world. Am I allowed swearing on here?

Yeah, I just have to add a little E at the bottom.

And it was just weird because it was just this normal. It was this cleaning app in VR and normally if, you know, doing such a monotonous task, it's not a great experience, but doing it in VR and I was excited to sweep the floor or wash the dishes.

That's what humanity has done too.

Something clicked in my brain. I was like, this is technology that's really going to take over and it's going to be the future. So I brought the technology back to our company and we built a product there. It was towards real estate, but it was super ahead of its time and no one was really wanting to kind of take it on. So it the product failed. And from there I was just like, okay, how do I kind of get more into this technology? Because I knew Momentos was looking at kind of the full ecosystem in tech. I wanted to focus more on just VR and AR and how I could build up that technology and how I can empower different people to use it to, you know, know, use it as a practical solution to solve problems. So I found archiact, which is a gaming company. And I just talked to the CEO. I was like, you know what? You guys have this great technology, you have a great team, and I think we can really kind of build up the enterprise side of things. And I helped that company grow from? There were like 20 at that time. And now they're one of the biggest, bigger VR AR players in the industry. So they're about 120 now.

What are they mostly known for?

They're mostly known for VR games. Yeah.

Okay, what's their top game?

They just announced a game called Evasion and that one's done with intel and they're getting some great reviews and some buzz around that. So I'm excited for them.

Yeah.

Cool.

And so how did that lead you to the VRAR A? How was that? How did that come up?

Yeah, so shortly, kind of when I first started at archiact, I was like, we have a great community here. There was a meetup group called Van VR and they were really kind of great for the independent developers and some of the, you know, some of the early stage companies and. Well, and I was thinking like, there wasn't really anything kind of focusing on how to scale businesses, how to help companies accelerate growth and how to tap into getting them to understand how to talk to investors and things like that.

And.

I saw that there was an association that had, I think at that time they had probably about 15 chapters. And I approached them to start a Vancouver chapter. And when I was talking to the president of the VR Air Association, I was like, you know, Vancouver has all the tools. Right. Because they have the great video games industry. VFX and film have been one of the top industries here for a long time. And they're like, where is Vancouver? I literally think they thought we all lived in igloo and said, we are.

Not at all on the BIR map.

They had no clue where we were on the map. So just like. And I was like, yeah, we'll definitely surprise you. And I think the exciting thing was, you know, we were able to build a team out of leaders within the industry. Yeah, back then there was only like 15 companies. And since then it's just the momentum is carried and the buzz around the city has been something I never expected at all. Starting this association chapter.

Cool. And then how does. How does someone actually, like get involved with that now? Like with the VRA or a Vancouver.

I would say joining. We take members from students up to corporate companies. Okay. So getting involved as a member, going to events, being a part of the V VR AR hub here at Launch Academy, you know, getting a seat there, going to these events that we're building and workshops, and that's really how you get involved. Just getting out there and meeting people and integrating yourself into the community and.

Would you recommend starting even pre product or like you mentioned students. Right. Like when is a good time for, you know, them touching in and what types of students are generally more drawn to the association?

Yeah, any. I would say get into it as quick as possible if you have an interest in this technology. Yeah, just start, start now because we're not quite there yet. We're still a couple years away from this being a technology that's ubiquitous. And you know, there's a lot of tools, there's our association, there's you know, government programming and things like that which will be able to help these students be able to get into the industry as well. And you know, once. I think that's one of our big focuses is focusing on education and getting more students involved and getting folks from outside of Canada to look into, you know, segment setting up shop here in Vancouver as well. Yeah. And you know, we're going to be running into a bit of a talent shortage. I think about 30,000 jobs will be available by 2021. So it's going to be, it's going to be pretty, pretty crazy actually. We need to, you know, look at building programs from the grassroots and the education side is something that we really want to focus on.

