Brett Jones
I love turning advanced technologies into magical products. Most of my work is in spatial computing, mixed reality (AR/VR), projection, smart home, and generative AI / LLMs. I’m currently working on something new at Amazon Devices as the Head of Product. I co-founded Lightform, a VC backed startup making projection mapping easy with computer vision. I have a PhD in Computer Science from UIUC, at the intersection of computer vision & HCI. Before graduating, I was a serial research intern at Walt Disney Imagineering on AR/VR and Microsoft Research inventing IllumiRoom and RoomAlive.
@brettjonesr
Amazon Devices
Head of Product (Mgr, Product Management)
2021 – present
I lead product (PM & UX) for a new hardware and software device within a special projects division.
Lightform
CEO & Co-Founder
2015 – 2022
Lightform‘s products transform spaces & experiences using projection mapping, adding magical effects & ambient interfaces to any object. Lightform uses computer vision to make projection mapping easy. Lightform was a VC backed hardware startup in San Francisco.
Grew PhD thesis into a hardware company shipping 12,000+ units, with 26 full-time employees, and raising $18M Seed to Series A. Experienced in full lifecycle B2B and B2C product design & go-to-market. Invented, shipped, & sustained 3 new hardware / software products with an additional 3 products in development: 1 in private beta, 1 in development, 1 in R&D.
- Product: Managed a product/design team, wrote initial PRDs, spec’d minimum lovable product, and post-launch spec’d new features and hundreds small improvements and bugs resulting in our flagship product at 72 NPS.
- Marketing: Directly owned product marketing, website design & backend, and press. Contributed to organic & paid ads content.
- Operations: Raised $18M including Lux Capital, Dolby Family Ventures, Seven Seas Partners, Baidu Ventures, Amazon Alexa Fund, and more. Owned fundraising, investor reporting, & financials.
LFX. 2021
LF2/C Launch Video. 2020
LF1 Launch Video. 2018
IllumiRoom
Invented IllumiRoom, a projector that surrounds your TV with immersive visuals with Hrvoje Benko, Andy Wilson and Eyal Ofek. Featured in the CES 2013 Microsoft/Samsung Keynote.
CHI 2013 paper (Best paper award & best video award)
2012
RoomAlive
Created a unified, scalable framework, RoomAlive, for covering an entire room in interactive projection mapping via multiple projector-camera units. With Raj Sodhi, Mike Murdock, Ravish Mehra, Hrvoje Benko, Andy Wilson, Eyal Ofek, Blair MacIntyre, & Lior Shapira.
UIST 2014 paper
2013
Education 
PhD, 2015
UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) #5 US university in CS
Computer Science: Computer Vision & Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Focused on VR/AR.
Advised by David Forsyth (Computer Vision) & Brian Bailey (HCI)
BS, 2008
UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) #5 US university in CS
Computer Science. Minor equivalent in fine art.
Bronze tablet (summa cum laude) 3.99/4.00 GPA.
PhD UIUC 🌽
2008-2015
Projectibles
Optimizing surface color for projection
@UIUC
UIST 2015
Arto
The future of photography with depth sensors
@UIUC
2013
Around Device Interaction
Spatial input for navigation
@UIUC
Mobile HCI 2012
Build Your World
Surface particles for generative projected AR content
@UIUC
ISMAR 2010
Electronic Arts 🎮
Technical artist intern at Electronic Arts on the Sims 3. Implemented plugin for Maya enabling in Maya previews of final game procedural textures
2007
Press 
Lightform Turning Surfaces Into Screens
Forbes 2021
A $2.6 Million Bet To Turn Your Home Into A Giant Screen
Fast Compnay 2017
Publications 
- Content creation for seamless augmented experiences with projection mapping. Brett Jones. Ph.D. Dissertation (2015). University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
- IllumiRoom: immersive experiences beyond the TV screen. Brett Jones, H Benko, E Ofek, AD Wilson. Communications of the ACM (2015).
- Projectibles: Optimizing surface color for projection. Brett Jones, R Sodhi, P Budhiraja, K Karsch, B Bailey, D Forsyth. ACM UIST (2015).
- RoomAlive: magical experiences enabled by scalable, adaptive projector-camera units. Brett Jones, R Sodhi, M Murdock, R Mehra, H Benko, A Wilson, E Ofek, et. al. ACM UIST (2014).
