Louis Silverstein
Partner, Simulated Ventures
Primary Focus: Enterprise
Preferred VR Headset: HTC Vive Pro
Favorite Experiences:
Beat Saber
Tilt Brush
Tutankhamun: Enter The Tomb
Favorite Platforms:
Oculus Quest
Sketchfab
Steam
Louis Silverstein is a self taught Computer Scientist and VFX Expert, with 20+ Years in Film Production and VFX.
His credits date back as April 2000 when at 13 years old he had a CGI work published in the international magazine Computer Arts. In subsequent years he earned tens of accolades and awards from the Scholastic Art Society as well as secured sponsorship from Silicon Graphics (SGI), IFX, Autodesk, and Immersion Corporation.
Louis studied film at USC Film in the summers while still in high school and worked full time at Cadrender (an architectural visualization firm in Wilmington Delaware), prior to studying Film and Psychology at Bard College where he earned his BA.
Upon graduation Louis moved to Los Angeles and worked internships at Marvel Studios, Endgame Ent, and The Institute. At this time he was also maintaining a freelance career doing VFX work for commercial campaigns for Visine, Mattel, and Verizon, Television Shows including, Body Of Proof, The Big C, and numerous other shows, as well as all of the CGI and VFX work for the successful Kick-starter Campaign for Doorbot (Amazon Ring). Louis also worked at Digital Domain doing script supervising work for the Playa Vista Motion Capture Stage, then moved on to doing Motion Capture Processing work for video game, commercial, and motion picture projects.
In early 2014 Louis and his brother, Nolan Silverstein started the undertaking of building a WebTV Broadcast facility and Technology Development Lab. DromeBox Labs was built in the latter half of 2014 leading up to the first broadcast on January 1st 2015 of DromeBox.com.
Louis and Nolan’s DromeBox Labs is Live-To-Air webTV facility. Louis and Nolan also started ModCon IP, an AR/VR Startup with patent pending tech for Modular Content.
Louis is also the Co-Founder and Lead Engineer at Aerial Tracking Systems. And is an adjunct professor at USC Viterbi. His current projects include, The Mobile Broadcast Studio (BananaCaster), Project: Archer for ATS, Bespoke Booth, and INU.
What compelled you to enter into this line of work?
I have always been interested in reality and ones perception of reality. I was compelled into XR as a byproduct of my desire to build a system for real-time visual effects for story telling. My intention was never to become a programmer, but to have others do that work for me, but as a result of events outside my control, I was thrown into the world of development and became the toolmaker I sought.
What skills contributed most to your success?
The skills that contribute to my success is my ability to learn and ask questions. I am stubborn, when others would give up and move onto something else I persevere. This has both its good and bad sides. The other skill I possess is the ability to think. I was taught how to look at a problem and break it down. I was not simply educated on facts and figures and made to memorize information, but my educational background embraced thinking.
Did you face any hurdles when starting in XR? If so, how did you overcome them?
My step into XR was over 15 years ago when I built my own VR headset. I was 14 and the internet existed, but not in the same form as today. At the time I was entering into VR / CGI the industry was not really a place for a hobbyist. In order to overcome the basic barriers to entry, hardware and software costs I needed to leverage my age (14 yo at the time) and my competition in art competitions. With my art talent and use of CGI skills I was able to acquire the tools needed to dive head first into high end CGI and thus grow with the XR ecosystem from before XR was even a concept.
What do you consider your 'first XR project'?
My first XR project was a real-time CGI overlay / background system I build in my garage for a webTV broadcast stream. The system used Motionbuilder, an Ascension MotionStar system, and vMix. Attaching the magnetic sensors from the MotionStar to the camera I was able to render a real-time background and have it track with the camera and do a live comp. This project was the start of my work in XR Cinema.
Which past project are you the proudest of? Why?
My proudest project isn’t exactly XR, but it does involve Pandas and Drones. I am most proud of that project because it was the first project that took my skill set in XR and let me use them for a practical and conservation geared project. The project was to build a semi-autonomous drone to track Pandas in a wildlife reserve. Using the toolkit I had built over the years I was able to turn my skills from entertainment to saving lives, Panda lives!
Which past project was the most difficult? Why?
The most difficult project I ever worked on has been my XR Cinema System. It is still in development actually. The reason it has been so difficult is the technology I have been developing was ahead of state-of-the-art and I have had to wait for computing power to catch up. Maybe with millions of dollars in R&D funds I could have gotten there faster, but with limited resources the difficulty factors just comes down to figuring out how to make things work in inventive ways.
Any advice you wish you could tell your younger self during that period?
In order to climb a mountain you don’t try and run right towards the peak. Instead you find a crew, hike up the switchbacks, setup camp, rest, drink plenty of water, and take it one step at a time. The mountain isn’t going anywhere and if you take your time and enjoy the hike, you might realize it isn’t the top of the peak you desire, but the things you learn along the way to the top.
What technologies, products, or projects are you currently working on?
I wish I could tell you, but you got to sign the NDA first ;)
Which software should be added to the list above?
3D Studio Max, Mudbox, GIMP, Nuke, Natron, Fusion, MotionBuilder, MentalRay, Arnold, Rhino, Softimage, Catia
What future technology gets you the most excited (eg. driverless cars, CRISPR, etc)? Why?
ML, because it will start to find patterns in things that our human minds can not fathom. ML is only as powerful as the datasets we feed it and the ways we can use the results, but ML will start to allow us to find coronations in what looks like noise.
What technology scares you the most? why?
I am not scared of technology, just the people who wield it. I don’t believe there is such a thing as an evil technology. I think the thing that is most scary is the lack of understanding the general population has about technology and the world at large and what scares me is a continued descent into ignorance.
Which resource(s) do you use to learn new skills?
Books
GitHub
Google Search
Random Developer Forums
W3Schools
YouTube
