About Me

I'm a tenured assistant professor of Positive AI at TU Delft's Human-Centered Design department, where I research the design of AI systems to maximize wellbeing and the role of resonance in interaction design.

My academic journey spans cognitive science at Yale (BA '03), social design at UC San Diego (MFA '09), and human-computer interaction at Carnegie Mellon (PhD '14). Along the way, I've founded three companies—Playpower Labs (AI-based educational software), NeuroUX (gamified cognitive assessments), and Smart Paper (computer vision for paper-based learning).

My work has reached over 5 million students, primarily through Smart Paper's deployment across India. I've designed 35+ educational games and a dozen psychological assessment tools, winning recognition from Sesame Street, the White House, the MacArthur Foundation, and DARPA.

Beyond my professional work, I built Source Library — an open archive of 12,347 rare historical texts from the 15th–18th centuries, with 11,218 new English translations across 152 languages. The collection emphasizes Hermetic, alchemical, kabbalistic, and natural-magic traditions alongside early scientific thought, and is freely available at sourcelibrary.org. I believe these texts contain valuable wisdom about consciousness, creativity, and human flourishing.

I live in the Netherlands with my wife and four children. Originally from Ohio.