Edward Saatchi

Last updated

Edward Saatchi
Born (1985-02-19) 19 February 1985 (age 39)
Education Westminster School [1]
Alma mater Wadham College, Oxford [2]
Sorbonne [2]
OccupationBusinessman
Known forCo-founder of NationalField and Fable Studio
Parent(s) Maurice Saatchi
Josephine Hart
Website fable-studio.com

Edward Saatchi (born 19 February 1985) is a British businessman and filmmaker. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of artificial intelligence-powered virtual being company Fable. [3] He was formerly a producer at Oculus Story Studio and the CEO and co-founder of political technology company, NationalField. [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Edward Saatchi is the son of Maurice Saatchi and Josephine Hart. [2] [5] His father is an Iraqi Jew born in Baghdad while his mother was Irish. He was educated at London's Westminster School [1] and Wadham College in Oxford, where he took a double first in English Studies. [2] He attended the Sorbonne for graduate studies in philosophy and economics, before leaving for the United States to volunteer for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign. [2]

Career

Saatchi was initially rejected in his efforts to join the Obama campaign because of his alien status, [6] but was eventually permitted to participate after personally presenting himself at a campaign office in Iowa. [6] During his tenure with the campaign, he met Aharon Wasserman and Justin Lewis. The three developed an "internal social network" to more easily keep track of campaign data and coordinate communications between managers, staff, and volunteers. [1] The network was rapidly adopted across multiple branches of the campaign and eventually commercialised in its present form as NationalField. [1] He is the company's CEO. In 2011, Saatchi, along with his co-founders, was named in a Forbes 's 30 Under 30 list. [7]

In 2014, he was part of the founding team of Oculus Story Studio, the virtual-reality filmmaking division of Oculus VR. [8]

Fable Studio

In January 2018, Saatchi co-founded Fable studio with Pete Billington. Its premier title was a virtual reality film titled Wolves in the Walls, [9] based on the Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean children's book of the same name. [10]

Im May 2023, Fable Studio announced an AI project titled "The Simulation", which plans to create a simulated reality of AI-powered characters with the eventual goal of creating an artificial general intelligence. [11] In July 2023 as part of The Simulation project, Fable Studio released a paper describing their tool named AI Showrunner that can create full animated TV episodes. [12] [13] In June 2024, Fable Studio announced a streaming service, based on their AI tool and also titled Showrunner, that will allow users to create their own episodes. [14]

Personal life

Saatchi told Forbes in 2014 that he practises Transcendental Meditation, rises before dawn, exercises daily and enjoys films and painting. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality</span> Computer-simulated experience

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immersion (virtual reality)</span> Perception of being physically present in a non-physical world

In virtual reality (VR), immersion is the perception of being physically present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other stimuli that provide an engrossing total environment.

<i>The Wolves in the Walls</i> 2003 graphic novel by Gaiman and McKean

The Wolves in the Walls is a book by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean, published in 2003, in the United States by HarperCollins, and in the United Kingdom by Bloomsbury. The book was highly praised on release, winning three awards for that year. In 2006, it was made into a musical which toured the UK and visited the US in 2007.

Owlchemy Labs is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas. The company was founded in 2010 by Worcester Polytechnic Institute graduate Alex Schwartz. Owlchemy is best known for its virtual reality video games Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. In May 2017, the studio was acquired by Google.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift</span> Virtual reality headsets by Oculus VR

Oculus Rift is a discontinued line of virtual reality headsets developed and manufactured by Oculus VR, a virtual reality company founded by Palmer Luckey that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. It was the first virtual reality headset to provide a realistic experience at an accessible price, utilizing novel technology to increase quality and reduce cost by orders of magnitude compared to earlier systems. The first headset in the line was the Oculus Rift DK1, released on March 28, 2013. The last was the Oculus Rift S, discontinued in April 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer Luckey</span> American entrepreneur (born 1992)

Palmer Freeman Luckey is an American entrepreneur best known as the founder of Oculus VR and designer of the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality head-mounted display that is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. In 2017, Luckey left Oculus and founded defense contractor Anduril Industries, a defense technology company focused on autonomous drones and sensors for military applications. Luckey ranked number 22 on Forbes' 2016 List of America's Richest Entrepreneurs Under 40.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reality Labs</span> Virtual and augmented reality products company

Reality Labs, formerly Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.

