Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
@kentbye.com
Voices of VR Podcast host: Insatiably curious, XR oral historian, & aspiring philosopher.
Exploring Tech Ethics, AI, XR, & Emerging Tech.
Patreon at http://patreon.com/voicesofvr
Exploring Tech Ethics, AI, XR, & Emerging Tech.
Patreon at http://patreon.com/voicesofvr
Pinned
Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
@kentbye.com
· Nov 13
Twitter has become too much of a hellscape so I’m trying Bluesky again.
XR NETWORKING THREAD 🚨 If you’re in the industry and want to connect with new people coming in (or vice versa), drop a line here to introduce yourself so people can follow you. RT to spread this list around!
XR NETWORKING THREAD 🚨 If you’re in the industry and want to connect with new people coming in (or vice versa), drop a line here to introduce yourself so people can follow you. RT to spread this list around!
For new XR folks see
@alexqgb.bsky.social XR Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@markschramm.bsky.social XR Devs Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@noproscenium.com Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@uploadvr.com Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@ben.roadtovr.com's thread. 👇
@alexqgb.bsky.social XR Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@markschramm.bsky.social XR Devs Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@noproscenium.com Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@uploadvr.com Starter Pack:
bsky.app/starter-pack...
@ben.roadtovr.com's thread. 👇
This is an incredible recap of Internet history & how Section 230 protects free speech. Authoritarians & surveillance capitalists are destroying it to entrench their power, & they’ll introduce government censorship, all accounts tied to IDs, & a dystopian AI Big Brother hellscape. Taylor nails it 🎯
THE FIRST EPISODE OF MY SECTION 230 MINI SERIES IS HERE!!!!! Learn about what the law does, what it actually says, how it works, and who it REALLY protects
They Are Trying To Kill The Internet
YouTube video by Taylor Lorenz
youtu.be
February 10, 2026 at 9:49 PM
This is an incredible recap of Internet history & how Section 230 protects free speech. Authoritarians & surveillance capitalists are destroying it to entrench their power, & they’ll introduce government censorship, all accounts tied to IDs, & a dystopian AI Big Brother hellscape. Taylor nails it 🎯
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
I woke up to Qs about this—I can’t talk about it, sorry! Thank you Ian for mentioning my work, I am deeply appreciative of it!
I spoke with @ianhamilton.net on getting fired from UploadVR, and the potential AI bot author that catalyzed a fundamental disagreement. He claims as editor in chief that he would’ve not had any say or oversight over disclosed AI bots rewriting press releases. More:
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
#1709: Ian Hamilton on Getting Fired from UploadVR & Concerns on AI Authorship in News – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:19 AM
I woke up to Qs about this—I can’t talk about it, sorry! Thank you Ian for mentioning my work, I am deeply appreciative of it!
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
@ianhamilton.net just finished your interview with @kentbye.com, really great discussion of the current environment, and when it comes to upload, it's kind of depressing but i admire your journalistic ethics and i hope to keep reading your writing elsewhere.
February 6, 2026 at 2:06 AM
@ianhamilton.net just finished your interview with @kentbye.com, really great discussion of the current environment, and when it comes to upload, it's kind of depressing but i admire your journalistic ethics and i hope to keep reading your writing elsewhere.
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
I'll subscribe back to @uploadvr.com if the position is clear, coherent and if @ianhamilton.net is treated properly. I understand it might not be the "strategy" of the publication, and if so I'll get my information on VR elsewhere.
If AI is forced upon contributors and readers then count me out.
If AI is forced upon contributors and readers then count me out.
February 5, 2026 at 6:17 AM
I'll subscribe back to @uploadvr.com if the position is clear, coherent and if @ianhamilton.net is treated properly. I understand it might not be the "strategy" of the publication, and if so I'll get my information on VR elsewhere.
If AI is forced upon contributors and readers then count me out.
If AI is forced upon contributors and readers then count me out.
I spoke with @ianhamilton.net on getting fired from UploadVR, and the potential AI bot author that catalyzed a fundamental disagreement. He claims as editor in chief that he would’ve not had any say or oversight over disclosed AI bots rewriting press releases. More:
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
#1709: Ian Hamilton on Getting Fired from UploadVR & Concerns on AI Authorship in News – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
February 5, 2026 at 1:42 AM
I spoke with @ianhamilton.net on getting fired from UploadVR, and the potential AI bot author that catalyzed a fundamental disagreement. He claims as editor in chief that he would’ve not had any say or oversight over disclosed AI bots rewriting press releases. More:
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
voicesofvr.com/1709-ian-ham...
