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PODCAST

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human

with Evan Helda

Dream Machines is a podcast & newsletter exploring physical AI, robotics, and the future of the human experience. These new tools unlocking human potential in ways we can barely imagine. But they"re also going to challenge everything we know about the human experience — our sense of self, of reality, of each other. Which is why Dream Machines isn’t just about where technology is going—it"s about where it’s taking us.... Dream Machines is hosted by Evan Helda: a writer and technologist who has

technology entrepreneurship

All Episodes

99:34

The Human Psyche in the Machine Age w/ Glen Slater

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/10/04

If you’re like me, you can love technology and still worry about what it’s doing to us.If that tension feels familiar, this episode is for you.Today’s guest is Glen Slater, a Jungian psychologist and the author of Jung vs. Borg (as in cyborg).This book completely blew my mind. It’s officially the most highlighted book in my Kindle.It explores what increasingly feels like an inevitable trajectory: the deeper merging of human beings and machines, and what happens to the psyche as more of our

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57:34

World Models: From Pixels to Physics w/ SpAItial CEO...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/08/21

World models have become one of the most hyped frontiers in AI — and for good reason. The technology is reaching a tipping point, it’s attracting some of the world’s best AI talent, and many believe world models could be the unlock for both AGI and general-purpose robotics.But ask five people what a “world model” actually is, and you’ll probably get five different answers.That’s because there isn’t one approach. There’s a whole spectrum of world models being built today, each trying to understand

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91:19

The 3D Content Problem, Virtual Worlds, and Robotic...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/05/17

Today’s guest is Will McDonald, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Miris.Miris is rethinking how high-fidelity 3D content gets delivered at scale. Their thesis: the future of 3D depends entirely on simplifying distribution.In that vein… we talk about why pixel streaming falls short, how Miris uses volumetric data instead, and why that matters for everything from e-commerce and gaming to robotics and simulation.Will and I worked together for many years at AWS, so we also dive into lessons

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90:39

Synthetic Data, Evaluation, and the Future of...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/05/15

If you want to understand what it takes to get robots out of the lab and into production, this one’s for you.Today, I’m joined by the cofounders of Bifrost: Charles Wong (CEO) and Aravind Kandia (CTO).Bifrost is one of the leaders in synthetic data generation and simulation for evaluation. They’ve built some of the most impressive tools I’ve seen to date for helping robotics developers train, test, and deploy autonomy in the real world.In this episode, we discuss:* what most teams still get wrong

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91:19

The 3D Content Problem, Virtual Worlds, and Robotic...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/04/30

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkToday’s guest is Will McDonald, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Miris.Miris is rethinking how high-fidelity 3D content gets delivered at scale. Their thesis: the future of 3D depends entirely on simplifying distribution.In that vein… we talk about why pixel streaming falls short, how Miris uses volumetric data instead, and why that matters for everything from e-commerce and gaming to robotics and simulation.Will and I worked together for many years at

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99:04

Social Robots, Human Connection, and the Art of...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2026/03/20

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkThis was the most unique and fun episode I’ve done in a while, and it starts in a very unexpected place…With the art of clowning.Strange I know, but stick with us, because we quickly connect that world to technology, robotics, and why it holds surprisingly powerful lessons for this moment in time; especially if we want to design intelligent, embodied systems that humans actually want to engage with.Our guest today is Pasquale D’Silva, CEO of The Illusion of

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76:48

Matt Miesnieks | The Future of Physical AI

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/11/13

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkWhat if machines could learn the world the way humans do?Not by crunching data and predicting tokens, but by understanding the world and how it works?Imagine a robot that doesn’t just see a chair, but understands it— its purpose, its relationship to the table, the way you might pull it closer before sitting down.That’s the world Matt Miesnieks is building.Matt is the CEO of Primate.AI, a new kind of physical AI company rethinking how machines perceive and

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106:58

The Unlock for the Spatial Web w/ Sean Mann and Dean...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/09/26

Today’s guests are building one of the most ambitious startups in the entire spatial computing industry.The company is called RP1, and we’re sitting down with co-founders Sean Mann and Dean Abramson.On its face, RP1 is the world’s first true metaverse browser, trying to do for spatial computing what browsers like Mosaic and Internet Explorer did for the web.But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Beneath the surface, RP1 is so much more... They’re building all the infrastructure and protocols

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108:14

Alvin Wang Graylin | AI, Abundance, and Rewiring...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/08/29

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkThis interview is with Alvin Graylin — one of the boldest voices out there today on AI, reimagining civilization in the age of intelligence.Alvin is the best-selling author of the book, Our Next Reality, which is a super thought provoking exploration of how immersive tech and artificial intelligence are going to reshape every layer of society. Prior, Alvin spent over a decade on the front lines of the XR industry—building and leading HTC’s VR business in China,

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70:17

Philip Rosedale | Virtual Worlds, AI, and the...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/07/31

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkToday’s guest is a legend within spatial computing. We're speaking with Philip Rosedale, one of our spaces most renowned pioneers and the visionary founder of Second Life.Long before the 'metaverse' and 'web3' became buzz words, Second Life was the first, commercially successful, virtual world, with a self-sustaining, digital society where millions could create, trade, and become whoever they wanted to be.Philip does a lot of podcasts, so I tried to make this

