Stefan Alexander (North) on Taking a Human-Centric Approach to Designing Focals (Part 1)

The Guest

Stefan Alexander is the VP of Advanced R&D at North, a company taking a human-centric approach to creating AR smartglass hardware and experiences that are both useful and respectful.

After earning a Masters of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stefan spent more than a decade working with OLED display technology at IGNIS Innovation.

From there he joined North to build and lead the team that developed the technology behind Focals 1.0 and the forthcoming 2.0 hardware.

My conversation with Stefan goes deep into the technology, the mindset, and the lessons learned at North, and I’ve split it into two parts.

stefan alexander.jpeg

Stefan Alexander

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North

The Conversation

In the first part of our conversation, Stefan describes some of the design ethos of the company, and a key lesson they carried forward from the development of the Myo armband. Through that experience, they gained a deep appreciation for human biology and individuality as well as the challenges of making something that people feel comfortable wearing - both physically and socially.

Stefan goes on to describe some of the constraints and underlying technology of the Focals smartglasses. He also shares some lessons learned from the launch in 2019, including how people are using Focals every day, and what Stefan believes is the most important capability of smartglasses.

Jason McDowallconsumer, hardware, AR smartglasses