<i>Edge of Nowhere</i> 2016 video game

Edge of Nowhere is an action-adventure virtual reality video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Oculus Studios. The player controls adventurer Victor Howard as he ventures into Antarctica in order to find his fiancée's lost expedition while encountering unworldly beasts. Edge of Nowhere is based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness. The game released on June 6, 2016, exclusively for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset on Microsoft Windows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan Iribe</span> American game programmer and founder

Brendan Trexler Iribe is an American game programmer, entrepreneur and co-founder of Oculus VR, Inc. and Scaleform. He is the managing partner at BIG Ventures, an early-stage venture fund.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Story Studio</span> Former virtual-reality film studio

Oculus Story Studio was an original animated virtual reality film studio that was a division of Oculus VR. The studio was started by Oculus VR to pioneer animated virtual reality filmmaking and educate, inspire, and foster community for filmmakers interested in VR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zach Richter</span> American creative director and designer

Zach Richter is an American director, creative director and designer, best known for his work in virtual reality and interactive media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality headset</span> Head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer


A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device that uses 3D near-eye displays and positional tracking to provide a virtual reality environment for the user. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games, but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR headsets typically include a stereoscopic display, stereo sound, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for tracking the pose of the user's head to match the orientation of the virtual camera with the user's eye positions in the real world. An AR headset is similar to a VR headset but, with a AR headset you can still see the outside world and interact. An examples of a AR headset is the Apple Vision Pro or the Meta Quest Three.

Tilt Brush is a room-scale 3D-painting virtual-reality application available from Google, originally developed by Skillman & Hackett.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AltspaceVR</span> Virtual reality social platform

AltspaceVR was a social VR platform that was founded in 2013 by Eric Romo and launched its initial product in May 2015. In 2017 it was acquired by Microsoft and became part of the Mixed Reality division within the Cloud and AI group. Some elements of the platform appear in Microsoft Mesh.

Henry is a 2015 virtual reality film created by Oculus Story Studio which was premiered on July 28, 2015. It was created in Unreal Engine 4 and narrated by Elijah Wood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramiro Lopez Dau</span> Director and animator of feature films and virtual reality

Ramiro Lopez Dau is a director and animator of feature films and virtual reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality game</span> Video game played in virtual reality

A virtual reality game or VR game is a video game played on virtual reality (VR) hardware. Most VR games are based on player immersion, typically through a head-mounted display unit or headset with stereoscopic displays and one or more controllers.

<i>Boneworks</i> 2019 video game

Boneworks is a 2019 first-person shooter game developed and published by Stress Level Zero. The game is designed to be entirely physics-based, with the player controlling a full virtual body that responds not just to the player's real-world input but also to obstructions in the game world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SexLikeReal</span> Virtual reality company

SexLikeReal (SLR) is a virtual reality pornography sharing site, VR live cam streaming, production company and VR technology developer. It was launched in 2015 with the top Studios such as VR Bangers, VR Conk, BadoinkVR, Virtualrealporn and more than one of the largest Netflix-like platforms for VR pornography, SexLikeReal has been featured by XBIZ and other major media outlets in the adult entertainment industry. According to Venture Beat, SexLikeReal is pioneering in merging adult entertainment with VR technology.

Fable Studio is a startup media company founded in January 2018 by Edward Saatchi and Pete Billington. It specializes in virtual reality media, and is using generative AI to develop a simulated reality titled the Simulation, and a streaming platform called Showrunner that can generate custom episodes.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Moulds, Josephine (1 October 2011). "Edward Saatchi's private social network aims to make businesses more democratic". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Urwin, Rosamund (19 October 2011). "Son of Saatchi: Edward, the British Mark Zuckerberg". The Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "Fable moves away from VR and towards AI-powered 'virtual beings'" . Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. ↑ Rusli, Evelyn M. (26 January 2015). "Oculus to Make Virtual-Reality Movies". wsj.com. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  5. ↑ "How Edward Saatchi's NationalField Can Make Your Workplace A Happy, Productive Hive". fastcompany.com. Fast Company. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  6. 1 2 "NationalField: Ed Saatchi". Growing Business. 6 December 2011. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  7. ↑ Hill, Kashmir (19 December 2011). "30 Under 30: NationalField Thinks Your Business Needs Its Own Social Network". Forbes. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  8. ↑ Rusli, Evelyn (26 January 2015). "Oculus to Make Virtual-Reality Movies". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 November 2016.
  9. ↑ Damiani, Jesse. "Fable's 'Wolves in the Walls' Launched Lucy As A Virtual Being -- And The Implications Are Massive". Forbes. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "Wolves in the Walls is the Future of VR Filmmaking". Nerdist. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  11. ↑ Kelly, Erron (30 May 2023). "The Simulation by Fable makes everyone Robert Ford". VentureBeat. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  12. ↑ Takahashi, Dean (18 July 2023). "Fable unveils Showrunner AI to create South Park-like TV shows with you as the star". VentureBeat.
  13. ↑ Hardawar, Devindra (18 July 2023). "AI put me in a 'South Park' episode". Engadget. Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  14. ↑ Cho, Winston (30 May 2024). "Hollywood Nightmare? New Streaming Service Lets Viewers Create Their Own Shows Using AI". The Hollywood Reporter.
  15. ↑ "14 Founders On What Keeps Them Sane". forbes.com. Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.