Botao 'Amber' Hu

Bio

Botao 'Amber' Hu is a researcher, designer, educator, and creative technologist. He directs Reality Design Lab, an independent interdisciplinary research and design lab exploring the intersection of soma design (bodily play), speculative design (future studies), spatial computing (mixed reality), and social computing (public-interest cryptographic tech). His primary focus is designing social experiential futures using mixed reality as the main medium. He also serves as a visiting lecturer at the China Academy of Art. His works have been featured at top conferences such as SIGGRAPH, CHI, UbiComp, CSCW, WWW, IEEE VIS, ISMAR, Ars Electronica, SXSW, and TEDx and have received accolades including the SIGGRAPH Best in Show, CHI Best Interactivity, Webby, Red Dot, iF Design, A' Design, Core77 Design Award, and grants from the Ethereum Foundation. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Tsinghua University and a master's degree in computer science with AI concentration from Stanford University.

Research and Design Statement

As a research-led experiential futures designer, my work lies at the intersection of the "4S": somatic design, speculative design, spatial computing, and social computing. I founded and led that Reality Design Lab, where I create immersive mixed reality experiences that invite audiences to step into potential futures through a form of embodied play, challenging their perceptions, sparking inspiration, and provoking dialogue about the paths we might take, and encourages critical thinking about the future.

“What is that Reality in the Future?”

This question—my lab's slogan—has always led me to where I am today. As someone who majored in Artificial Intelligence, my fascination with the future began with a curiosity about technology's role in shaping society. However, after working as a data scientist in the typical Silicon Valley AI industry, I realized that the rapid development of AI brings society a grief of human de-centering, the Copernican trauma. What can we do as creatures with limited bodies? Gradually, I shift my career from algorithmic machines to embodied experiences.

The future isn't solely about technological progress; it also encompasses social, cultural, ecological, and even more-than-human dimensions. Recently, Anthony Dunne joined my current institution, the China Academy of Art, giving me the opportunity to learn from this pioneering speculative designer. Dunne proposed, "We need to shift from designing applications to designing implications." I aim to use design as a tool to question the futures we envision through technological advancement, challenging default assumptions and inspiring pluralistic technological thinking.

Beyond pure speculation, I also emphasize experiential storytelling through mixed reality media. Guided by Jenova Chen, a legendary emotional game designer, I worked as a game engineer under his supervision. Through this experience, I learned the art of interactive storytelling and understood the importance of creating emotional connections through play, crafting embodied immersive experiences that engage and transform audiences.

Influenced by Ian Cheng, I'm envisioning a world of many worlds, where machines do all the mundane tasks and play finite games, and people are struggling to figure out how to spend their unstructured time by playing infinite games called worlding. In the culture of worlding, I'm fascinated by the concept that autonomy leads to flourishing without a creator's hold. I believe that the blockchain may serve this purpose of autonomy, potentially merging the biosphere and cybersphere to form an autonomous hyper-ecology, which may surpass our traditional understanding of the living environment, challenging our definitions of nature and life, and moving towards planetary intelligence.

Educations

2012-2014

Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA.
Master of Science in Computer Science concentrated in Artificial Intelligence
Advisors: Andrew Ng, Jure Leskovec, Dan Boneh

2007-2012

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Science. Special Pilot Computer Science Class.
Advisor: Andrew Chi-Chih Yao.

2011 - 2012

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China.
Visiting Researcher.
Advisor: Qiang Yang.

Selected Publications

Botao Amber Hu, Jiabao Li*, Danlin Huang, Jianan Johanna Liu, Xiaobo Aaron Hu, and Yilan Elan Tao. 2024. "Becoming Bats with "EchoVision": Towards Eco-Phenomenological Mixed Reality". In Proceeding of SIGGRAPH Asia 2024 (SA '24). Art Paper. [To appear]

Botao Amber Hu* and Fangting. 2024. "EverForest: A More-Than-AI Sustainability Manifesto from an On-Chain Artificial Life". In Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium 2024 (HTTF 2024). Short Paper. [→]

Botao Amber Hu* and Fangting. 2024. "Speculating on Blockchain as an Unstoppable 'Nature' Towards the Emergence of Artificial Life". In Proceedings of the 2024 Conference on Artificial Life (ALIFE '24). Extended Abstract. [→]

