Shannon Putman: Hello, everybody.
Welcome back to another thrilling episode of Putin's podcast.
Pops.
We have such a delight today for you.
I am sitting here with Tim Ventura, an industry insider and powerhouse.
Tim, welcome.
How are you today?
I.
Tim Ventura: I am fantastic.
I haven't been called a powerhouse in many years, so that's kind of entertaining.
Shannon Putman: There you go.
It's true.
You're welcome.
I'm glad I could do that for you.
So you are a powerhouse.
So can you let our listeners know just a little bit about you and, and kind of your background and, and what you're doing now?
Tim Ventura: Certainly.
so I, spent a lot of time in the visualization environment.
Um, I started out in, really the finite element side of things back in oh 4, 0 5.
Uh, working on crash simulation, physics, simulations of all, types.
I was introduced to, uh, the Powerwall, which was kind of the start of this whole ar vr XR environment that we're in today.
And just love, I fell in love with it.
I, I'm a visual learner by nature.
and I started building power walls all over the, you know, Canada, United States, Mexico.
I. just really got into it.
started building caves, which were the, you know, three or four dimensional sided, caves.
just really enjoyed that, that process.
And it's really kind of shaped my journey, um, into this, into the space.
And, uh, over that course of time I had a, you know, kind of a really interesting development, which I'll get to hopefully get to at some point that really kind of.
You know, put that final nail in the coffin for me, and this is where I need to be.
I've spent a lot of time with startup, xr, ar VR companies in this space since probably 1415.
and have really enjoyed that journey.
spent a lot of challenges.
but it was a phenomenal journey.
And, and I, I started, uh, kind of.
Sitting on boards and being an advisor about four or five years ago and just have really enjoyed that, that opportunity.
It's really afforded me the ability to look at things from other folks' perspective consistently, um, and really kind of see where the industry and how things are shaping up to and where it's actually headed long term.
So it's been a fantastic journey.
Shannon Putman: I love that you said, seeing things from other people's perspectives.
Uh, it it, it's something that's kind of lacking, I think today in society in general, but, you bring a different lens.
Then a lot of the people, you know, I tend to talk to, whether, you know they're educators or things like that.
You kind of have this whole industry business side as well.
So what is it that kinda motivated you to want to, not only work in this industry, but advise and help other people like you have been?
Tim Ventura: I think the big turning point for me was, I've worked very closely with industry for years and, I love being on the tip of the spear, kind of solving the challenges that no one else wants to touch are, ah, they're too impossible.
you know, I did a, a phenomenal project back in 13.
with one of the, uh, the head of crash and safety for Honda r and d North America, and we took finite element data, which if you've ever seen, it looks like a 5-year-old got ahold of a box of crayons.
it's very difficult to understand what's going on.
And we we took that data, brought it into a, an environment where we could highly render and visualize that data as if it looked real and watch that car crash.
And then take apart that car as it was actually crashing so that they could utilize that in conversations with legal and accounting to, talk about, design changes that needed to take place because of the fact that they weren't reaching or meeting five star crash ratings.
And it really changed the face of that industry overnight.
And it, and it was, uh.
You know, I thank Eric Doff all the time for the opportunity to put that together.
But it did, it changed that, that dynamic, uh, of looking at finite element data, highly rendered in being able to utilize that to sell inside the organization.
And that was it.
That was kind of, boom, there it is.
This is where I need to be.
Shannon Putman: That's fascinating.
That's such an incredible use case too, and it takes people like you and and stuff to understand the.
Data and what it ne what is needed.
And so that kind of always goes back to my theory in education that we need to teach educators what a 3D environment even is and why it's so important so that they can come up with those type of ideas like you just mentioned.
Because until you understand all of that, it doesn't matter what headset you have, whatever it's always going to be predetermined lessons and things like that, and it's not truly innovative.
Tim Ventura: Absolutely, completely agree with you.
Shannon Putman: Nice.
And I didn't pay him to say that, so Woo hoo.
So in that respect, which kind of also I'm excited to talk about, and you alluded to it a little bit ago, but, you're working with a, uh, a product that I absolutely love and I think it can be just that solution to bridge that gap.
So why don't you go ahead and tell us a little bit about that.
Tim Ventura: I completely agree with you.
That's why I'm here.
I've had the opportunity To touch and work with a lot of different products in this market over, you know, over the last 10 years.
And there's some that are just phenomenal, but you really can't scale 'em.
And then there's others that you can scale, but they don't have any fiber to 'em and really use case ability.
And so it's been, a wild journey from that standpoint.
I was introduced to IQ three Connect about five years ago from a CEO friend of mine, and, I've kind of watched that journey and I, I never really realized how powerful this was till about two years ago.