Ian Hamilton says he was fired from UploadVR as Editor in Chief after proposing three requests in response to a "clearly disclosed AI author" experiment pushed by his colleagues: brevity, an option for readers to opt-out from all AI content, & human writer right of 1st refusal to an assignment.
January 30, 2026 at 4:12 PM
Ian Hamilton says he was fired from UploadVR as Editor in Chief after proposing three requests in response to a "clearly disclosed AI author" experiment pushed by his colleagues: brevity, an option for readers to opt-out from all AI content, & human writer right of 1st refusal to an assignment.
Just catching up on the news on the shakeup at UploadVR as editor-in-chief @ianhamilton.net Hamilton has been fired. It's still a bit unclear as to what happened, & he's got a new Substack here: goodvr.substack.com. Ian's been writing professionally about VR since the early days of Oculus in 2012.
January 29, 2026 at 5:35 AM
Just catching up on the news on the shakeup at UploadVR as editor-in-chief @ianhamilton.net Hamilton has been fired. It's still a bit unclear as to what happened, & he's got a new Substack here: goodvr.substack.com. Ian's been writing professionally about VR since the early days of Oculus in 2012.
Texas A&M is banning morality professor Martin Peterson from teaching Plato because it “may” contain race or gender ideology. The board of regents gave university bureaucrats veto power over academic content & he’s assigning the NYT article about the censorship instead.
dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...
dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...
Texas A&M Bans Plato (further updates) - Daily Nous
Drop the race and gender material from your course and the Plato readings, or teach a different course. You have a day to decide. That's a paraphrase of what Martin Peterson, professor of philosophy a...
dailynous.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:11 AM
Texas A&M is banning morality professor Martin Peterson from teaching Plato because it “may” contain race or gender ideology. The board of regents gave university bureaucrats veto power over academic content & he’s assigning the NYT article about the censorship instead.
dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...
dailynous.com/2026/01/06/t...
I hopped into VRChat for New Year’s celebrations. The set a new concurrency record at 148.9k users.
Across the board for US TZs:
ET: 147226
CT: 148886
MT: 141184
PT: 127708
For context, our recent "normal weekend" numbers have been around 120-125k CCU at peaks.
ET: 147226
CT: 148886
MT: 141184
PT: 127708
For context, our recent "normal weekend" numbers have been around 120-125k CCU at peaks.
January 1, 2026 at 8:50 AM
I hopped into VRChat for New Year’s celebrations. The set a new concurrency record at 148.9k users.
Great episode. I just published an adjacently-related episode from University of Amsterdam prof talking about how they’re exploring how immersive art can reinvigorate civic action. Lots of reckoning of Big Tech’s influence on democracy happening right now. voicesofvr.com/1697-can-imm...
#1697: Can Immersive Art Revitalize Civic Engagement? Netherlands CIIIC Funds “Shared Reality” Initiative – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Great episode. I just published an adjacently-related episode from University of Amsterdam prof talking about how they’re exploring how immersive art can reinvigorate civic action. Lots of reckoning of Big Tech’s influence on democracy happening right now. voicesofvr.com/1697-can-imm...
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
It’s adventure time! And it’s our next Break event, that many of us have been working on this for a while and will be the first of a series. Please join us on Sunday Dec.28, early show 6am EST and late show at 7pm. More info to come...
@vrchat.com
@vrchat.com
November 16, 2025 at 12:47 AM
It’s adventure time! And it’s our next Break event, that many of us have been working on this for a while and will be the first of a series. Please join us on Sunday Dec.28, early show 6am EST and late show at 7pm. More info to come...