Yeah, for sure. And I mean like I've seen this happen, you know, not too many times, but once or twice now. Right. Like you mentioned Mobile World Congress. I've mentioned on the show before prior to this, like I was deeply involved with mobile developers and stuff like that. So we did actually run a developer conference at mwc, but it was very much like this at the beginning of the iPhone. Right. Everybody's like, nobody's gonna build apps on here, Nobody's gonna use it for this or that. Or like, like the idea like when people started building games for the iPhone or, or not just iPhones, but like any smartphone people are like, other than Snake or whatever the brick breaker on the BlackBerry. I don't know. You have no idea what I'm talking about. Oh you do. I'm giving her less credit than she's known for, but she did go under a rock. But like the concept of like, oh yeah, like we have. That's what PlayStations are for. That's what, like that's what Nintendo's are for. Like why would we play games on our phone? Right. So it has very much that kind of same vibe and I don't have a better term for it than that. And then one day we're just gonna wake up and it's just gonna be this, this Normal thing. Like, yeah, you didn't get a job in VR. Like, too bad. Like, kind of like you just missed it.

We're waiting for that fart app moment. You know, remember on the iPhone, it was that fart app app that got out there and it took the world by storm. And that's when people started downloading apps. Yep. So as an industry, VRA is just isn't quite there yet. The content isn't compelling enough for people to jump into the technology or, you know, put download an app, an AR app on their phone or to buy a VR headset.

How is it doing right now in like the enterprise level where, like, obviously there's a lot of talk about VR being used for training and for educational purposes. Like, where are we now? And how do you see that growing? You see that being one of the most influential, like, kind of ways that we can use VR?

Yeah. So enterprise is really going to drive the technology and it's being used on many fronts. Right now it's being used in surgical simulations so doctors can actually put on a headset and operate on a human body without actually having to make mistakes on a real human. So there's that. And then, you know, you see training from companies like lamazoo, who's doing, you know, mining training and mining simulations, and that's already being used in these type of environments. And then Walmart just deployed, I think, about 17,000 headsets to their, to their staff around the world to be able to, you know, train before they get into a Walmart. So it's, it's going to be a part of our everyday lives. And really what's going to drive the technology is that is a practical applications of this technology.

That to me is what made the most sense even the first time I was introduced to VR was actually because of you. I mean, I went to a conference and that's where I met Dan. And I was there and it was my first kind of introduction to the VR industry. I never even played a VR game. I played a few and then Dan invited me to Archiac to go and check, test out a bunch of their games and I played that like Google drawing game.

Oh, Tilt brush.

Yes.

And it was like, it was mind blowing.

Yeah.

I was like, oh my God, if this was available to me when I was a kid, like developing like my creative side, it would have been crazy. And then obviously, even after playing the games and everything, I played a couple, like shooting ones and quest ones and I was like, I think this is, this is more exciting if I can Use it to kind of a be more creative or learn. And the whole application in the medical industry is so exciting. I just hope that like, I mean, I don't know where we are right now. Like how common is it that this is, Is this being used in medical school?

Yeah, it's being used everywhere. It's not every, like it's not quite ubiquitous, but on the enterprise side, yeah, a lot of hospitals are using it, a lot of medical organizations are using it. It's being used for PTSD patients to tap into, you know, anxiety and depression and. And then also, yeah, like training simulation. That's kind of the biggest, biggest use cases right now. And then almost every industry is using real estate's, using it to visualize spaces.

Do you think we'll use it soon for like learning how to drive? I think that would be really cool.

Having the VR experience a little bit scared, but go.

I mean obviously driving is different but like to get like say like a completely new driving student, just comfortable with everything.

But I prefer it to like a written test.

Yeah.

But soon, soon you won't need to learn how to drive. Right. We're gonna have autonomous cars and there's going to be robots driving us.

I'm gonna have Elong Musk pick me up in some crazy jet. That's going to be my transportation future.

You'll live on Mars potentially. Right. 20, 30, that's the, I think that's the timeline.

So. So one of the things that, and I've been on air before, and this is where I'm happy to admit that I'm wrong as not seeing VR is picking up as fast as I thought it should have.

Yeah.

And I think, and my whole thing was like, and now I'm really dating myself is like, I point back to the virtual boy, do you remember that Nintendo one? And then so that thing at the time when they started, you know, throwing on commercials like on YTV and all that stuff. Like when I picked one up, when I picked one up at the, when I pick it up at the store. Right. Like, and then I see like this like eight bit like Super Mario. It's like, man, it's just Super Mario only even no colors. And like I gotta wear this stupid goggle thing.

