Sometimes called the “man from the future”, Tom is recognized as one of the world’s leading thought leaders in augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) & wearable technology.
He was recently listed as one of LinkedIn’s Top Voices in Technology in 2020. A pioneer in this space, Tom started working in augmented reality in 2009 and has over a decade-long track record of running tech teams and providing strategic direction in emerging technologies for powerhouse brands and organizations.
As VP of Product at 8th Wall, Tom is leading the strategy, development and go-to-market of powerful developer tools to create augmented reality and virtual reality for the web, or what is best known as WebAR and WebVR. 8th Wall has powered augmented reality content for brands across industry verticals including Nike, Sony Pictures, Burger King, General Mills, British Gas, Heineken, McDonald’s, Swiss Airlines, Toyota, adidas, COACH and more. The first WebVR game powered by 8th Wall, ROVR RUN, is featured in the Oculus Browser.
Previous to 8th Wall, Tom played a critical role in building the AR/VR/Wearables community. In 2013, Tom founded We Are Wearables which he grew to the largest wearable tech community of its kind prior to its acquisition by AugmentedReality.org, the non-profit behind the world’s #1 spatial computing community, AWE.
At AWE, Tom produced conference & expos and meetups in the USA, EU, Asia and MEA for nearly six years, growing the AWE community to over 250,000 worldwide. He continues to support AWE as a Board Member of AugmentedReality.org and as co-organizer of the San Francisco meetup chapter, AWE Nite SF. Tom has actively invested in the AR ecosystem as one of the founding partners at Super Ventures, a Silicon Valley based VC fund dedicated to AR established in 2016 (investments include 6D.ai, acquired by Niantic). He continues to act as an advisor for the fund.
His past experience also includes covering the AR/VR/Wearables space as a freelance journalist for many tech publications and as a featured wearable tech expert on a recurring TV segment on Canada’s largest morning show, CTV’s Canada AM. In 2012, Billion-dollar revenue global events leader UBM acquired Tom’s influential blog about wearable tech, which was one of the earliest sources of news and analysis in the sector. Tom’s thoughts are often sought after by media giants such as CNN, BBC, Forbes and The NY Times, and conferences such as TEDx, Slush, CES, Festival de Cannes & SXSW.
Learn more about 8th Wall at www.8thwall.com Follow Tom on Twitter @TomEmrich