0:00 Beautiful. Thank you guys. Thank you for coming. So yeah, my name is Jordan, from San Francisco, and yeah, I’m running a company called Vizcom, and this talk is about what our role is in this new forever changing design to manufacturing pipeline. So Recorded at the CDFAM Computational Design Symposium in Tokyo, October 2026. Learn more at CDFAM.com. That’s me. Has anyone heard of Vizcom before? I don’t know if anyone’s like actually heard of Vizcom.

0:33 Okay, there’s a few people. Oh, okay, some people actually have heard of it. Okay, that is really cool. So yeah, that is me. My background’s in automotive design, and then I was doing industrial design at NVIDIA for 4 years, and then started the company. So just to give you guys some context, that’s my co-founder, Calum. We’ve known each other since the fifth grade, and that’s where we originally started the company in California.

0:56 We both grew up in Michigan, so my living room, just us two, back in 2021, that’s where we kind of first started this this whole thing that I’m going to be talking about today. So this is just a quick kind of like trick question of sorts, but what do these three things all have in common, right? These are all three very iconic products, and I’m just going to answer it for you guys cuz I don’t have much time, and essentially it’s that all these things started out as drawings, right?

1:25 Before they became the physical products that we all know, like the iPhone, the Braun radio, even the iconic Coca-Cola bottle, they all started out as a sketch. And it’s interesting, right? You kind of look around you, it’s a lot of these things people don’t realize started out as drawings. The Eames chair, even down to the New York subway station started out as a simple Crayola napkin sketch.

1:44 There’s just something about drawing that is extremely human and natural to the way that we communicate. And this is very applicable particularly in industrial design. Industrial design is everywhere. A lot of our home compliances, even probably this room had some industrial design put into it before the physical thing. For those who don’t know, industrial design is essentially this practice of shaping the physical world around us. It’s a little bit different from your typical digital product design, but these are people that really put time and care into shaping the things around us.

2:23 So that’s what we focus on, right? So the thing we really focus on at first when first starting and a lot of you guys probably know the tools up top, so we are always asking ourselves instead of figuring out how we kind of just replace these things, where are different areas in which designers are using these tools up here and how can we take those and more so play as a a tool belt versus building just more individual tools?

2:48 And this became very applicable with things like AI. This all became possible because of AI. We started out with using GANs. I don’t know if anyone’s heard of GANs, but these are just like these early generative networks that while I was working at NVIDIA, it was really cool to see this. I was like, whoa, like computers can actually generate images. Like that is really cool. I never thought that was going to be possible.

3:33 So, this is a paper from Taesung Park called CycleGAN. And it was this idea of it’s like, okay, cool, I have this video of this horse and then now I can instill these zebra stripes on it and it’s not perfect, of course, but that was enough signal for us to understand like, oh wow, okay, this is the worst this is going to be. It’s only going to get better from here.

So so this is what we kind of first built. This is the first version of Vizcom. It was essentially this idea of you draw something like this and then our GANs that we trained on our own sketches would then try to visualize the things that you’re actually drawing. This is back in 2022, so there wasn’t really like a ChatGPT or a Midjourney just yet. And it’s still not at a super high fidelity, but this right here alone was already saving a lot of artists and designers a lot of time they spent a lot of time visually communicating their ideas using things like Photoshop trying to actually render them.

4:12 So that is a big part of you know industrial design hence the name Vizcom visual communication. And then we even started doing things of like okay well then how can we even do this in 3D right? It’s like how can I draw something and then have a 3D mesh kind of in real time respond to what I’m doing. So these are some really really early prototypes from the the early 2020s which sounds crazy to say early 2020s wow.

4:40 Okay so okay so yeah and then once we kind of came up with that first version I just showed you guys actually made this Reddit post during COVID while I was still working at NVIDIA and it went kind of viral. It was kind of cool to see people actually respond to this and have a very similar problem as me which was you know spending most of your time actually coloring and rendering the things that you were coming up with.

5:00 So this was the first time we actually showed Vizcom to the world. And we kind of you know established our name as this this tool that became essentially just a faster way to render. And that was kind of the main thing you give it line drawings and then it renders it really fast. And then you know that started kind of working in many different modalities. As the technology got super super good not only could you just render your drawings really quickly but now you’re able to actually then see it in 3D right?

