Charlie Fink (Author) on Inspiring the Next Generation of AR/VR Creators

The Guest

Charlie Fink is a respected author and speaker focused on AR and VR. He has been at the bleeding edge of the intersection of entertainment and technology for more than 35 years.

Charlie was a VP of Creative Development at Disney, where he created the concept for the Lion King. He was the COO at Virtual World Entertainment in the early 90s, which was the first company to bring VR experiences to retail locations across the world. Charlie was Chief Creative Officer at AOL studios, where he launched a number of early brands on the web. And after his startup was acquired by American Greetings Interactive, Charlie then took over as President and Chief Creative Officer and drove one of the most popular websites at the time to profitability and success.

Over the last few years, he has been applying all of that experience and insight to his current passion around AR and VR as an author, speaker, and now teacher.

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The Conversation

About 2 years ago Charlie joined me for an interview where we explored his career and his first book on spatial computing called Charlie Fink’s Metaverse.

Recently, about a week before the US presidential election, we caught up to discuss what he brings as an author and a teacher.

We go on to discuss the classes he is currently teaching at Chapman University as well as his latest book and current take on where we are as an industry.

Jason McDowallVR, AR smartglasses, hardware, content creation, collaboration, consumer