Uh, I sat down with the founder kind of in a similar situation, just having a, Warrior's chat, if you will, and, and just realized that This, platform solves so many problems and makes it so easy to step into this environment.
it was just mind boggling.
I, I, I had to, you know, kind of pinch myself.
I'm like, this doesn't exist because we're, we're so wired in this space to code and, you know, create and do all this heavy lift and this thing just made it super simple.
And so, it was kind of built.
for industry, uh, with the 10-year-old me in mind, you know, I want to get in, I wanna play with things, I wanna rip things apart.
I just wanna have fun.
I want it to be easy.
And that's really how this thing is built.
And so it really, it, it's fun to watch people get in this.
And I, you know, you said it yourself, you just love it.
'cause it's like you're a kid in a candy store, you know what I mean?
Shannon Putman: Yeah, exactly.
It.
I, I always mention that, you know, um, I, I miss being in the classroom 'cause I miss having a creative outlet and for me, my creative, you know, 'cause I don't.
Craft or Pinterest or that kinda stuff.
But my creative outlet was coming up with ways to make, education exciting and fun and interactive and, and, you know, meet my students where they are.
And you know, I never changed the way my students learn.
I changed the way I teach.
And so I haven't had that creative outlet since I've kind of been out of it.
And so this gives me that opportunity because I always say with vr, we're only limited by our imagination.
you know.
IQ three allows me to actually have that imagination come to life.
And so can you kind of break down a little bit more about IQ three and what the platform actually is, what it does, and you know how people can use it?
Tim Ventura: Certainly, so, from my standpoint, like a 3D sandbox and what it.
What the platform consists of is a, a, a room, kind of like what we're in right now, where we can actually collaborate with any type of 3D data.
So I can bring in scans from my iPhone.
I can bring in, you know, scans from, these expensive scanners.
I can bring in cad, I can bring in 360 video.
I can bring in all these tools and I can actually bring 'em into this environment and we can collaborate together.
We can have conversation, we can talk about.
Various aspects of this, we can tear parts of, of those models apart and really kind of treat it like a design review or treat it like a educational piece, uh, from that standpoint.
And then on the backside of all of this is this, I, I hate to call it an authoring tool, but it's kind of what it is.
It gives you the ability to preau author, uh, design reviews, and just send a link to your team.
And they can go through that whole thing, almost like a PowerPoint on steroids.
It's a, with all your 3D data, they can put glasses on and look at it from a 3D perspective and, and really utilize it from that aspect.
A lot of, organizations you know, they talk about that digital thread and they try to take and use that CAD data as much as possible through that process.
Well, this tool gives 'em that ability to utilize it.
Throughout the entire organization, training education, we see plant tours being done with it.
We see sales and marketing being done with it because it's, again, it's so easy the 10-year-old me can get in there and play with it.
And so, from that aspect, it it, it is a very powerful tool for beginners getting into this.
Yet I see people.
In aerospace that are using this thing for quality control and all of these other aspects that that really drive business value.
And so it's, I think it's an anomaly.
I think it's just such a unique platform to be a part of, you
Shannon Putman: I couldn't agree more, and you said something very important that I, I wanna make sure that people don't underestimate the actual significance of it.
You said you can just send out a web link.
So with IQ three, you don't have to download any app, you don't have to, you know, install any programs or anything.
So in regard to security, student data, all of those kind of things, you guys have almost taken alleviated that from the very beginning.
So now you can reach anybody.
Tim Ventura: Absolutely that, you know, being in the space, that was one of the most stressful experiences for me to go through was every time I sat in a room with an IT and security team, I just, you know, I felt like this big, you know, I, I just, all these intelligent, super intelligent people there and they, and, and they're, you know, it's like the rubber stamp.
Nope.
nope, we're not doing that.
And it, it, the way this is architected, it, it's so brilliant, because it, it, it not only relies on your individual browser.
So every company out there has an approved browser that they use internally.
So it can be used with that browser, and then the software itself can be run off of.
You know, off of the web or you know, off your own server, behind your firewall, it can be run off the cloud.
It, it's just super simple, but it's inside the software.
There's so many security protocols that have been built into this thing that it's, makes it very easy for me to segment my organization You know, aerospace and defense is common to having organizations that can't talk to other parts of the organization because of non-disclosure agreements, what have you.
And it really allows them to segment things and give certain permissions to people and they can communicate freely, share data freely amongst those, but it never crosses over.
And the same thing kind of holds true in the education space.
It gives the, it gives those administrators the ability to really lock that environment down and really control.
the process and the feed to make sure that these kids are very secure in that environment.
you know, we've seen some, just some brilliant use cases, brilliant success stories come out of that environment as a result of that.
So.
Shannon Putman: You're speaking their language For sure.
For sure.
Security and protection that you know, it's the world we live in and.
