Jaron Lanier: podcast appearances and interviews

Jaron Zepel Lanier, born on May 3, 1960, is an American computer scientist, futurist, and composer. He is regarded as a founder of the field of virtual reality, having co-founded VPL Research in 1985 with Thomas G. Zimmerman after leaving Atari. VPL Research was the first company to sell virtual reality goggles and wired gloves. Lanier has also worked on applications for Internet2 during the late 1990s and served as a visiting scholar at Silicon Graphics and various universities in the 2000s. Since 2006, he has been affiliated with Microsoft, working at Microsoft Research as an Interdisciplinary Scientist from 2009 onward. In addition to his contributions to computer science, Lanier is a composer of contemporary classical music and an avid collector of rare instruments, owning between one and two thousand such items. His 1994 album Instruments of Change features Asian wind and string instruments including the khene mouth organ, the suling flute, and the esraj. He collaborated with Mario Grigorov to compose the soundtrack for the documentary film The Third Wave in 2007. Recognized for his influence and ideas, Lanier has received numerous accolades including being named one of the top 100 public intellectuals by Foreign Policy in 2005, included in the TIME 100 list of most influential people in 2010, listed as one of the top 50 World Thinkers by Prospect in 2014, and named one of the top 25 most influential people in technology by Wired in 2018.