Yeah. And it was red.

It was ridiculous.

Yeah. Got these weird flashes.

So between that and the fact that I have to pay more for 3D movies at, you know, the movie theater, like, I think that kind of gave me like a turn off. And so to me one of the biggest kind of roadblocks is like the physical, the goggles or devices or whatever you talk about. What do you see as kind of like the biggest kind of roadblock from it being, as you put it, ubiquitous?

Definitely the, the technology. So yeah, the headsets, in order for people to want to use it every day, it's got to look like sunglasses or something that's not as intrusive. Right. Right now it looks too bulky, it's dorky and you know, it's taking up so much space in your home and it's super expensive. So that needs, so price needs to go down as well. And then also the content just really sucks right now for most of it. Like I won't go into a VR experience for more than about an hour because I haven't really picked up anything that really makes me want to use it all the time. But that's going to change. Right. We need to figure out what that content is. What that killer content is basically is what the whole industry is waiting for and a use case that, that will really kind of drive people towards that technology. And if you remember the mobile days, it took a while, right?

Yep.

There was a Palm Pilot, there was a BlackBerry or even before that it was like the brick ones. Right.

The Nokia E series.

Yeah. And it's gonna take.

I just gave you a look there, name drop and stuff. It's nothing to be proud of. I remember that.

Wow, you're really old, man.

I'm really old and he looks really.

Young and I have no idea how he eats. Zero vegetables.

Well, he's Asian. Us Asians, we never age.

It's the products. I'll share my list with you later. My three step process.

Yeah, we're sorry.

Yeah, so the, the main thing is content, price and the headsets itself. So I think once that goes down and we're pretty close, I would say about a few years, we'll start seeing things really change and we'll see something that will, you know, get people like the average Joe onto the technology. So Apple is going to be releasing something in 2021 as, as most, you know, in most technologies.

And, and is that a Dan Bomb exclusive? Quote it, quote it. Shout out to my media buddies. Write an article about this.

No, it's kind of everywhere right now. They're, they're saying, yeah, there's, they're scheduled for 2021 if things go well. And a lot of the other companies are following suit, but they've mostly said with Apple they always take that wait and see approach. Right. So they're really building Something that's gonna be meaningful and it's gonna be, I think AR where they'll have AR glasses and you'll be able to walk around and integrate or it'll integrate with the world around you.

Yeah, yeah. That's what's really exciting. AR is so exciting of the fact that yeah, I can be in my, in my own environment but it's enhanced all the information and technology that I would like. So for me it's like Google Maps. I'm so excited for Google Maps.

It's gonna change staycation into a new realm. Nobody just goes anywhere anymore.

Because honestly, my biggest constraint with the VR goggles is I was looking at this article the other day about like immersive, like film experiences where you have your VR goggle and you're watching a movie through your goggles.

Yeah.

And my concern was how am I supposed to eat ice cream when I've got a headset on? It does. I can't see the bowl. That's my problem.

Can't see the bowl.

You could because it, it's just digital overlays on top of your reality so that you could still eat the ice cream. The ice cream might be changing in colors or you might be eating a penguin or something.

And if Alex has his way shout out to Shape immersive, the penguin will be climbing on top of your ice cream. So yeah, so there you go.

I like that idea to Alex.

He has that idea. He spends a lot of time in his ideas. He puts put up this post yesterday about being creative and stuff. So I'm sure he's thought of it.

Probably has. Yeah.

Let's talk a little bit more about the, the VR AR hub now that we're talking about Alex and, and where the industry is going. So this is in the previous episode we did mention the VR Hub and announced the launch and it's been all over social media so I'm pretty sure everyone's aware. But things are really going to be kicking off as of January, applications are open. But let's, let's hear from your side what you think this hub is going to bring to the industry and why you decided to associate with it through the Vrair Association.