And it's almost a non-starter in a lot of conversations, um, especially in education.
And when you're dealing with, you know, students under 18 and everything else, it just has to be paramount.
And the other thing that we're kind of getting at, I, and, and if anybody hasn't caught onto it yet, the finished product.
Is also accessible for anybody.
So one of the things I love about VR and the end goal for me is always to get somebody inside of the headset.
'cause that's when like the full magic happens, but it doesn't have to always be that way.
And since there's not a lot of headsets out there, but there's a to of Chromebooks, everybody's got a phone.
How does IQ three compare and, and set themselves apart from some of these other virtual type softwares?
Tim Ventura: I, I think that you hit the, you know, hit the nail on the head there.
It's, everybody claims to be device agnostic, but you have to develop to get to that point.
And the beauty of utilizing the browser is that if you can pull a browser up, you can access IQ three.
And, you know, I was at an event in Colorado, I was asked to support an event and I showed up and they had these old tethered devices.
I, I mean, I don't even know how old they were.
They had to be eight years old or better.
my natural tendency is to kind of freeze a little bit.
Like, oh boy, this is gonna be fun.
You know?
And we brought all the devices online, pulled up a browser, and we ran five simultaneous sessions and all of these different, space scenarios that we had, some, from customers that were given to us and others that our team had created for, for all of these, students.
And it was.
Glitch free, smooth as silk, and it just blew my mind.
I, you know, I, I, it still blows my mind every time I go through it.
I, you know, I picked up a, a realware one time, which is a little monocular, and I pulled a browser up and loaded it.
Not the best, best viewing of our software, but it worked.
I think that's the big thing is it just works.
And, and that has been a challenge in the past, or, you know, you don't have to download an app from the iTunes store, or you don't have to worry about any of that.
Pull a browser up, load it up and go.
Shannon Putman: Simple.
I love it.
And that also then reaches, you know, education and, and like I said, students, industry, everybody, Um, because I don't think a lot of people understand too that in the VR industry, there's, it's also kind of like, oh, well if you make an app, is it an, there's some apps that are only available on Apple, some are only available on Android.
It's.
The same with headsets.
Some are on meta, but not on Pico or HTC.
And so if you don't under, if you don't know that, know the business, you could be, you know, purchasing a headset for a specific app and it's not even available on that headset.
And so being able to reach people and then also what I love about.
What you guys do with IQ three is you allow the user to use it.
So a lot of people want custom content creation.
They want something specific, and they reach out and they find out how expensive it is, how much it can cost to hire a company to do all of this.
And so with IQ three, you can start to actually do some creation or even better let the students start to do some creation.
Tim Ventura: Absolutely.
I, you know, I think that's, that's one of the things that, the founder showed me, in that final meeting before I started, you know, working alongside IQ three.
Um, is, is, you know, this was during COVID you know, his son and his buddies, his 10-year-old son was just bored to death.
And so he got online, downloaded the Mars Rover from the NASA website, the cad, put it in a collaboration room, and set the link in his Google classroom at school, and all his buddies got in there and tore apart the Mars Rover and played with that thing for weeks.
They were doing 'cause they were bored and you know, I, it, it, that was kind of that point where it's like that 10-year-old me, I just wanna explore.
I just wanna see what I can do, you know, how do I, how do I solve these problems utilizing what, you know, 3D data I have.
It was just a, it's just a, it's a brilliant tool.
Shannon Putman: Absolutely.
I love that I always say the children are our future.
Well, they really are.
It is just we as adults need to be willing to let those reigns go a little bit and, and, and let them explore.
And so that's why.
It's so much easier to get, convince them to let them explore when you know you have something that's secure.
So that's why I love that you're an actual total platform that has thought of everything.
So, you know, so you have this industry, you know, background as well and you've kind of had this front row seat to see development in, in, in all different areas.
And so what is, um, you know, something that you're seeing from like an industry perspective that is going to be kind of the future or where is, you know, the tech leading, what are you kind of predicting is, is gonna happen over the next couple years?
Tim Ventura: You know, it's an interesting question.
You know, there's a lot, a lot going on.
I know when, when I, started working in the ar vr space, that was it, man, that was the hot button.
Everybody wanted to be in it.
And then AI kind of strolled along and really took a big bite outta what was going on in the ar vr space.
And, We work with some really great universities and we work with some really great industrial partners in both that those universities as well as some of those industrial partners are bringing those two things together, and really solving some very unique problems that I, I mean, to be honest, I didn't even know they existed, to be honest and.
it's been really fun to watch that.
I saw a demo from one of our customers here, a few weeks ago and, you know, we climbed into this collaboration session and AI bot popped up and said, hello Shannon.
I see that you're looking at the latest and greatest model that we have in the system.
How can I help you?
And I about fell outta my chair.