@vrchat.com
@vrchat.com
Indeed! Many new things! It was primarily a written interview & there’s a way people write things that’s different from how they’d say it. So it did add to the overall liminality and uncanniness, mirroring DrMorro’s work. It was perfect for this conversation as it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
November 14, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Indeed! Many new things! It was primarily a written interview & there’s a way people write things that’s different from how they’d say it. So it did add to the overall liminality and uncanniness, mirroring DrMorro’s work. It was perfect for this conversation as it wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
DrMorro has been a massive inspiration for me on my journey through becoming a world creator, phenomenal interview and its wonderful to have a chance to learn about a creator whos inspired me so much.
I interviewed the one and only DrMorro! His ORGANISM trilogy, RITUAL, & OLYMPIA #VRChat worlds are incredibly surreal mash-ups of vast architecture and symbols. We talk about his whole body of work, key inspirations, & some clues to hidden meanings. voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
November 9, 2025 at 10:25 PM
DrMorro has been a massive inspiration for me on my journey through becoming a world creator, phenomenal interview and its wonderful to have a chance to learn about a creator whos inspired me so much.
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
DrMorro, the creator of Organism/Epilogue/Ritual/Olympia, some of the best worlds in all of VR, gave an interview to @kentbye.com.
Usually a very solitary/hard to contact person, we get an insight in to themself and their amazing work.
Usually a very solitary/hard to contact person, we get an insight in to themself and their amazing work.
a rare interview with DrMorro! @kentbye.com managed to dig into his create process while keeping his anonymity, so we get to finally learn more about the person behind some of the best VR experiences ever made. (@vrchat.com)
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
#1681: VRChat Worldbuilder DrMorro on His Epic & Dreamlike Masterpieces – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:00 PM
DrMorro, the creator of Organism/Epilogue/Ritual/Olympia, some of the best worlds in all of VR, gave an interview to @kentbye.com.
Usually a very solitary/hard to contact person, we get an insight in to themself and their amazing work.
Usually a very solitary/hard to contact person, we get an insight in to themself and their amazing work.
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
a rare interview with DrMorro! @kentbye.com managed to dig into his create process while keeping his anonymity, so we get to finally learn more about the person behind some of the best VR experiences ever made. (@vrchat.com)
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
#1681: VRChat Worldbuilder DrMorro on His Epic & Dreamlike Masterpieces – Voices of VR Podcast
voicesofvr.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:57 PM
a rare interview with DrMorro! @kentbye.com managed to dig into his create process while keeping his anonymity, so we get to finally learn more about the person behind some of the best VR experiences ever made. (@vrchat.com)
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
I interviewed the one and only DrMorro! His ORGANISM trilogy, RITUAL, & OLYMPIA #VRChat worlds are incredibly surreal mash-ups of vast architecture and symbols. We talk about his whole body of work, key inspirations, & some clues to hidden meanings. voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
November 9, 2025 at 8:46 PM
I interviewed the one and only DrMorro! His ORGANISM trilogy, RITUAL, & OLYMPIA #VRChat worlds are incredibly surreal mash-ups of vast architecture and symbols. We talk about his whole body of work, key inspirations, & some clues to hidden meanings. voicesofvr.com/1681-vrchat-...
Are we going to see a fifth issue this week? You did tempt the fates…
November 7, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Are we going to see a fifth issue this week? You did tempt the fates…
Yeah, the Blumhouse Enchanced Cinema app is probably the closest approximation. But while The Matrix is 10/10 execution of the idea, then the enhanced cinema portions of The Black Phone is more like 2/10 and M3GAN is like 6.5/10. Cosm’s full 180°+ FOV and sound system also makes a huge difference.
November 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Yeah, the Blumhouse Enchanced Cinema app is probably the closest approximation. But while The Matrix is 10/10 execution of the idea, then the enhanced cinema portions of The Black Phone is more like 2/10 and M3GAN is like 6.5/10. Cosm’s full 180°+ FOV and sound system also makes a huge difference.
At the end of my convo, Alexis did mention the possibility that The Matrix may be showing at some of the new locations as they open up. They really knocked it out of the park with it, and so hopefully it’ll continue to be available. Definitely worth seeing & the other attempts pale in comparison.
November 5, 2025 at 6:50 PM
At the end of my convo, Alexis did mention the possibility that The Matrix may be showing at some of the new locations as they open up. They really knocked it out of the park with it, and so hopefully it’ll continue to be available. Definitely worth seeing & the other attempts pale in comparison.