Yeah. So we're excited to partner with Launch Academy on the Vrair Hub because with where the industry is at right now, we really need to focus on community and you know, the organization that has been really kind of killing it in that space and really being cultivating community and growth has been Launch Academy and it was kind of a no brainer. For us. And, you know, when we had that opportunity basically come to us, we thought, you know, with what, what the industry needs, especially on the early stage side, you know, the one to two men shops or women shops, or, you know, this like five to ten folk shops, I think that's really what needs the help the most. Because there's a lot of these companies that really need mentorship on how to scale a business, how to accelerate their growth, how do you talk to investors? And Launch Academy already has that infrastructure in place, and being able to integrate the VR AR community into that is only gonna. Only gonna help drive the growth in this city.

Yeah, and we're, we're really excited to be able to tailor our program to V companies because, I mean, we're here to help entrepreneurs. But there's always been a bit of a constraint with that industry just because it does require the right equipment and it does require really specific kind of mentors. Yeah, right. So that's why we lacked. And then having this opportunity to grow that and a program that's able to tailor to include the VRAR industry is really exciting.

And I think, like, one thing. So I spent the last couple days, I've started talking to people who have been interested in joining the Hub and things like that, and it's a breath of fresh air in the sense of creativity. And what I mean by that is, I mean traditionally for Launch Academy, I say that traditionally, we were around six years, and it's not that long, but we get a lot of career changes, people who work in the field, and then they see a problem in, let's say, their industry and they can't stand it anymore and they want to solve it. And generally speaking, these people can be ex accountants, ex developers, so on, so forth. When it comes to VR, what I'm seeing is a lot of ex animators, ex film people, ex entertainment people. And these people, when their parents were telling them to go to school, be a doctor, all the kind of more traditional things, they're like, no, screw this, I'm gonna be creative.

So the fun people.

Exactly, exactly. I. Well, I PC'd that, but, you know, shot a. Just went there. But, but just like when I started talking to them, they don't just have one idea, they have eight ideas. And, you know, in business speak, that's not necessarily the greatest thing. Yeah, but, but we always talk about how startups commonly fail. And, you know, you want to give yourself as many chances to go into the ring as you can because that increases your odds of success. And the Fact that like they have these eight ideas and you know, it's just my job or our job at Launch Academy here to be like, okay, focus, let's try this one. Let's have a methodical approach to how we can take it to market. Like, are you getting the right, are you getting the right audience? No, let's move on to the next one. Right. And we can keep doing that, but sometimes when, when it's over and over again, and this is no offense to people who build marketplaces because we have had a ton of successful marketplaces in there, but when you're building the same thing over and over again, it becomes a lot of copy paste. I know a lot of people who tried to attack the job market, so they build job marketplaces and some they're very successful and they have their own niche, but it's very difficult when there's already four or five major players out there. Where do you start? You start off by, well, they have this basic function. I'm gonna copy that function versus, you know, everything is, everything's kind of clean slate right now.

Yeah.

And those. So there's like a freshness and a creativeness to, you know, what these folks are building. And so that, that was what was getting me excited yesterday when I was just on the phone talking to, I can't even remember who there was but two or three calls that I did yesterday. But just, just the way they're able to stretch the imagination. Some of them are contractors right now and they'll be like work, working with, I don't know, a certain new channel or, I don't know, a media company and stuff like that, and they're making that push to push the industry forward from that angle too.

Yeah, it's going beyond anything we've ever known. Exactly. Our job to take something that's going beyond anything we've ever known and find a market fit and find a way to hopefully make money.

I thought you were going to quote Buzz Lightyear there.

What come. Yeah, that's, that's a challenge for. It's gonna be, it's an exciting challenge.

Yeah, yeah, it's, it's great. And I think with the VR AR creators and entrepreneurs getting to rub shoulders with some of the other folks that are already here is gonna be important. Right. You're gonna see these very organic, you know, type of relationships that build out of just being at Launch Academy. So I think for VR era companies it makes a lot of sense and to get advice from like, you folks and to also get advice from Companies who have been through that stage before. And I love the whole Visa, the Visa program that you guys have where you're bringing international companies into Launch Academy and getting them situated here. So I think, you know, with a lot of the VR, AR energy around the world, we'll be able to, you know, set some of these guys up over here as well.

Yeah. And we're excited. Like. Like Dan said.