Because it's, it's things are moving so fast in in industry with all of this great technology that's coming out.
It's all converging.
You know, we've heard about Industry 4.0 and IOT for years.
Well, all of these things are gonna be combined together to make it almost Jetson like, you know, you remember the TV show, the Jetsons.
I mean, you're not gonna, you're not gonna have to do much, you know, and it's, it's those, in my mind, it's those kids that get exposure to that very early and understand that industry testing all of these things and trying to figure out how to utilize this to move faster, to solve bigger problems, to, to save more money.
Those are the kids that I think are gonna be super successful in the future.
Shannon Putman: That's such a great point because, you know, it's our job as educators to prepare students for life and whatever that looks like, whether it's university, whether that's service, whether it's industry.
And so we have to be up to date on what is actually being demanded from industry to prepare our students.
And a lot of times, you know.
People change is hard for people.
They don't want to, you know, adapt and, and things like that.
But it's like, we're not teaching kids how to use an overhead projector anymore.
They need to know what AI is and how to use it and things like that.
So it's usually more about getting the adults to actually, adapt and start to embrace everything.
So do you see, you know, and I know you haven't worked in education as much, but is it as hard to convince, you know, kind of industry people to.
Adapt to new technology.
'cause like when I worked, you know, in a lot of the skills trades and stuff, they're like, well, they need to physically weld.
And I'm like, of course they do.
Like, it's not replacing it.
So is there still that old school feeling of they need to do it in real life and this isn't real?
Or how are you seeing that industry reacts to it?
Tim Ventura: I see the industry react that, you know, they know they need to do something.
you know that, that.
Paralysis that takes place sometimes.
Hold on.
What do I do?
I mean, you've got all these different things that we can go do.
How do we start it, you know, and move forward with anything?
And that's kind of what drew me here, is that it just makes it an easy starting point.
You know, all industry has 3D data.
Now.
Almost all industries have 3D data.
Almost every industry is playing with scanning technology.
Okay, so there's another form of 3D data.
You have all of these challenges to educate and train people, and you have all this 3D data.
They know they need to use that 3D data.
The, the challenge has always been do we build it in house or do we grab a developer and do it with, you know, this unity or unreal, or do you know, we look for an outside source and, and they take this.
You know, they wanna do all these elaborate trade studies.
And don't get me wrong, I think trade studies are super important, but the problem is, is that they delay and they delay and they delay and things are moving so fast that by the time they get in the game, they're so far behind.
There are, companies out there, especially on the aerospace side of things that are just using this stuff so uniquely and you know, I think.
The tough part is just getting them to go do something you know, or here's your budget, here's $4 and 27 cents.
You know, go get her done.
you know, there's, there's a lot to it.
I mean, you know, there's some phenomenal people I call 'em one man gangs.
I get blown away by the amount of things that they do in a day because they've taken.
The 3D stuff that they have inside these organizations.
They've brought it into an environment like IQ three Connect and they've attached things to it and they've brought other supporting data and they, and they move so quickly because it's, again, a 10-year-old kid can get in here and run with it.
They just solve problems all day.
And I, I look at it and I go, I, I'd be, my head would be spinning going through what some of these guys go through in a day.
But it's, that's where everything's headed.
You know, the stay of the, person that, you know, pushes four bolts on a wheel is long gone.
I mean, you have to be multi-talented, multifaceted.
You have to understand all these different technologies and how they impact what it is that you do in your work environment.
you know, it's just gonna continue to move faster.
So it's just getting people to start.
And then once they start, they start saying, oh, I can click.
I can link this, I can link that, I can do this.
And then it's just, they just start flying
Shannon Putman: That's an incredibly valid point, and I don't think many people have really, uh, even mentioned that before they, that paralysis.
Like, we don't know what to do, you know?
So yes.
Start, let's do something.
Get in there.
Try it.
And there's a lot of companies that do great marketing, and then if you don't know what you're doing, you get suckered because they talk a good game.
And so that's what the, the POP is trying to help spread some of that information so people don't, get waste.
I don't wanna say waste, but don't waste their budget because sometimes, you know, we only have one chance at somebody.
And if they get something that they thought was good and it wasn't, and then, you know, they're like, well, we tried VR in this way and it, and it, it was bad.
And so now we're not gonna try it again.
I'm like, So as we're kind of.
Rounding this out here because it's been so wonderful and fascinating and, um, I thank you for being here with us first off, and, and sharing everything because, a lot of times, you know, people don't, like you said, they don't know where to start.
They don't know what to do, and it's hard for me to always, you know, find something that might fit or whatever.
Whereas IQ three is something that could be, I know I can recommend to anybody, Well, again, thank you so much Tim.
This has been a, it's been wonderful and uh, I look forward to, to more future projects with you.