# An interview with Jeri Ellsworth - Absorptive Augmented Actuality

- Show: [The Amp Hour](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour)
- Published: 2013-05-29
- Length: 2h 06m
- Episode: 147
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality
- Listen: https://theamphour.com/the-amp-hour-147-absorptive-augmented-actuality/

## Summary

Jeri Ellsworth, founder of Technical Illusions, discusses the CastAR system, an augmented reality platform using retroreflective projection and low-cost optical tracking. She details her departure from Valve Software, where she led the AR hardware team, and explains how Valve allowed her to take the technology to start her own company. The conversation covers the technical challenges of achieving sub-millimeter head tracking with cheap image sensors, the use of metalized gate arrays to hit a sub-$200 price point, and their strategy to launch via Kickstarter.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=0) Introduction: Jeri Ellsworth and Technical Illusions
- [3:07](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=187) Valve AR Project and Retroreflective Projection Technology
- [6:54](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=414) High-Precision Optical Head Tracking System
- [14:01](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=841) Departure from Valve and Licensing the Technology
- [23:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=1414) Forming Technical Illusions and CastAR Product Vision
- [38:14](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=2294) Hardware Design: ASICs, Gate Arrays, and Cost Targets
- [51:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=3083) System Architecture: Glasses, Surface, and Host Integration
- [1:15:23](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=4523) Competitive Landscape and User Experience
- [1:35:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality#t=5730) Manufacturing, Prototyping, and Kickstarter Strategy

## Topics

- [PCB design & layout](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pcb-design)
- [Sensors & measurement in products](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sensors)
- [Crowdfunding & preorders](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/crowdfunding)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)

## Most relevant to

founders before launch

## Mentioned

- Valve Software (company)
- Technical Illusions (company)
- CastAR (product)
- Maker Faire (other)
- Atmel (company)
- ChipX (company)
- eASIC (company)
- Altera (company)
- Xilinx (company)
- Lattice (company)
- Google Glass (product)
- Oculus (company)
- Leap Motion (product)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [23: Go For Everything I Want](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2013-10-16-23-go-for-everything-i-want) (Embedded.fm)
- [156: Black Knight 2000](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-06-16-156-black-knight-2000) (Embedded.fm)
- [026 - You Can Lose in so Many Colors!](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/unnamed-reverse-engineering-podcast/2019-08-31-026-you-can-lose-in-so-many-colors) (Unnamed Reverse Engineering Podcast)
- [162: I Am a Boomerang Enthusiast (Repeat)](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2019-03-01-162-i-am-a-boomerang-enthusiast-repeat) (Embedded.fm)
- [162: I Am a Boomerang Enthusiast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-07-26-162-i-am-a-boomerang-enthusiast) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-05-29-an-interview-with-jeri-ellsworth-absorptive-augmented-actuality. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Amp Hour.