Right.

Like, one of the things that I always talk about Vancouver, and obviously I'm biased because we grew up here. Right. But. But, like, the games industry has always been strong. Like, people are so surprised when I go out of town that, like, electronics arts was based here.

Yeah.

Like, they're always surprised. I'm like, yeah, they're big. They're big campuses here.

Yeah. That flies under the radar.

But it's because they're in Burnaby, Honestly speaking. But this is because they need that much. That much space. Right? Yeah. And you already mentioned the film. Film school, like, all the stuff is. Is being filmed here. I don't know if you guys watch the Flash, but it's super annoying when they're filming all the time and we're trying to drive in downtown here and Flash is trying to save our world once again.

I'm just trying to get to where work.

Can you save the world later?

Yeah.

Just go back in time.

You.

You can run through time, man. Like.

Yeah. No, the film industry is. Is also a pretty obvious application. I just don't know how that looks right now.

Yeah.

Do you have anything to say about that?

It's still early. There's a lot of 360 content coming, but they're still trying to figure out how to make that content compelling and. And something that people will watch as opposed to going to flat screen.

So the last time I put on the headset, I. It was a friend of mine who made me watch, like, the 360 trailer of that movie that just came out free solo of that climber who climbed El Cap with no rope, which is insane. And they did 360 videos, and you can actually watch it through headset. And it's amazing because you can just turn around and look down and look up, and it feels like you're there with him. And so if you have, like, vertigo or if you're scared of heights, like, terrible, but so fun if you're not. And I thought that was really amazing.

Yeah. VR is very good at, you know, kind of. Or taking you out of your body and feeling empathy for someone else. So you could be in the shoes of that climber or one cool experience was walking in the footsteps of a Syrian refugee.

Oh, wow.

And that was actually one of the first experiences in a 360 movie I saw. And it was pretty profound. When you go through that and you feel like you're there and you're just like, you feel this instant empathy to these people. And I think that's where we're going to see VR, even elevate even more is that type of content that's amazing. You know, immersing people in things that they would never see or the people that they would never meet. Right. And you know, you look at everything that's happening in the States, if you. A lot of the people down south, you know, a lot of them don't even have a passport or have never left their country. What if you put a VR headset on them them and show them, you know, parts of Africa or show them different parts of the world, it might change their views on how the world outside of their state is. So, yeah, I think that's where I'm excited with that narrative content.

Yeah.

And then that loops right back to like, just education and like National Geographic.

Needs to get on that.

Oh, they're already on it. Yeah.

Yeah. Amazing. What's that?

That's my doorbell.

Oh, yeah.

I was like, hello.

Cool.

But I guess I'll end on this question is what. What's kind of one use case that you see right now that nobody's talking about that you think you know, any, any of the Rs, XR, Mr. Star, R, whatever that nobody is thinking about right now, but it's just going to come up right on under them as well.

If I knew that, I might be a rich person and I wouldn't tell you guys.

So he does know.

I think the stuff Alex is working on is very interesting. The cloud, the cloud infrastructure for AR and not a lot of people are tackling that 60 AI is, but there's not a ton of people kind of.

If for everybody listening, Google Shape immersive.

Definitely we can probably leave a link. Yeah, we have that.

Pretty amazing. And I was talking to Alex about it and he. So he obviously, I'm not techie person, so he had to really explain what he was doing to me. To me there. He was doing.

What was he doing?

Nothing. He was just speaking. Okay.

Him and his mind.

He went into. Into detail about how all this is going to work. And then my, my first reaction was like, wow, you're really entering this market super early. And he was like, yeah, really early, but it's gonna happen, like it's gonna come around. We're gonna get to that point and then he's gonna be the person there ready to provide the data needed to, to create these experiences. So Google Shape Immersive.

So what we'll do is, you know, we'll look back at this video, you know, two years, three years from now, and we'll go back and do this. So, Alex, I would like shape immersive.com to be on this burger right here. And we'll go back and we'll edit it out and it'll just kind of curve in.

Yeah, perfect.

Yeah. So. So we give you a plug there. Cool. Before we kind of wrap up, is there anybody you want to give a.

