Misapplied Sciences, a VC-backed startup, is creating an unexpected future - one that very few have imagined and many would think physically impossible. We developed a startling new technology - Parallel Reality - that will change the way we experience the world around us. It is a rare breakthrough that not only allows unanticipated capabilities, but will also spark the imagination as to what is truly possible.

Touchscreens are meant to be metaphors for physically manipulating virtual objects. When you touch and drag an icon around the screen, it should move as if it were a piece of paper under your finger. The problem is there is an inherent lag between your finger movement and the update on the screen. Instead, the icon feels like it is attached to a rubber band behind your finger. This latency can be as high as 100 ms, easily noticeable by the human eye, and breaking the illusion that the virtual object is real.To see how this latency affects the user experience, I built custom touchscreen and stylus systems capable of latencies as low as 1 ms, using pure hardware accelerated processing in FPGAs and interfacing with custom high-speed (~32,000 fps) projectors . The effects were incredible. From 100 ms to 50 ms to 10 ms to 1 ms, every step dramatically improved the feel of the device. It's now obvious just how far the industry has to go to create the most compelling touchscreen experience. With faster sensors and displays, revamped software architectures, and custom processor pipelines, the industry is now making strides towards this vision.

Biologists are trying to answer big questions about life. How closely are we related to other species? What traits are conserved through the evolutionary tree? What implications do these have on diseases and cures for humans?Many clues to the answers are hidden in the over 3 billion base pairs of the human genome. To even know where to start looking, large amounts of computation need to be done on these genomes to extract any understandable information. Because of the sheer length of genomes, these computations quickly become intractable using standard computers. Specialized supercomputers, such as application-specific hardware accelerators, can be used to greatly speed up the processing. However, these are generally highly tuned implementations that don't allow for a biologist to easily play around to experiment with the data.I worked on a specialized hardware architecture and platform for gene sequence alignment that combines ultra high performance with flexibility of programming for biologists. First, I built a desktop-sized, FPGA-based hardware accelerator that is 1000 times faster than a standard computer. Then, I invented a new programming language and compiler framework to easily create new implementations without requiring FPGA design experience. Finally, I developed a software platform that abstracts away the FPGA interface, getting right to the data and results.With this system, the biologist can truly focus on exploring the genome to answer life's biggest questions.

I had the pleasure of working with some of the world's best researchers and students very early on in my career. Some of my research projects include incorporating molecular mechanical energy functions into protein structure prediction, exploring the effects of polarization in protein packing, and designing asynchronous microprocessor pipelines.I also had the privilege of teaching brilliant students in courses in a variety of topics including microprocessor systems, FPGA systems, and computer architecture.