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98:43

A Spatial Reckoning: Why One Industry Veteran Walked...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/06/26

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkIt’s time for some straight talk.No hype, no press release optimism, no corporate spin. Just two guys with some scar tissue—and a lot of history—talking about what’s really happening in the world of spatial computing/XR.In this episode, I sit down with Kharis O’Connell—former design leader at AR headset startup: Meta (the original Meta), Google, and Amazon. Kharis has been in the XR arena since before the game began. From early experiments with Nokia's Point &

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5:25

Introducing... Dream Machines [Audio]

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/06/21

Medium Energy is now Dream Machines, narrowing the focus on the most powerful force in technology today: the convergence of spatial computing and AI.These tools are two sides of the same coin. Problem is... most people don't realize how and why. Nor do they realize what it means for their business, their careers, their children, their relationships, the list goes on.This newsletter/pod will change that.You see... Spatial computing has been misunderstood.It's far more than just AR/VR headsets and the

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68:02

The Healing Power of Immersion

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/04/20

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkAt a time when most conversations about technology skew dystopian—AI anxiety, screen addiction, digital isolation—Dr. Walter Greenleaf offers a refreshingly grounded and hopeful counter-narrative. Known as the godfather of therapeutic virtual reality, Walter has spent nearly four decades at the intersection of neuroscience, immersive technology, and medicine. In this conversation, he outlined a vision of the future in which virtual environments help us heal

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38:48

The Ultimate Trifecta | Digital Twins + Spatial...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/03/27

* Apple Podcast Link* Spotify Podcast LinkI recently sat down with Ashley Crowder, CEO of VNTANA, on her podcast Connected in 3D. We discussed all things at the intersection of spatial computing, digital twins, and AI, and where this convergence is heading within the enterprise space.We covered…* Why spatial computing is more than just headsets—it’s any system that sees and simulates the world* The real reason most companies are stuck in pilot purgatory* What a “spatial data plane” is and why

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81:32

From Spatial Computing to Contextual Computing w/ Nir...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2025/03/04

How much of your life is spent staring at a screen?Probably more than you care to admit.Now imagine, all that distraction and friction disappearing. No more scrolling, typing, tapping. No more barriers between you and the information you need. No more heads down moments, getting lost in an array button, menus, and icons, breaking the flow of conversation and connection.Instead, AI gets unleashed from tiny text boxes. It greets you as a companion in the real world, enhances your day without

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66:17

Upgrading Your Mind for the Digital Age w/ Todd Kashdan

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2024/12/31

We’re closing out the year with a special one…As most of you know, part of the Medium Energy mission is to explore what it means to be human in the age of exponential technology.If that question interests you, this conversation absolutely delivers.We’re peeling back the layers of the human psyche and exploring the future of emotional and psychological well-being. At the heart of the conversation is the power of curiosity.We’ve all felt curiosity. But let’s be honest—how many of us truly know how to

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49:29

Quarterly Market Update #2 w/ Hatem | Market theory,...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2024/12/10

Apple Podcast LinkSpotify Podcast LinkWelcome to our quarterly market update for Q3 2024, with Hatem Dhiab, Managing Partner at renowned investing firm, Gerber Kawasaki. In this series, we share our observations & leanings from the most recent quarterly earnings calls. The goal of this series is to help you stay calibrated to the latest market & investing trends.This conversation kicks off with an exploration of modern investing strategies and psychology (hint: I think traditional market theory is

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81:41

Finding Focus, Meaning, and Purpose in the Digital...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2024/11/26

Alright folks, we're taking a different tack with this episode.We’re diving into some more… soulful topics, while also getting rather personal and vulnerable.Part of our core thesis at Medium Energy is that exponential technologies like Spatial Computing and AI… these are democratizing tools. They’re going to help more people climb the proverbial ladder that is Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, all the way to that top rung, i.e. the mystical notion of self-actualization, or the idea of becoming who

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86:21

Brain Computer Interfaces + Spatial Computing | The...

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2024/10/13

Today’s episode is as sci-fi as it gets.We're exploring the complete merging of man and machine via spatial computing and BCIs (brain computer interfaces); a combo that will give us the ability to control machines with our minds.And yes, this stuff is way more real and way more imminent than you think.To explore the topic, we're diving into a company at the cutting edge of this frontier.The company is called uCat (strange I know, but you’ll see why), and this conversation is with their Founder/CEO,

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79:09

Spatial Computing and the Human Experience

Dream Machines: Physical AI, Robotics, Being Human ·

2024/09/20

Friends, been a little while! But we’re back in action with what I think is our best episode yet…Here are the podcast player links: * Apple Podcast* SpotifyThis conversation was an absolute blast, and if you're at all interested in the psychological and philosophical implications of spatial computing, you're going to love this one.Once again, I'm on the hot seat, this time being interviewed by Sky King on his podcast, Sky King's Mental Playground. We explore all kinds of fun topics related to this

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