Shout out to or any announcements?

Or any announcements?

I'd like to shout out my mom. Hi, mom.

All right. Hi, Dan's mom.

Hey.

There's only one mom on this show.

I actually don't think she's watching.

Well, we'll make sure she watches. Shout out to Shade's mom. Make sure you tell Dan's mom to watch. My mom will not be watching.

I, I think that the shout out is just to the whole VR AR community. We're excited of the growth. We're excited to be in launch academy. I think working with the whole team here already has been amazing and it's only gonna, it's gonna mean big, really big things for 2019. And yeah, basically, I think we have an event partner partnered with awe, which is happening on Tuesday. So if you're around. Oh, I think it might be sold out. Plugging us all out eventually. Don't come, please don't come.

Go to the next one.

But yeah, just keep up to date with our social media and our Twitter. We're very active on there.

What's the, what's the plugin for that?

So it's V R A R A Vancouver.

And, and they do not have a LinkedIn page. And I was talking to Alex about that. I'm like, you guys need a LinkedIn page. So now they do because I inspired them to make one.

But I was going to ask you.

I'm going to take all credit for this.

Every time you have a post, you.

Now have a LinkedIn page.

Every time they have a post now, strategy, comments, like I told you, I told you.

I just can never tag them on LinkedIn.

Well, we have our global LinkedIn so we kind of tie into that. But yeah, we, I think with everything that's happening with their chapter and how fast we're growing. We definitely need a LinkedIn page and probably our own website at some point, but. Yeah.

So, yeah, make sure you follow them on Twitter as Vravancouver. So you get up to date on all the latest. All the latest events that they host there. You don't necessarily have to be a member for some of those events or some are. Some.

You don't have to be a member. And most of the tools that we have, you know, we try to give access to the whole community, especially through the VR AR hub and some of the workshops and. And events that we do. It's even free, so.

Oh, wow.

We just want people to connect with the community and figure out how. How they can kind of wrap their heads around it.

Yeah, it's cool. So, yeah, the one on Tuesday, I believe, I guess is sold out. But stay tuned to our channel Launch Chem hq. His channel at VRA area.

I know.

It's a. It's a tongue twister.

It's a tongue twister. Every time. V R A R A Vancouver just savior. People get it. It starts to be grunting sounds.

There is stuff happening today and tomorrow in the space. So the Vraire Hub is partnering with Circuit Stream.

Cool.

And they're doing tons of workshops today and tomorrow. So I believe if you just Google Circus Dream Vancouver, it'll be the first thing that. That pops up. If you're interested in any of that and learning how. What are they teaching? Mobile applications. Yeah.

Yeah. And then they're teaching Magic Leap as well. So you'll have access to that headset, which is gonna be awesome.

Yeah. So if you're interested in that, sign up might be a bit too late for today, but maybe tomorrow for the workshops.

For tomorrow.

Yeah.

So one other thing that, you know, when we were prepping the show, and in all honesty for you guys, yes, we do prep the show. We don't just show up here.

And it might sound like. It doesn't.

It does sound like it. We spend like a solid, you know, eight minutes probably. And. And we were going through. Okay, so. So what. What can we talk about with Dan? Like. Like what? I. And obviously you and Shoddy go way back, but I'm kind of, you know, out in the blue. And one of the things came up is you have this impeccable fashion sense. I don't know what it's.

I mean, look. Look at him.

Why Dan's mom needs to watch. Watch this episode because we are blowing up your sign.

But he's perfect.

But one of. One of the things that shy and I have probably spent probably this whole year talking about is, like, I've always wanted to, like, change my hair. And it sounds really weird to say this, but, like, what's wrong with your hair? It's plain. It's boring. And. And so. So Shade was like, dan's hair is amazing.

And I mean, like, Dan is, like, also.

Also a shape. So what I did, and I apologize in advance, is I borrowed some of your old hairstyles, so I want you to tell me what my next hairstyle should be. So. So we're just gonna take a second here, and we're gonna pull them up on screen. But I got it. I got it out of the order. If. If you're insulted, it's Shade's fault. So I don't really. We're so cool. Take a look at this one first. See what you think. So this one is the flows.

