Misapplied Sciences

About Misapplied Sciences

Misapplied Sciences, founded in 2014 by Albert Ng, Paul Dietz, and David Thompson, is a venture-backed company developing a novel category of display technology called Parallel Reality. The company has secured a total of $19.5 million in funding over several rounds from investors including Pelion Venture Partners and the National Science Foundation.

The founding team combines deep technical and creative expertise. CEO Albert Ng holds electrical engineering degrees from Caltech and Stanford and was a research intern at Microsoft Research. CTO Paul Dietz is recognized for his pioneering work on multi-touch screens at Microsoft Research and also worked at Disney. COO David Thompson brings two decades of experience as a senior show producer for theme park experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering. The company's name is a whimsical nod to CEO Albert Ng's time at Microsoft's Applied Sciences group, reflecting their approach of applying technologies in unconventional ways to foster new creations.

The core offering is the Parallel Reality display, a system that allows multiple people to look at the same screen simultaneously and see different, personalized content without needing glasses or a personal device. This is achieved through a proprietary pixel technology that can project millions of light rays of different colors and brightness in thousands of directions at the same time. By coupling these advanced optics with software, high-performance computation, and sensors for spatial tracking (like facial recognition), the system can direct a specific visual experience to each individual in a crowd. This full-stack solution encompasses everything from custom processors to user interface software.

Misapplied Sciences targets operators of large public venues such as airports, stadiums, resorts, and shopping malls. The business model involves providing these venues with the display hardware and the accompanying software and services to manage the personalized content. A notable implementation of this technology was at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in partnership with Delta Air Lines, where travelers could opt-in to see their personalized flight information on a single large display board. Other applications include targeted advertising, multilingual wayfinding, and individualized entertainment experiences in public spaces. The technology aims to transform crowded environments from a herd-like experience into one that feels personally tailored.