#5 - Inside Zappar’s Vision: CEO Caspar Thykier on Democratising XR

Description

Caspar Thykier, CEO and Co-founder of Zappar, joins the show to discuss his 15-year journey building accessible XR tools for the real world. From early bets on mobile AR to Zapbox’s “Magic Leap for £30” vision, we unpack the challenges and breakthroughs in bringing spatial computing to mainstream users. Caspar shares insights on WebAR, creator tooling, ethical infrastructure, and why retail may be the real launchpad for XR. If you care about building the spatial web beyond the hype, this one’s essential.

Transcript:

https://the-spatial-computing-podcast.notion.site/Transcript-for-Inside-Zappar-s-Vision-CEO-Caspar-Thykier-on-Democratising-XR-The-Spatial-Computin-240b6f708b4280a69a19dee05fbade9d?pvs=141

Timestamps:

• (00:00 – 00:44) – Intro & Guest Introduction: Meet Caspar Thykier, CEO and co‑founder of Zappar, a Cambridge spin‑out that has spent 15 years advancing mobile‑first XR.

• (00:44 – 03:47) – The Early Vision & Unlocking Mobile AR: How early smartphone cameras let Zappar move AR from the desktop to every pocket.

• (03:47 – 06:14) – Zapbox, Google Cardboard & “Magic Leap, Magic Cheap”: Developing a US$30 mixed‑reality kit and lessons on consumer adoption.
• (06:14 – 08:30) – Designing AR for Utility, Not Novelty: Why the future lies beyond filters and Pokémon Go—toward everyday, problem‑solving use cases.
• (08:30 – 10:03) – Entertainment Meets Immersion: Disney and Universal campaigns that merge storytelling with real‑world spatial tech.
• (10:03 – 11:46) – The “Great Reversal”: Spatial AI starts augmenting the physical world instead of simply overlaying digital layers.
• (11:47 – 14:35) – WebAR’s State & Future: How browser‑based AR lowers friction, rivals native apps, and drives mass adoption.
• (14:35 – 17:24) – Interoperability & the Mattercraft Platform: Inside Zappar’s tool suite—Designer, SDKs and Mattercraft—for no‑coders to Unity pros.
• (17:24 – 19:56) – Making XR Accessible for Creators: Onboarding flows, AI assistants, and ecosystem‑wide empowerment.
• (19:56 – 22:37) – AI, 3‑D Content & the Data Flywheel: How AI and AR feed each other, improving 3‑D accuracy through Mattercraft’s feedback loop.
• (22:37 – 26:25) – Retail as Spatial‑Computing Launchpad: Navigation aids, blind assistance, and planogram compliance powered by spatial AI.
• (26:25 – 27:29) – Real‑World Efficiency Gains: 40 % staff‑route reductions and daily 15‑minute savings via AR logistics.
• (27:29 – 30:32) – Ethics & Infrastructure of Spatial Data: Domain sovereignty, opt‑ins, and avoiding Web 2.0‑style surveillance capitalism.
• (30:32 – 33:58) – Smart Glasses & What’s Next: Why phones remain, and how audio‑centric, accessible glasses may be XR’s true mass‑market entry.
• (33:58 – 35:46) – Final Vision: Staying present while scaling XR responsibly—balancing ethics with newly unlocked possibilities.

GUEST LINKS:

• Caspar’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casparthykier

• Zappar’s Website: https://www.zappar.com

• Twitter (Zappar): https://x.com/zapparapp