5:29 Different modalities started to improve as the as these fundamental models just started getting really really good. So it was really interesting to see that and all the way down to even videos right? It’s like we we started out with just figuring out how to go from from sketch to render and then next thing you know the next natural step in that process is to turn those renders into 3D models and then actually being able to add motion to those is the next obvious thing you would want to do as well.

5:57 So this this whole idea of going from from paper to production was was the main thing here. So going from sketch to render all the way to 3D animation, this was kind of the the three areas of focus that we really wanted to to focus on when it comes to understanding what it means to build physical products, right? So naturally, as we solved a lot of this, these were the kind of questions and requests we started getting.

6:22 So, people asking like, okay, well, now that I can see my ideas so fast, where do they live? Or how does this thing actually work? Or what does it mean in some kind of context? So naturally, we just kind of started going beyond the the render. But, you know, as technology has gotten super super good, you’ve kind of we’ve kind of had to really focus in and understand like, okay, like what is the difference between just creating a really nice image and something that’s actually meaningful, right?

6:48 You guys have probably have seen so many AI generated things these days where it’s like you have like slop and now there’s like actually like AI slop now. Like my mom’s always sending me like these AI generated cat videos every morning and I’m just like, wow, okay, this is this is crazy. So we’re really trying to also understand like how do we differentiate in that way? But it’s also brought up this newer problem.

7:10 As visual fidelity, you know, maybe 10 years ago you see images like this and you’re like, oh wow, so much effort probably went into making these. But nowadays when you see something like this, it usually doesn’t signal anything at all. So then where does that signal actually go? And for us it’s kind of the physical, right? Being able to actually hold your ideas becomes a new signal for design.

7:34 It’s no longer just about creating a really nice render to communicate a product. You need to actually be able to hold it, right? To really build that conviction. So, a lot of the things I’m going to be talking about moving forward is like, okay, well then how do tools like a Vism or AI in general play its part in helping you hold your ideas in your hands?

7:50 So how real can you make it, right? That becomes a new question. Like real is the new render. It was once kind of like, oh wow, a a nice render was more than enough. But now it’s like, okay, well how realistic can we actually make this product for it to become something real that we can hold. And this is known as the paper to production process. So really helping designers go from that that initial concept all the way to the final creation, but without losing that original intention.

8:21 A big part of design right now that has a problem is designers are constantly having to fight compromise, which is this idea of losing their intent throughout every stage in the process. So we’re trying to make sure that the designer can keep that intent throughout this process. This is kind of what it looks like today. For those who don’t know, you know, you you maybe have a concept, creating a 3D model that you then want to visualize, prototype, and then it gets handed off to manufacturing.

8:46 A lot of you guys are probably familiar with this process and then these are kind of a suite of many different tools that are a part of it as well. So this is this is this is where we really focus a lot of our energy. And then these are kind of the different people that are a part of this process as well. The circled ones are the ones where we kind of originally started and we’re starting to expand to these different users, but it’s just really interesting to see the different kinds of personas and people that are involved in that process of going from from paper to production, right?

9:15 So it’s it’s really cool and it’s it’s been really fascinating to learn more about it. So just to kind of like recap and understand like well, how was this done before or how does this relate to what you guys are doing now? So like within like a 30-minute time span, right? Before a VisiCom, you’re maybe coming up to to a review with your manager and your design team with just some sketches and some renders, but nowadays like you can actually come to a review with an entire story.

9:41 So it’s like wow, I have the animation, I have the 3D model, I have a product contact shots. Like there’s just so many there’s such a wider breadth of work that you can do now to sell your ideas, whereas before you’re kind of really trying to just communicate and sell the product from just sketches and renderings. So it’s been really cool to see that process change as well.

10:02 And you know, for VisiCom for us, this is kind of where we’ve found our footing, our foothold, and just found that AI to be the most useful for today. It’s still in that kind of like early visualization stage stage, but currently we’re really focusing on like okay like what does it mean for us to bridge that gap between the digital and the physical, right? How do we really go from this this visualization part to jumping to the prototype part as well?

