Carlos Calva and Timmy Ghiurau: Metaverse, AI, and NFTs

Design Disciplin

Timmy Ghiurau is an innovation leader at Volvo Cars, and Carlos Calva is an AI and augmented reality entrepreneur. Both of them are experts in virtual reality, augmented reality, game engines, and other 3D interactive technologies, with experiences spanning design, engineering, and business. Timmy originates from the worlds music, fashion, and culture; while Carlos has been building projects for clients that include NASA and multiple branches of the US military.
We had this conversation in front of a small live audience at Timmy’s workspace, the Open Innovation Arena at Volvo Cars – a multi-disciplinary platform within the company that makes preparations for a diverse range of futures and great uncertainties.
The themes of our conversation, recorded at the end of 2021, were the hot topics of the year: the metaverse, AI, and NFTs. These trends dominate conversations in tech today. The metaverse is expanding new graphics and interaction technologies to a massive role in our lives. NFTs embody value, identity, and symbolism that is digital-native (and metaverse-ready). AI promises immense convenience and creative possibilities in the digital world.
But how far have we come towards realizing these promises today, and what is on the horizon? How do these technologies serve the needs and desires of human societies – like safety, prosperity, diversity? How are established companies, like Volvo, integrating these trends into their business? In a wide-ranging conversation, we tried to answer these questions with our stories and insights.
Special thanks to David Peterson, who kindly stepped in last minute to help us record the video for this episode.
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:: Episode Bookmarks
00:00:00​ Intro
00:04:16 How did Carlos and Timmy meet?
00:08:09 What is the metaverse?
00:13:54 Metaverse projects that stand out
00:17:48 NFTs, business, identity, community
00:33:17 Carlos and Timmy's work with NFTs and the metaverse: culture, dev tools, and design approaches for the virtual world
00:42:05 Carlos and Timmy's work with AI: hyper-realistic rendering, fooling human senses, assisted driving, engaging NPCs
00:30:56 Safety, prosperity, and diversity: how to achieve them through technology
01:06:08 Closing