I published my trip report of The Matrix at Cosm plus an interview with Cosm’s Alexis Scalice about their collaboration with Little Cinema to fill their 87-foot dome with immersive worldbuilding & lighting effects beyond the 16x9 frame of the film. Closes in <3 weeks:
voicesofvr.com/1679-the-mat...
voicesofvr.com/1679-the-mat...
November 5, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I published my trip report of The Matrix at Cosm plus an interview with Cosm’s Alexis Scalice about their collaboration with Little Cinema to fill their 87-foot dome with immersive worldbuilding & lighting effects beyond the 16x9 frame of the film. Closes in <3 weeks:
voicesofvr.com/1679-the-mat...
voicesofvr.com/1679-the-mat...
Reposted by Kent Bye (Voices of VR)
Tune in to the latest Voices of VR episode with @kentbye.com as Alicia Berry, Executive Producer, & Asim Ahmed, Head of Product Marketing, share how Project Jade is transforming real-world interaction through embodied AI powered by VPS + Spectacles.
voicesofvr.com/1672-niantic...
voicesofvr.com/1672-niantic...
October 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Tune in to the latest Voices of VR episode with @kentbye.com as Alicia Berry, Executive Producer, & Asim Ahmed, Head of Product Marketing, share how Project Jade is transforming real-world interaction through embodied AI powered by VPS + Spectacles.
voicesofvr.com/1672-niantic...
voicesofvr.com/1672-niantic...
Indeed. It would have been much more satisfying to see him break the most extra base hits record rather than the most times on base or most walks or longest run time of a WS game records. 4 intentional walks, and then ANOTHER walk. That was painful. But happy to see it end with a walk off.
October 28, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Indeed. It would have been much more satisfying to see him break the most extra base hits record rather than the most times on base or most walks or longest run time of a WS game records. 4 intentional walks, and then ANOTHER walk. That was painful. But happy to see it end with a walk off.
I just posted a long-read that reflects on the Snap Lensfest XR & AI trends covered in my latest 11-episode Voices of VR podcast series. Snap is betting on indie XR devs to help them go against the biggest companies in the world in their AR glasses race:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflec...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflec...
Reflections on Snap Lensfest XR & AI Trends Covered in Latest Voices of VR Podcast Series
Snap brought me down to LA to cover their Lensfest developer conference where they made a lot of AR developer platform announcements, had a hackathon featuring those new capabilities, and are gearing ...
www.linkedin.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:23 PM
I just posted a long-read that reflects on the Snap Lensfest XR & AI trends covered in my latest 11-episode Voices of VR podcast series. Snap is betting on indie XR devs to help them go against the biggest companies in the world in their AR glasses race:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflec...
www.linkedin.com/pulse/reflec...
Direct link to the article ICYMI: www.propublica.org/article/abou...
What You Should Know About Russ Vought, Trump’s Shadow President
Vought is the architect of President Trump’s broader plan to fire civil servants, freeze government programs and dismantle entire agencies. Here are some key things to know about the D.C. insider who ...
www.propublica.org
October 23, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Direct link to the article ICYMI: www.propublica.org/article/abou...
Did you see @propublica.org’s piece on Russ Vought? They make a compelling case that he was pulling the strings at DOGE and has been a shadow President. Perhaps some breaks in the #WITAOD mystery.
bsky.app/profile/prop...
bsky.app/profile/prop...
Elon Musk was the face of DOGE, but records show that Russ Vought, Trump’s budget chief, played a key role in guiding DOGE behind the scenes.
Tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET, head to Reddit to ask our reporter @andykroll.bsky.social about Vought’s influence over the Trump presidency:
Tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET, head to Reddit to ask our reporter @andykroll.bsky.social about Vought’s influence over the Trump presidency:
From the fednews community on Reddit: I’m Andy Kroll, a ProPublica reporter. I just published a deep dive about how Trump’s “shadow president” Russ Vought is using his OMB chief role to dismantle...
Explore this post and more from the fednews community
www.reddit.com
October 23, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Did you see @propublica.org’s piece on Russ Vought? They make a compelling case that he was pulling the strings at DOGE and has been a shadow President. Perhaps some breaks in the #WITAOD mystery.
bsky.app/profile/prop...
bsky.app/profile/prop...