10:27 So that’s that’s been a big focus for us and really understanding where designers need the tools to behave the way that they do. Okay cuz you know these these these are these are really nice renderings, right? That looks like an actual water bottle that could probably hold, but what are the dimensions, right? Like what are the colors, the materials in the real world? This image alone can’t be produced.

10:47 So this is kind of the thing we’re asking ourselves. It’s like what are the things beyond the render, right? Like you you get a really nice render, but what are the things you have to do beyond that in order for it to become something you can hold in your hands? So one of those philosophies we’ve adopted is breaking things down and then building it back up. In order to understand how something was potentially made, you might have to actually break it down first to understand, right?

11:11 Like a lot of us maybe when we were kids just take apart our toys and just like be fascinated about how it was made. At least that was me. So this is kind of a particular product showcase that I’m going to show you guys of how we’re doing that right now. So say for example you have this this guy he’s wearing like a jacket and things. Maybe you know he’s not a he’s not a product obviously, but he has particular products on him so like the sunglasses.

11:33 So something like a Vuzix Com you can then extract those different parts and then once you have the sunglasses alone, there’s different kind of ideation tools that we have that are based around form variation. So now it’s like okay cool. I have just those sunglasses and now I want to see what different forms would look like without having to maybe do that in Photoshop or using geometry nodes and things like that.

11:54 You can just kind of use natural language and this kind of bespoke interface that we’ve built that’s particularly built around exploring forms of particular elements. So here’s kind of what that would look like in the footwear context for a particular object. You know a shoe is usually has like this like vamp, the midsole, the the bottom sole, and the tongue. So it knows how to look at this shoe and then how to break it up into particular parts, which is really useful for you’re just like trying to talk to someone about a very particular element of the product.

12:26 And you know, it doesn’t start it doesn’t stop there. So for example, here we we have this camera. So we break up the camera, so we start to understand its separate parts. But then once you have that, there’s something really cool you can do. So you can then start doing things like generating the the build of materials, right? Cuz now it’s like a wow, okay, I’m going from from pixels to BOM, right?

12:47 So it’s like how do I now take something that starts out as a as a digital thing on my screen and start to infer to some capacity using these models to understand like okay, like what are the different materials? What’s the surface finish, the width, the height, dimensions, things of that nature? This is maybe like 90% of the way there, but it’s a it’s a better starting point than starting from scratch at at most times.

13:10 So this is kind of something that you could then send to a manufacturer to better communicate like hey, not only do I have this render, I also have the CSV file that kind of communicates the different build of materials of how to actually build the render that I’m showing you. So this is kind of our first step into getting into this world where, you know, using these things to help an individual see their ideas all the way through it.

13:34 And this is just like another example of that. So I have this hair dryer that I created a render for. I kind of did an exploded view to see the different parts and then Viscom is kind of helping me understand like oh, okay, like what are all the different parts here that I would actually maybe need to build something like this? You know, cuz a lot of designers they’re they’re very creative.

13:52 They’re not really focused on like the the mechanical engineering aspect as much, but this is one thing now that they can have when talking to a mechanical engineer to further bridge that gap. So this is just like another quick example. And this is kind of cool. This is like another demo where we have something called region maps. And this is essentially a kind of color and material tool for CMF where if you have a particular design, Viscom kind of like break it up similar to like a clown map, and then you can kind of just select the particular hex values of that particular part.

14:23 And say if you have like a PLM system or you have some kind of like Pantone color library, you can then plug those in so that next time somebody comes into your file, they know that there’s some kind of ground truth and very high intentions around the colors that are for this product. So this is called region maps. This is like another way for us to kind of ask ourselves, okay, what happens beyond the render, right?

14:44 Like once I get this really nice image, what are these tools that I can use to make it just that much more real? So this is all an effort of trying to extend deeper in the process. Because a lot of what I was showing you guys earlier so far was really in this kind of just earlier concepting phase where you’re just like brainstorming, mood boring, you know, you’re on Pinterest, ideas are extremely wide, which is totally fine.

