Introducing The Balboa Foundation
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As you know, I was stuck in quite a precarious situation at the end of 2014 and into 2015. I spent weeks on end in hospitals preparing for a (successful!) stem cell transplant.
One of the transformative moments for me whilst in the hospital was that computers, mobile phones, platform games, and other things just didn’t keep me occupied in a meaningful way. Email, tweets, Facebook…all nice. Madden for hours, sweet. But…I was still in the hospital.
Toss a Gear VR into the mix and my outlook changed. This was what some call an “isolating” experience that for me, as someone who had to spend two 1 month stints in a hospital room and one floor, the opposite.
It…“unisolated” me, if you will.
Thus, I’m proud to share that I have started a non-profit foundation to unisolate the isolated, and we call it the “Balboa Foundation.” I’ll let your imagination figure out the name.
The mission? Simple. Use technology, specifically virtual and augmented reality to take people out of their current situations, which might not be good ones. Hospital. Shut-in for any reason. Overseas in the military. With these technologies we can bring people closer together, and also take people out of the drudges of a not-so-great situation.
I’m surrounded by some amazing folks, and our board consists of some of the brightest minds in technology who possess the most beautiful hearts that I’ve ever encountered:
Ellen Pao, Ryan Hildebrand, Markus Spiering, Mike Demers, Antone Johnson, myself, and Mike Rothenberg.
More on all of this soon, but the important bit. We need your help. If you’re a virtual or augmented reality developer or creative and would like to get involved with our mission, please fill out this form.
We have some exciting plans and some great partners lined up and you’ll be able to donate as well.
