Austin Caine

Austin Caine, a.k.a Cause, is a professional world designer specializing in building bespoke 3D event spaces for social VR platforms. He is a prominent builder in AltspaceVR having created some of the more popular entertainment spaces (such as The Flying Saucer and The Worm Hole) and has helped to spark innovation in many other creators.

He is also an admin and consultant for the yearly BRCvr virtual “Burning Man” event held in Altspace, and has worked with many people to help bring their creative ideas to fruition. These days he and his partner Christi work closely together on many VR and XR projects to deliver clients a higher level of atmospheric quality while maintaining optimal download speeds and visual framerates.

Matt Cool

Matt is a web developer interested in 3d design, Blender and creating a more open web where we can contribute to more accessible experiences and solutions.

Joanna Popper

Joanna Popper is an award-winning Hollywood and Silicon Valley media executive with a track record of launching cutting edge content and technology to drive revenue, audience engagement and brand love.

She currently leads HP’s Virtual Reality initiatives for Go-To-Market and Location Based Entertainment. Prior she was EVP of Media & Marketing at Singularity University and VP Marketing at NBCUniversal.

Joanna is Executive Producer on “Breonna’s Garden” which premiered at the Tribeca Festival. This augmented reality experience was created by Lady PhoEnix and Sutu with Ju’Niyah Palmer to honor the life of her sister, Breonna Taylor.

Joanna was Executive Producer on Double Eye Studios’ “Finding Pandora X,” winner of Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for Best VR Experience and the SXSW Audience Award for Virtual Cinema Spotlight. Finding Pandora X is a modern day take on Greek mythology live interactive experience in VRChat.

Joanna was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” “101 Women Leading the VR Industry” and is on the Coalition for the Women in XR Fund.

Karen Alexander

Dr. Karen Alexander is a highly regarded consultant known for her expertise in developing cutting-edge immersive learning programs. With an extensive network within the XR industry and academia, she has a proven track record of guiding higher education institutions through the successful adoption of XR technologies.

Dr. Alexander is also a trusted advisor for XR startups. In her role as an immersive learning consultant at MetaVRse, Dr. Alexander played a pivotal part in transforming 2D training into immersive 3D experiences for enterprises. Her strategic insights have been instrumental in guiding the Canadian XR startup on matters of governance, risk, and compliance.

As a co-founder of XR Women, Dr. Alexander has established a global network of women professionals in immersive tech, hosting over 150 events with distinguished XR industry speakers. As a core team member, she has significantly contributed to The Polys – WebXR Awards, WebXR Summit Series, and MetaTr@versal, collaborating with influential thought leaders in spatial computing.

In July 2022, Dr. Alexander hosted the WebXR Education Summit, convening a diverse array of practitioners to share insights on the successful implementation of immersive learning. She is a member of the Immersive Learning Research Network’s State of XR and Immersive Learning Expert Panel and serves as an External Expert for the Evaluating, Piloting, and Implementing Virtual Worlds in Higher Education Project at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna.

Prior to her work in XR, Dr. Alexander served as the Dean of Junior and Senior Year Programs at the women’s college at Rutgers University and was the Senior Editor of Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. Her comprehensive experience in higher education spans teaching, program design, journal editing, and college administration, with specializations in art, literature, film, and cultural production. Dr. Alexander is a passionate advocate for women’s advancement and gender and racial equality, and she believes in a humanity-first approach to XR and the metaverse. Certified in Cybersecurity by ISC2, she holds master’s degrees in English, Philosophy, and Issues in Modern Culture, and earned her PhD at the University of London. Dr. Alexander’s multifaceted expertise and commitment to innovation make her a valuable asset in any immersive learning or XR initiative.