15:07 Design is all about converging and diverging. But as you start to diverge, you naturally start to get into this area where it’s like, okay, cool, I have a concrete idea. Now I want to see just variations of just that thing without changing anything else. And then just start prototyping it as well. So yeah, this is kind of what our focus is and I think where the technology is moving in general.

15:28 I think a lot of people realize like, oh cool, wow, we have really nice images, that’s been solved, fantastic. But now I want to actually be able to hold it and that’s where the tools are going today. I thought this was a very interesting stats. So there’s this lady, her name is Sherry Lassiter. She actually came She’s from MIT and she actually coined the term fab lab, which now people call a maker space.

15:52 Maker spaces are these like We have a lot of these in the States. I’d imagine they’re in Japan too, but essentially it’s like a space where you can just make and build physical things. It’s funny. Usually your garage is this when you’re growing up, but the number of these kind of maker spaces worldwide, they double every 18 months. So every 18 months, the amount of these kind of spaces are doubling around the world.

16:11 So you’re starting to see already this trend or almost this kind of like yearning for holding physical things and building physical things with your hands. One of the things I always say at work is like, guys, our whole thing is really trying to help computers think with their hands. I know computers don’t literally have hands, but it’s kind of that that human touch that I think won’t go away no matter how advanced this technology gets, right?

16:36 So this is just something we noticed and that we really try to build for. Cool. So what happens next, right? Like what are some things we’re working on or how are these things evolving as, you know, the technology gets better? So this is just kind of a preview of something we’re building. It’s like a new form factor. It’s it’s supposed to be this thing that kind of thinks with you, less of a tool that you’re constantly having to direct and something that’s maybe kind of working alongside you.

17:01 So I don’t have a working demo just yet, but philosophically, it’s essentially kind of like a new home for design. You can kind of imagine, you know, programmers have been extremely lucky that one, they’re programmers, and two, as AI has gotten better and their decisions have gotten abstracted of what it means to be a software engineer, they’ve been able to build the tools for themselves. So you got like Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, right?

17:24 These are all things for programmers. But what about for designers, right? There hasn’t really been kind of that home kind of desktop experience for designers in particular. So this is something we’re really focused on and at a high level, this is kind of what it does. It’s it’s this tool that kind of lives at the center of everything else. So it’s almost like a command center where you’re kind of really focused on this experience and then it knows how to use an ensemble of different tools for you based on your intention.

17:55 You know, it’s interesting. It’s something I think people are going to have to get used to where, you know, maybe last year or even three years ago, what it meant to be a mechanical engineer, let’s say for example, was how well do you know how to navigate Rhino or SolidWorks? Like so much of the job was defined by how well do you as a human know how to interface with these different kinds of tools.

18:16 But as these agents and the models are getting so good at using computers themselves, it’s less about how well do you know how to navigate software and how well can you judge outcomes coming from these things, right? It’s a very interesting world that we’re kind of moving into. It’s funny we we have an intern at work and he was born in like 2010 and and anytime I show him Blender or like these newer like these older tools he’s like what it’s like that’s the interface you have to learn I was like yeah man we were just like in Blender using Blender and stuff.

18:44 So it’s it’s a it’s a very interesting world we’re moving towards and I don’t think the skills or the knowledge you learn from mastering things are going away but more so the the tactical nature of using these tools is definitely kind of getting abstracted I would say. It’s kind of how I think about it. So yeah this is kind of just like an illustration, right? It’s like this is a tool that kind of grows with you that’s kind of like a figurative way of saying it it’s like you know maybe one person starts off and then as the tool kind of grows with the team and learns the needs it kind of becomes very personalized to them.

19:16 So this is like a future that we’re moving towards and yeah I just kind of wanted to preview that really quick here. Okay so okay so yeah this is really quick happy to answer I don’t know if there’s there might be a Q&A here but yeah this is this is just our office I usually I I sit on the second floor there. We’re based out of San Francisco.

19:38 We’re also hiring as well if anyone’s interested and I’m just putting that chill out there but but yeah that’s that’s pretty much it and yeah thanks for coming to my quick my little TED talk here guys. Yeah thank you. Recorded at the CDFAM Computational Design Symposium in Tokyo, October 2026. Learn more at CDFAM.com.