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Winnipeg Free Press
24-07-2025
- Winnipeg Free Press
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society,' Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. 'It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home,' a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks — to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. We can help people make connections when we can show them things, get their attention, and reveal the most wonderful things they've ever seen that are here on this planet. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
The Hill
24-07-2025
- The Hill
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society,' Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. 'It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home,' a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks — to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. We can help people make connections when we can show them things, get their attention, and reveal the most wonderful things they've ever seen that are here on this planet. ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
San Francisco Chronicle
24-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for the planet
NEW YORK (AP) — Technology drove the personal wealth behind many philanthropists atop the list of last year's biggest American donors. But Wendy Schmidt and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, are fairly unusual in their insistence that the scientific advancements they fund be shared widely and for the planet's protection. The Silicon Valley veterans' philanthropies, led by Wendy Schmidt, have joined the growing ranks focused on marine conservation since the Schmidt Family Foundation's inception in 2006. With a net worth estimated to exceed $25 billion, they're embracing that role as the Trump administration cuts billions in federal funding to scientific research. 'We work really hard to make sure science holds its place in our society," Wendy, the president and co-founder of the Schmidt Family Foundation and Schmidt Ocean Institute, told The Associated Press. "It's how we got where we are. It's why we have these technologies that we're using today.' Her latest philanthropic venture is Agog: The Immersive Media Institute. Co-founded last year with climate journalism pioneer Chip Giller, the effort attempts to spark social change by fostering new connections with the natural world through extended reality technologies. Grantees include 'Fragile Home," a project exploring displacement through a mixed reality headset that takes users through the past, present and future of a Ukrainian home; and Kinfolk Tech, a nonprofit that aims to help excluded communities reshape public monuments by superimposing their own digitally rendered installations onto real world spaces. The Associated Press recently followed Wendy Schmidt on a tour of Kinfolk Tech's Juneteenth exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and spoke with her about funding scientific research. This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Q: What do you hope to accomplish with Agog: The Immersive Media Institute? A: (Extended reality) has an enormous amount of power. It has a power to get inside your head. It has a power to move you and remove your ego in a way, and it puts you inside as a participant of something. You're seeing a story rather than just being an observer. And so, it has a potential for stirring you to action. We realized someone's going to take this and they're going to make it really good. And they'll probably use it for entertainment and someone will make money with it. But maybe there's a better way to use it. As a philanthropist, I'm thinking about what good can come out of this and how can we use this for social good and to create more empathy in the world, more connection for people. Q: Why are you leaning into diversity and inclusion with this tool when others are rolling back similar philanthropic efforts? A: Well, they're not going away. Because even when you think about AI and how you program an AI, if you're not inclusive, you're not really serving everybody. And when you have a technology just as powerful as this one is, and those that are more powerful, they must be inclusive by design. We work with all of our grantees to make sure that we're listening and that their voices are heard and their stories, in this case, get told by them. Q: What is philanthropy's role in advancing climate research when the U.S. government is reducing funding for that area? A: We've frankly continued to do what we've always done, which is to try to be on the frontier of research and efforts to understand our planet, to share that understanding openly with more people. Because when you see something differently, your whole worldview changes. We're finding things in the ocean we didn't know existed at all, even five years ago. And they should change the way we think about the planet. And so (what's going on today in our country) is really a shame. There are many important projects that have lost funding, and you can't save all of them. But we are doing everything we can to shore up people in our very broad network of scientists and young PhD students and post-PhD folks, researchers everywhere. We're expanding our opportunities on Falkor (too), on the (ocean) research vessel. Most people are lacking funding. We're helping them to have funding so they can complete their mission. We don't think science should stop because of what's going on here. In fact, it's more important than ever. As always, it's our job as philanthropists to take risks -- to do what governments and industry often won't do anyway. You can't do everything, but you can do a lot. Particularly when it comes to climate and climate science. Climate modeling is super important in terms of public health and the surveillance and reporting of data. When the United States isn't doing that, there are others who can do that if you build out their architecture. And philanthropy can play a very big role in doing that. Q: How do you restore that faith in science? A: Experiential (media) I think is important. One of the things that Agog can do is expose people to realities that they don't see. People accept what they see on the surface. But when you, for example, bring people along on a dive that our robot SuBastian does off of Falkor (too), and you show them a world no human eye has ever seen, and they witness what is really on the earth. And then you give them the science and tell them this is most of life on earth and that this plays this function in your life and your well-being. ___