Rem Rungu Lin, Botao Amber Hu, Koo Yongen Ke, Wei Wu, and Kang Zhang*. 2024. "Cell Space: Augmented Awareness of Intercorporeality". In Proceedings of the Conference and Exhibition on 2024 Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH ‘24). Art Paper. [→]

Fangting and Botao Amber Hu. 2024. "Composable Life: Us and Our Land". In ProtocolKit for Summer of Protocols (SoP 2023). [→]

Botao Amber Hu*, Yuchen Zhang, Sizheng Hao and Yilan Tao. 2024. "MOFA: Multiplayer Omnipresent Fighting Arena". In Proceedings of the 2024 Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH ‘24). Immersive Pavilion. 🏆 Best in Show. [→]

Botao Hu*, Yuchen Zhang, Sizheng Hao, and Yilan Tao. 2023. "MOFA: Exploring Asymmetric Mixed Reality Design Strategy for Co-located Multiplayer Between Handheld and Head-mounted Augmented Reality." In Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '23). Interactivity. 🏆 Best Interactivity Demo. [→]

Peiliang Li, Tong Qin, Botao Hu, Fengyuan Zhu, and Shaojie Shen*. 2017. "Monocular Visual-Inertial State Estimation for Mobile Augmented Reality." In 2017 IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR '17). [→]

Teaching

2024

Speculative Spatial Computing Design.
Fall 2024. China Academy of Art. Hangzhou. China.

Latent Spaces & Permissionless Dreams.
Summer 2024. China Academy of Art. Hangzhou. China.

2023

Design New Realities.
Fall 2023. China Academy of Art. Hangzhou. China.

Selected Talks

2024

“Allow me into your dream".
Beijing Film Academy. Beijing, China.

"Introduction to Spatial Computing and Develop with Apple Vision Pro and HoloKit".
School of Design and Creative Technologies, University of Texas at Austin. Interaction Design. Austin, USA.

“Wizards vs Muggles! - MOFA: A Gameplay Framework exploring the Design Space of Spontaneous Collocated Mixed Reality"
Computational Media and Arts (CMA), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Guangzhou, China.

"Expanding Intercorporeality: Exploring Human-Human and Human-Robot Interactions in MR". The Future Laboratory, Tsinghua University. Beijing, China.

2023

"Designing New Realities: Research Through Design for Collocated Mixed Reality Experiences".
School of Design & Innovation, China Academy of Art. Hangzhou, China.

"Dream Together in New Realities: Unleash the Power of Copresence in Headworn AR".
Harvard XR Forum. Boston, USA.

"HoloKit: Open Source Mixed Reality Headset for Reality Designers".
Integrated Design & Media, New York University. New York, USA.

2017-2018

"HoloKit: a Cardboard-like AR and what will you make with it?".
AR In Action (ARIA). MIT, Boston, USA.

"What you get is what you imagine".
TEDx Beacon Street, Boston.

"HoloKit: Google Cardboard for AR".
AR in Action (ARIA). New York.

Patents

U.S. Patent. Application. LOCAL MULTI-DEVICE FAST SPATIAL ANCHOR POINT SYNCHRONIZATION METHOD FOR MIXED REALITY AND SYSTEM

U.S. Patent. Granted. AN IMAGING METHOD FOR MODULAR MIXED REALITY (MR) DEVICE

U.S. Patent. Granted. PLANNING A FLIGHT PATH BY IDENTIFYING KEY FRAMES

U.S. Patent. Granted. INTERFACE FOR PLANNING FLIGHT PATH

U.S. Design Patent. Granted. A MIXED REALITY HEADSET

U.S. Design Patent. Granted. A MIXED REALITY HEADSET (HEADSET)

U.S. Design Patent. Granted. A MIXED REALITY HEADSET (HEAD BAND)

U.S. Design Patent. Granted. A MIXED REALITY CONTROLLER

U.S. / PCT Patent. Application. IMAGING METHOD FOR MODULAR MR DEVICE

U.S. / PCT Patent. Granted. A METHOD TO MANUFACTURE MR DEVICE