Ben Erwin is President and Co-Founder of the Academy. He created The Polys awards, the WebXR Summit Series and MetaTr@versal. He serves on the Metaverse Standards Forum board and founded Powersimple in 1997.

Ben Erwin is President and Co-Founder of the Academy of Immersive Arts and Sciences. He created and executive produces The Polys awards, the WebXR Summit Series and MetaTr@versal, a series of gatherings on open standards and interoperability for the immersive web. He is a Director on the board of the Metaverse Standards Forum and chairs its Ethical Principles in the Metaverse working group.

Ben founded Powersimple, an immersive programming and digital publishing studio, in 1997, and co-founded Ready Player Golf, a charity golf event played in virtual worlds. From 2002 to 2014 he was webmaster, developer and consultant for the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. Earlier he built data-driven interactives for major brands at digital media agencies. A regular speaker at AWE, he champions immersive media for civics, journalism and education, and works to preserve the legacy of XR's pioneers.