Rolando Masís-Obando is a PhD candidate of Computational Neuroscience at Princeton University. Scientifically, he is interested in how contexts (like those in VR/AR) shape the way we think and remember our day-to-day experiences. He has scanned dozens of people’s brains (and effectively read their minds) to further understand how the brain represents spaces and concepts. Given the intersection of AR/VR with neuroscience, Rolando’s recent interests revolve around how we can shape a future internet to be more human-centered and grounded under ethical principles. He recently directed a cinematic educational video on the history of the Metaverse and its ongoing issues with privacy and agency. The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/wsJF1ugsfKI

Rolando graduated from Yale University with a focus on Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. During his studies co-founded Shuflix with his brothers, the largest activity search engine (at the time), to help people interact with their environment in a playful alternative way while helping small businesses get more exposure. Since then, he has also co-founded PhDx, a platform to help incoming PhD students with guides and insider knowledge of the unspoken rules in academia. 

In his free time, Rolando is a filmmaker, composes for films, creates augmented reality tutorials for his YouTube channel, and does pro-bono marketing consulting for personal brands and small businesses.