Terry xR. Schussler

Terry works in Group Partnering and Devices serving all global business units and natcos with strategy, partner management, technology and trend scouting, technical research and developer engagement. He focuses on metaverse topics: spatial computing, 5G, edge computing, AI, cryptocurrency, NFTs and related emerging technologies. Terry leads Deutsche Telekom’s XR hardware and software scouting and metaverse ecosystem activities with key global partners. As an official Telekom Ambassador he brings the passion and spirit of #TeamMagenta to everyone!

Samantha Mathews

Samantha Mathews is Founder & CEO; CTO of LOCI, a patented and neurologically proven safety training platform that transforms unstructured location and occupancy data into digital components that power a game engine that generates gamified content based on your environment. LOCI teaches people where to go and what to do to stay safe in places they visit and spend time regardless of age, language, or ability.

To Samantha, technology has always been a tool for connecting with people and improving lives. She builds by her belief that, instead of deepening our dependence on technology and letting it do the thinking for us, new systems should empower us to be more present, knowledgeable, and confident wherever we go.

Alan Smithson

My purpose in life is to inspire and educate people to think and act in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible way.
I make creator tools: Emulator , MetaVRse, and Your Director AI (Stealth)
I am a TEDx Speaker, Podcast Host and was  featured on Dragons’ Den. I was a DJ for more than 20 years performing for millions of people winning DJ Mag’s Innovative Product of the Year in 2011.

Christina “Xaos Princess” Kinne

Christina Kinne aka XaosPrincess graduated from Munich Filmschool in 2006.She has worked as director, first a.d., producer, editor, set designer, photographer and journalist, and has directed more than ten movies, including one of Europe’s first live-action 3D-films – “Delusion 3D” (2008).

After her parental leave Christina Kinne found a new creative home in Virtual Reality. Using software like Gravity Sketch or Tilt Brush she designs 3D models for VR in VR.Christina Kinne has produced and hosted a variety of Virtual Reality events.As evangelist she also likes to promote VR in real life – be it by screening live VR content to a RL audience or by producing educational videos.

In July 2020 Christina Kinne joined Tivoli Cloud VR as CMO and Events Manager to help making the dream of a friendly, creative and inclusive metaverse come true.Currently she is also pursuing a second MA in “Digital Narratives” at the International Filmschool Cologne.

Daniel Dyboski-Bryant

Daniel passed away on November 15, 2024. The Polys team and the global XR community mourns his loss. This bio is dated to 2022. Please enjoy the legacy of his passion and wisdom in his appearances on The Polys, the WebXR Summit Series, and MetaTr@versal.

Daniel Dyboski-Bryant is a humanitarian committed to XR for good. His personal mission is to explore, drive and share the development and application of benevolent and meaningful and impactful experiences with emerging technologies. 

Daniel is the Executive Director of the Virtual World Society – a US non-profit – leading their mission to inspire and enable people to thrive, solve problems and create positive impact with emerging technologies. Since 2015, the VWS has run projects around the globe with families, schools and communities; has recognised and celebrated achievements in the XR community; and has contributed thought leadership to the industry.

Daniel co-founded Educators in VR in 2018 to bring together a global community of 3500 educators pioneering the integration of VR for learning, teaching and beyond. He specializes in R.I.S.E. – Remote Immersive Synchronous Experiences and Education. Educators in VR has run more than 3000 virtual events, workshops, presentations and conferences. In Feb 2020, two weeks before Covid 19 arrived, Educators in VR hosted the 2020 International Educators in VR Summit – a 6-day, 24/7, fully immersive VR conference on 5 platforms with 170 speakers, 150 events and 95% CO2 saving compared with a real-world conference. In May 2021 they ran a similar 30-day conference on 20 immersive VR platforms. Daniel will host the WebXR Production Summit on October 13.

Daniel has been an educator for 25 years, teaching languages, entrepreneurship and innovation and training trainers at colleges, universities and corporations in Germany, England, Wales and online. At Coleg Menai Daniel built and led an immersive learning Lab where he used VR to engage with migrant workers and refugees for which he won Inspire Tutor of the Year award in 2020.

\