Russ Maschmeyer: Spatial Commerce and AI in Retail

In episode 109 of The Gradient Podcast, Daniel Bashir speaks to Russ Maschmeyer.Russ is the Product Lead for AI and Spatial Commerce at Shopify. At Shopify, he leads a team that looks at how AI can better empower entrepreneurs, with a particular interest in how image generation can help make the lives of business owners and merchants more productive. He previously led design for multiple services at Facebook and co-founded Primer, an AR-enabled interior design marketplace.Have suggestions for future podcast guests (or other feedback)? Let us know here or reach us at editor@thegradient.pubSubscribe to The Gradient Podcast:  Apple Podcasts  | Spotify | Pocket Casts | RSSFollow The Gradient on TwitterOutline:* (00:00) Intro* (01:50) Russ’s background and a hacked Kinect sensor* (06:00) Instruments and emotion, embodiment and accessibility* (08:45) Natural language as input and generative AI in creating emotive experiences* (10:55) Work on search queries and recommendations at Facebook, designing for search* (16:35) AI in the retail and entrepreneurial landscape* (19:15) Shopify and AI for business owners* (22:10) Vision and directions for AI in commerce* (25:01) Personalized experiences for shopping* (28:45) Challenges for creating personalized experiences* (31:49) Intro to spatial commerce* (34:48) AR/VR devices and spatial commerce* (37:30) MR and AI for immersive product search* (41:35) Implementation details* (48:05) WonkaVision and difficulties for immersive web experiences* (52:10) Future projects and directions for spatial commerce* (55:10) OutroLinks:* Russ’s Twitter and homepage* With a Wave of the Hand, Improvising on Kinect in The New York Times* Shopify Spatial Commerce Projects* MR and AI for immersive product search* A more immersive web with a simple optical illusion* What if your room had a reset button? Get full access to The Gradient at thegradientpub.substack.com/subscribe