Thanks to my parents starting a publishing company when I was a kid and my dad being a huge news junkie, I was fortunate to be able to grow up around all sorts of computers and now-prehistoric online services.
This environment eventually led me to be at the right place and time for the launch of Mosaic (quickly followed by Netscape), and through the rest of the ’90s I was able to grow along with the web, creating countless cringe-worthy sites, taking summer design jobs and watching the “browser wars” with interest.
After graduating college, I went to work for FOX, then Yahoo, then Ning, all the while watching this truly awesome platform expand beyond belief. I was generally on board with my “web guy” career.
Then came the iPhone in 2007. The announcement event blew all of our minds, and while I (still at Ning) kicked the tires a bit with a mobile-optimized website, it took a bit of time (along with the launch of the App Store, subsidized devices and the rise of Android) before I jumped into my first native mobile app project in 2011 by joining Ning’s Mogwee team.
This began the mobile portion of my career, and while I kept a toe in the web waters here and there after moving to Moonfrye (which became P.S. XO and then merged with Seedling), my primary focus for the last six years has been on a variety of mobile apps including a comic book creator and a virtual reality maze experience.
The mobile platform has matured at a truly jaw-dropping pace. Aided by the “it’s always with you” factor, a wide variety of inputs/features and the vast number of users worldwide, these devices have proven themselves to be indispensable in a shockingly brief amount of time.
On the topic of mobile features, there’s a specific one that’s emerged as a breakout star: the camera. Whether experienced via phones, wearables or something not yet invented, the ability to overlay objects and information on top of the real world is fast becoming yet another major next leap.
I’m personally super excited about playing in this “camera as a platform” augmented reality world, so I’m thrilled to announce that I’m going to be leading product at Camera IQ with the awesome Allison Wood and team.
A bit about the company:
Camera IQ transforms the mobile camera from a feature to a commercial environment for content, m-commerce and immersive storytelling.
Our platform provides brand marketers the tools to create and manage their own augmented experiences in real time, while delivering actionable analytics to optimize results and repeat. By leveraging the mobile camera as a new medium to connect the online and offline worlds, Camera IQ builds a deeper and more meaningful connection between brands and their audience.
Camera IQ has worked with clients including Spotify, Refinery29, Coachella, Neiman Marcus, Syfy Channel and The Tate Modern.
See you in AR, all!
House of Kyle 