That looks great on you.

So, yeah, it's not bad.

So for those watching, it will load up on your screen.

And for those that are listening, we do have a photo of me in some very nice Photoshop skin. So this was courtesy of producer lady.

Okay, producer lady, Good job.

Is that one up now? Okay, can we do this, like, a.

Couple years ago, maybe?

All right.

Oh, yeah, that was so.

So let's move on to the next one. What about the comb over?

The comb over is sort of what you have going on right now a little bit.

Yeah, I like that look.

I can't wait for AR to just, like, do this for me. Like, this is too much work. Can we move on to the next one? All right, this one was a office favorite. The Man Bun.

Or as we like to call it, the Dan Bun.

The Dan Bun. The Dan Bunger. That's crazy. All right, and we have one more, which Sade and I have different names for, but it's the cool guy tips.

That by far, I think that's your new hairstyle. 100% frosted tips.

That's like.

And you're gonna be the guy that brings it back.

The whole nick Carter thing back 90s is in again, right?

Let's bring it back.

And this is the second time I mentioned the Backstreet Boys this season. So let's see if we can make that an ongoing theme.

I challenge you to bring it back.

Bring the. The tips back Tips.

I think we start a GoFundMe campaign and make that happen.

Oh, man. Well, we'll see what the comments say. Leave a comment if you guys are watching this live or afterwards. 1, 2, 3, 4. Which one I should go with next? Maybe if I get enough. I don't know. I don't know. We'll Ray fund my hair.

We get two comments. What to be my mom and I commenting.

Okay, well, if Sade's mom is out here watching, I would like her advice. I would sincerely like her advice on what. What I should do. Or it could stay the same, you know, same as Dan said, same as good. So I think he was just all that. I take all of that.

No, I said. I said you need the frosted tips.

The funny thing is I did dye my hair for the first time in my life in, like, one of our episodes way back in April, and it lasted for like three weeks and then it was gone. It was like a. Yeah, like nobody even noticed. And then it was gone. But thank you very much for so much enjoyment and for coming on the show. Do you have any other announcements for us?

That was it. The only announcement you stole away from me is Happy birthday, producer lady.

And my doorbell keeps ringing.

And yeah, super happy to have you on the show, Dan. Excited to see you around the office more and more now with the VR air hub. And we'll keep giving you guys shout outs.

Awesome.

So, so much for having me. And we're excited to be a part of this whole Launch Academy ecosystem. So.

And we'll have more VR guests to come. We'll be the first podcast that's ar applicable or something like that. That's a bold prediction.

We just made that up.

I just made that. Hey, who knows if you're working in the space you want to work with podcasts. I'm super game. But one last announcement. So we're gonna have our next episode in two weeks time. And Sade, when me and her were discussing, we came up with this kind of crazy concept. So I don't know if you're a fan of James Corden or Mark Wahlberg. They recently came out with a video talking about Mark Wahlberg's 4am workout club. And so somehow Sade has convinced me not to work out. That never happened. But we are going to attempt to wake up at 4am for the entire week. And so stay tuned on our Instagram channel, especially launch Academy hq on our live. We're gonna be posting on there all the way up and we're gonna talk about the results on the next episode with our guest Alex from Landfall, Alex Benjamin. And the spoiler alert is he's also agreed to do this with yes.

So this challenge is. We really want to see how productive we could be if we wake up at 4am every day for a whole week. And how much can you get done? Because we all agree that nothing productive.

Happens after 8pm no, we don't all agree that.

I agree that nothing productive happens after.

8Pm I think you're find out we don't have that much production.

We all have to report back in a week. So stay tuned on everything we got done in that 4am week. And I'm really excited for everybody's report.

Really dreading it.

Alex Benjamin is fully in. And it was funny because we just threw it out there as like, let's see if maybe he's in too. And Sam was like he was not gonna be in. And I messaged him on Facebook and then he was like, sounds fun. I'm in. That was his response. Gotta love him.

All right, so thank you very much for tuning in. We did go a little long today, but I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you again, Dan. And we'll catch you on the next one. All right, see ya. Bye.

Are we live?

Is this thing on?