{"podcast":{"title":"The AI XR Podcast.","slug":"the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732","podcast_index_feed_id":1291732,"rss_url":"https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/5f2ae0b91ea7197e1ef08ed6","website_url":"https://shows.acast.com/this-week-in-xr-podcast","image_url":"https://assets.pippa.io/shows/5f2ae0b91ea7197e1ef08ed6/1736361729991-15e2e673-ad12-4a45-b117-7e42a45c0af8.jpeg","author":"Charlie Fink","episode_count":303,"summary":"Get the inside story on the biggest tech developments from founders, former executives, and industry veterans who built companies like OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Meta Reality Labs, Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft HoloLens, and Unity. Join Charlie Fink (Forbes), Ted Schilowitz, (Red Camera, Fox, Paramount Futurist) & Rony Abovitz, (founder Magic Leap).as they interview startup CEOs, ex-Google/Meta/Apple insiders, Hollywood directors, and AI researchers reshaping spatial computing. Every week we break down the latest tech news with our signature hot takes, then dive deep with a founder or industry leader. We cover artificial intelligence breakthroughs, virtual reality hardware, augmented reality applications, synthetic media tools, and how enterprises are adopting these technologies. We're industry insiders who have the connections to get the biggest names on the show, but we're not afraid to ask the tough questions about where big tech is heading. Our guests trust us because we've been in their shoes. Listen now to get ahead of the next wave of computing. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T20:20:59.917359+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732"},"episode":{"title":"Using A “Rebel Alliance” Strategy To Elevate AI & VR Learning ft. ILMxLab’s Vicki Dobbs Beck","slug":"using-a-rebel-alliance-strategy-to-elevate-ai-vr-learning-ft-ilmxlab-s-vicki-dobbs-beck","published_at":"2026-06-19T06:15:59+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732/using-a-rebel-alliance-strategy-to-elevate-ai-vr-learning-ft-ilmxlab-s-vicki-dobbs-beck","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732","url":"https://shows.acast.com/this-week-in-xr-podcast/episodes/using-a-rebel-alliance-strategy-to-elevate-ai-vr-learning-ft","audio_url":"https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5f2ae0b91ea7197e1ef08ed6/e/6a34de9f4a2a3be0f4060375/media.mp3","summary":"Vicki Dobbs Beck, the former head of ILMxLab and a 34-year veteran of Lucasfilm/Disney, joins Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, and Rony Abovitz for a candid look back at her incredible career navigating the tech and cultural shifts inside one of Hollywood's most powerful empires. Though she announced her retirement, it was quickly delayed to take an interim lead position at the George Lucas Educational Foundation's Lucas Learning, focusing on project-based simulations for middle school—a return to a career passion she started in the early 90s. Vicki shares the core, \"rebel alliance\" strategy that made ILMxLab a success—sustained innovation, industry acknowledgment, and financial self-sufficiency—and tells the terrifying story of pushing the Quest 1 headset to its absolute limits for the launch of Vader Immortal . She discusses the crucial lessons learned from pivoting the development to center the player in the story, transforming the experience from a \"spatial film\" to a personal journey, and the importance of slowing the pacing down for a new art form like VR. Before the interview, the hosts dissect a week of massive raises in AI (World Labs' $1B, Recursive Intelligence's $335M), the strategic shifts of tech giants like Palantir to Miami, and the intensifying race in wearables with Apple, Meta, and OpenAI all developing new devices like pendants and glasses. Key Moments 00:03:17 – World Labs & Unity AI: Discussing the $1B World Labs raise for 3D world generation and Unity's plans to build AI into its game engine to make it accessible to non-developers. 00:06:11 – The Miami Tech Hub: Rony Abovitz on why founders like Zuckerberg, Bezos, Larry, and Sergei are moving to Miami—it’s more than just taxes, it’s about a new “America strategy.” 00:12:30 – Apple Watch as Weara…","meta_description":"Vicki Dobbs Beck, the former head of ILMxLab and a 34-year veteran of Lucasfilm/Disney, joins Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, and Rony Abovitz for a candid…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3425,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732/episodes/using-a-rebel-alliance-strategy-to-elevate-ai-vr-learning-ft-ilmxlab-s-vicki-dobbs-beck/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-ai-xr-podcast-1291732/using-a-rebel-alliance-strategy-to-elevate-ai-vr-learning-ft-ilmxlab-s-vicki-dobbs-beck.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}