About
[7/10 hello Reddit IAMA!]
Avi Bar-Zeev has 20 years professional experience in 3D entertainment, visual simulation and internet scale applications. He co-founded Keyhole, Inc. in 1999, (which later became known as “Google Earth”), created the predecessor to KML and even apparently invented the “Placemark.”
He was an early employee or consultant to startups like Intrinsic Graphics (games), F5 Networks (dot-com), and more, developing core technologies for Second Life, including their procedural 3D object system. Early in his career, he helped develop Disney’s Aladdin’s Magic Carpet VR Ride, one of the first truly real-time (60 fps) first-person immersive VR entertainment experiences, and went on to lead or influence several other VR experiences for Disney before spending nearly a decade consulting on advanced technology solutions to real-world problems.
He currently works at Microsoft as a Principal Architect, having helped pitch, design and prototype new products and experiences for Bing, Microsoft’s Startup Business Group, and XBox.