Jaron Lanier

Jaron Lanier is the American computer scientist, composer and visionary who popularized the term “virtual reality”. In 2010 Time Magazine named him among the 100 most influential people in the world.

Lanier enrolled in New Mexico State University at the age of 13, where he met Marvin Minsky and Clyde Tombaugh and began studying mathematical notation and computer programming. He co-founded VPL, the first company to sell virtual reality products, and applied the technology to fields such as surgical simulation and vehicle interior prototyping. He has worked as a consultant at Microsoft since 2006.

Lanier has spoken extensively on the direction that digital technology has taken in recent years. He argues that the internet has failed to realize its potential to expand human creativity and enhance human interaction. His 2010 book “You Are Not a Gadget” critiques the open source and content orientation of Web 2.0, as sacrificing the potential of individual contribution to an intellectual mob rule.