CBS News
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
At 2025 Tribeca Festival, VR, augmented reality and AI showcase immersive storytelling
The 2025 Tribeca Festival continues this week with movie screenings, Q&As, industry panel discussions and public performances across New York City. But one program in this year's festival takes place in virtual worlds. For more than a decade, Tribeca has been expanding its focus beyond cinema and television to include new avenues of storytelling through the use of virtual reality, augmented reality, and other nascent technologies, producing some vivid immersive displays. Even if the storytelling aspect of the programs were limited, the artistic expressions could be powerful. This was especially true with past exhibits that enveloped the viewer in massive spaces, in which computer-generated imagery or time-lapse photography placed the viewer in new worlds, from exploding galaxies to swirling blood vessels. A view of "Boreal Dreams," a simulation of climate's impact on consciousness, one of many exhibits in the 2025 Tribeca Festival's Immersive program. David Morgan/CBS News Hosted under the umbrella title "In Search of Us," this year's installation in Lower Manhattan ties 11 projects together under the rubric of impacts on humanity — exploring topics from artificial intelligence to climate change, war, school shootings and transphobia. The exhibits with the most profound effects are those with the strongest and most emotional stories embedded inside them. The VR exhibit "Fragile Home" allows viewers to explore a house in Ukraine, before and after the Russian invasion. David Morgan/CBS News; Tribeca Festival Within a simple, delineated space furnished with minimal furniture, "Fragile Home," by Ondřej Moravec and Victoria Lopukhina, uses mixed reality to recreate a home in Ukraine that comes under bombardment. Wearing goggles, the viewer walks through a comfortable, well-appointed living room, past a dinner table and a purring cat, and looks outside the window to a peaceful vista — all of which, in a flash, is replaced by the home's bombed-out remains, vandalized with Russian forces' "Z" graffiti. The sense of violation is made so powerful in so simple a setting — and the recognition that such destruction is multiplied millions of times over is heart-wrenching. But the objects that survived — those with personal meaning to just a handful of people – become representations of resilience to many. Left: A view of the cinematic game "Scent." Right: the AR "There Goes Nikki." Tribeca Festival; David Morgan/CBS News "Scent," by Alan Kwan, is a first-person cinematic game in which the player becomes a dog wandering a landscape, who observes people being attacked and killed by malevolent forces. In between avoiding bombs and gunfire, the dog helps guide the souls of those killed to become reincarnated. It's a meditative view of cruel violations impacting humanity and nature. Armed with a tablet, viewers of the augmented reality "There Goes Nikki" can wander a garden populated by virtual flowers, and a visualization of the late poet Nikki Giovanni reciting her poem, "Quilting the Black-eyed Pea (We're going to Mars)." By Idris Brewster, Michele Stephenson and Joe Brewster. Attendees subject themselves to AI's judgmental streak in "AI & Me: The Confessional and AI Ego." David Morgan/CBS News How dangerous is artificial intelligence? How dumb is it? How snarky? "AI & Me: The Confessional and AI Ego," directed by Daniela Nedovescu and Octavian Mot, provides viewers with an opportunity to become test subjects, as it were, to AI's judgmental streak. Upon sitting in a chair, the participant is captured on camera and analyzed by AI, which conjures up your name, personality traits, and goals. How close are they to reality? Prepare to get snarked. But if the AI program "likes" you? Your AI-altered image will turn up in its pantheon of favored carbon-based units (pictured above, right). A view of the VR exhibit "Uncharted," which combines a water-like background (actually composed of numeric symbols) and images of a dancer. Tribeca Festival Other exhibits are immersive representations of culture — some self-generated, some created by AI. "Uncharted" (VR, by Kidus Hailesilassie) combines footage of a dancer with spoken word and visualizations of symbols to become a rapturous demonstration of pan-African language and storytelling. The interactive "New Maqam City," by MIPSTERZ, allows you to become a DJ, manipulating drum beat patterns recognizable in Muslim communities around the world to create a transcendent vibe. "The Innocence of Unknowing" is a video essay and AI project studying media coverage of mass shootings, projected within a simulated classroom. (Created by Ryat Yezbick and Milo Talwani through the MIT Open Documentary Lab.) Strap in! Viewers of the haptic VR exhibit "In the Current of Being." David Morgan/CBS News One of the strongest impacts of any installation was made by "In the Current of Being," by Cameron Kostopoulos. Using haptic VR, the viewer is literally strapped into a chair; electrodes are attached to your fingertips, arms, and torso, along with VR goggles. Interesting, you think. Then, the presentation begins, recounting the true story of a survivor of electroshock conversion therapy. (As a teenager, Carolyn Mercer had been "treated" with electrical shocks in an attempt to "cure" her from becoming trans.) As images of female beauty are flashed before you, electrical impulses throb across your body. This is not virtual reality; the extreme discomfort is very real, forcing me out of the presentation less than halfway through. The upshot: aversion therapy works, because I will never allow VR electrodes to be attached to my body ever again. An AR component of "The Power Loom and The Founders Pillars" shows African imagery and textiles onto the pillars of the New York Stock Exchange. Tribeca Festival Beyond the confines of the exhibition space at 161 Water Street, the two-part "The Power Loom and The Founders Pillars" (by Lesiba Mabitsela, Meghna Singh and Simon Wood) includes a site-specific AR experience, visible on a mobile app six blocks away, at the New York Stock Exchange, creating a memorial to enslaved people once sold at the Wall Street Slave Market, established in the 18th century. While the Tribeca Festival proper concludes on June 15, "In Search of Us," presented in partnership with Onassis ONX and Agog: The Immersive Media Institute, runs through June 29. For more details and ticket info click here.