- IllumiRoom: peripheral projected illusions for interactive experiences. Brett Jones, Hrovje Benko, Eval Ofek, Andrew D. Wilson. ACM CHI (2013)
- Around device interaction for multiscale navigation. Brett Jones, R Sodhi, D Forsyth, B Bailey, G Maciocci. ACM MobileHCI. (2012)
- Build your world and play in it: Interacting with surface particles on complex objects. Brett Jones, R Sodhi, RH Campbell, G Garnett, BP Bailey. IEEE ISMAR (2010).
- Augmenting complex surfaces with projector-camera systems. Brett Jones. Master’s thesis (2010). University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Collaborations
- BeThere: 3D mobile collaboration with spatial input. RS Sodhi, Brett Jones, D Forsyth, BP Bailey, G Maciocci. ACM CHI (2013).
- Idea generation techniques among creative professionals. SR Herring, Brett Jones, BP Bailey. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2009).
- Where’s my drink? Enabling peripheral real world interactions while using HMDs. P Budhiraja, R Sodhi, Brett Jones, K Karsch, B Bailey, D Forsyth. arXiv (2015).
- Lightform: procedural effects for projected AR. B Factura, L LaPerche, P Reyneri, Brett Jones, K Karsch. ACM SIGGRAPH Studio (2018).
Patents 
- System and methods or augmenting surfaces within spaces with projected light
R Sodhi, B Jones, K Karsch, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck, A Kilkenny. US Patent App. 17/017,128. 2020. - Method for augmenting a scene in real space with projected visual content
K Karsch, R Sodhi, B Jones, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck, A Kilkenny, … US Patent App. 16/872,237. 2020. - Method for augmenting surfaces in a space with visual content
R Sodhi, B Jones, K Karsch, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck. US Patent App. 16/776,077. 2020. - System and methods or augmenting surfaces within spaces with projected light
R Sodhi, B Jones, K Karsch, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck, A Kilkenny. US Patent 10,805,585. 2020 - Method for augmenting a scene in real space with projected visual content
K Karsch, R Sodhi, B Jones, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck, A Kilkenny, …
US Patent 10,692,233. 2020 - Method for augmenting a scene in real space with projected visual content
K Karsch, R Sodhi, B Jones, P Budhiraja, P Reyneri, D Rieck, A Kilkenny, … US Patent 10,373,325. 2019. - Immersive display with peripheral illusions
H Benko, BR Jones, E Ofek, A Wilson, G Perez. US Patent 9,480,907. 2016.
Awards 🏆
Lightform
Grad School
- COZAD New Venture Competition, 2014. 1st prize out of 120 teams. $20K startup funding.
- Illinois Innovation Prize, 2013. $10K individual prize for innovation.
- CHI Best Paper Award and Best Video Award, 2013.
- Intel PhD Fellowship, 2013. 1 year of PhD funding.
- Qualcomm Innovation Fellowship, 2011. 2 years of PhD funding for “Spatial mobile interaction using depth sensors”. ($100K)
- Siebel Scholar Fellowship, 2010. 2 years of MS funding.
- IEEE ISMAR Best Student Paper, 2010.
Undergrad
- Bronze Tablet (Summa cum laude), 2008. 3.99/4.00 GPA (BS in CS)
- Dunn Systems Undergraduate Scholarship, 2008
- Daniel L. Slotnick Scholarship, 2007
- Ruth and Harold Hayward Scholarship, 2007
- Illinois General Assembly Legislative Scholarship, 2005
Skills 
Languages: C/C++, C#, Python, Matlab
Libraries: OpenCV, Qt, OpengGL, PCL, FFmpeg, Unity, UE
Software: Adobe (Ps, Ai, Pr, Ae), TouchDesigner, Maya, Jira admin
Talks 💁🏼
- AWE 2019. New AR Form Factors Panel.
- TechCrunch AR/VR Sessions 2018. Ditching Headsets for Holograms.
- AWE 2017. Projection mapping – shared augmented reality.
Hobbies 
- Endurance sports: running (mostly 1/2 marathons), triathlons (70.3 Ironman)
- New media: creative coding, motion graphics, 3D modeling, photography, cinematography, graphic design.
- Traditional media: oil/acrylic painting, sculpture, wood working.
Favorite reading 📚
- Creativity, Inc. Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace.
- Dieter Rams. Less But Better. Dieter Rams.
- Inside the Tornado. Geoffrey A. Moore.
- Running Lean. Ash Maurya
- Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. Roger Fischer, et al.
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Ben Horowitz.
- Venture Deals. Brad Feld.
- Who: The A Method for Hiring. Geoff Smart.
- Anything by Isaac Asimov.
- Magazines: Architectural Digest, Dwell