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CLD Ventures invested in commercial real estate and historical home renovation and resale.I researched and selected investments and coordinated renovation/resale activities.

Denver Escapes was an escape room business in Denver, NC and one of the area’s only options for family-friendly entertainment and teambuilding.My wife and I designed and constructed four original escape rooms: Blackbeard’s Treasure, The Comic Book Store, The Haunted Escape, and Mobsters.We trained our staff to interact with clients upon arrival, review game rules, introduce each room’s backstory, track the progress of players in real-time and provide appropriate hints when requested, provide a positive exit experience, and reset each room for the next group of clients.The business received very positive feedback from its patrons, with 45 reviews and 4.7 stars on Google.After nearly 2 years of operating and hundreds of happy clients, the building we were leasing was sold to a new owner and we decided to shutdown rather than relocate to a new location.

Enamored by the potential for augmented reality/mixed reality technology (AR/MR), I founded Fissure Creations with the mission to inspire and entertain through engaging digital experiences.

HoloBaby was a product that enabled expectant parents to hold a virtual 3D model of their unborn baby in their hand, and provide that opportunity to family and friends across the world. This was made possible through partnerships with elective 3D/4D ultrasound studios and an AR/MR-enabled mobile app.I pitched the idea at Charlotte Startup Weekend and was selected by crowd vote to form a team and begin work on the business concept. This helped to set the direction for ongoing work over the following months.I researched and developed a process for converting a proprietary 3D ultrasound file format into a format that could be quickly rendered in AR/MR on a mobile device.I taught myself how to edit the resulting 3D models to make them look presentable.I designed and printed trackable cards (actually custom drink coasters) for the 3D model to anchor to while users held, turned, and tilted the card to view their baby from different angles.I built a custom mobile app that integrated with Metaio’s underlying AR/MR platform and launched it to both iOS and Android app stores. I also ported the app to Epson’s Moverio BT-200 smartglasses.I presented the product to various 3D/4D ultrasound studio owners across Charlotte and reached an agreement with one studio to offer the product for sale to their customers.The manual process of converting and editing the 3D models for presentation was very time consuming. Therefore, I decided to only offer the product at a premium price, which I discovered elective ultrasound customers were not willing to pay. I started to explore options for automating or outsourcing the editing process, but then the underlying AR/MR platform we were using was acquired by Apple and shutdown, putting us back to square one from a technology perspective.I couldn’t figure out a way to streamline the editing process, so I chose to not rebuild the app on a new platform and to stop work on the business indefinitely.

My vision was for a worldwide mixed reality alternative reality game running on next-gen AR glasses. This was over 2 years prior to Pokemon Go and a decade prior to Apple Vision Pro.As a “Prelude” to my vision, I created a 3-part AR/MR scavenger hunt game across NCSU, UNC, and Duke University campuses that seamlessly blended live-action footage and 3D animation into the player’s real-world environment. I purchased a green screen, enlisted my family and friends as actors, and taught myself how to edit video. I built and launched the game on the Metaio AR/MR platform, which I configured to run properly on Epson’s Moverio BT-200 smartglasses in addition to iOS and Android phones/tablets.Rather than trying to get people to play Prelude, collecting player feedback, talking to people about my vision, building an interested fanbase, etc. I thought it’d be a good idea to immediately launch a Kickstarter for the full game. This failed unspectacularly, but I learned a lot and had a ton of fun. Following this, I decided to pivot away from games for some time and seek a clearer market need that I could serve.I realized that outside of commercial/industrial applications, at least with the technology of the time, AR/MR was simply a novelty. This led me to begin searching for a space where consumer demand for 3D visualization novelties was already proven, which I could then improve on through the introduction of AR/MR.

I ported Google's open source Sky Map application to the Epson Moverio BT-200/BT-300 smartglasses. I updated the app to enable users to view the night sky directly with their naked eye while also seeing digital labels next to each star, planet, etc. (i.e. mixed reality)This was one of the most downloaded apps on the Moverio app store prior to it being shutdown.

• Developed .NET applications to support client billing• Completed a rigorous 6-month training program for new engineers that included development of Java web services and a native iPad application for internal sales representatives