United States
Biography
James Powderly is an award-winning designer who makes tools to empower creative people to explore the world (and beyond) and express themselves in public spaces. His art and design projects have been featured in the New York Times, on the front page of YouTube and in the permanent collection of both the MoMA and NASA’s robotic debris on Mars.
James’ work includes leading the product design of the first consumer augmented reality glasses: the Magic Leap One, engineering a robotic drill that discovered water on Mars and inventing a low-cost, DIY tool that enabled a paralyzed graffiti artist to draw again with his eyes.
James lives in Los Angeles, California and is currently designing the operating system for Snap’s augmented reality sunglasses.
Portfolio
Work Experience
2019 -Present day
Design Manager
Snap inc (Los Angeles )
Leading the Platform Design of Snap Spectacles
2015 -2019
Director of Design
Magic Leap (Hollywood Florida)
Led the UX and product design for the Magic Leap One augmented reality glasses and 30+ software products including the Lumen Operating System
2012 -2015
Designer
Samsung electronics (Seoul, south korea)
Designed wearable devices including smart watches and smart glasses
2010 -2012
Professor of design
Hongik University (Seoul, South Korea)
Professor of design, visual communication design department
2007 -2010
Founder
Graffiti Research Lab (New York NY)
Created open source technologies for urban communication including LED Throwies, Laser Tag and the Eyewriter
2005 -2007
Reseacher
Eyebeam (New York NY)
Led research projects in eye beam’s open lab
2002 -2006
Engineer
Honeybee robotics (New York NY)
Designed exploration systems for robotic science missions to Mars including MER, the Phoenix Lander and MSL.