August 15, 2023 • 51 mins
Today’s guest on The Intern Whisperer is Juan Rivera, game developer, #innovator, and #visionary that works at the Melrose Center at the Orlando Public Library. I originally met Juan when participating at OMG Labs and Indienomicon #GameJams. I am so happy to have this opportunity to get to know him on a more candid level. Three big takeaways I want to share with our listening audience were:
- He had an idea to create a tablet device like the iPad before it was invented to share comics.
- When asked about the ethical dilemmas about the future he shared he believes it would be the ability to interact with other humans would be traded for the convenience to work remotely, live a digital lifestyle, and isolate people more from one another.
- Best mentoring advice Juan shared with our listeners. Just Do It.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Hi, my name is Isabella Johnston,host of the Intern Whisperer, which is
brought to you by Employers 4 Change.
Today's tip of the week continuesour focus about unconscious bias.
This week, we will focus on thefactors that play within our
unconscious mind and create bias.
The first factor is how ourbrain categorizes information.
(00:31):
Humans have a natural tendency to assigneverything into a relevant category.
This happens unconsciously, butthis categorizing also leads us
to assign a positive or negativeassociation to each category.
These categories allow our brainsto know what to do or how to
behave, but classifications oftencan cause us to over generalize.
(00:55):
The second factor is heuristics.
This is defined as enablingsomeone to discover or learn
something for themselves.
An example is utilizinga hands-on or interactive
heuristic approach to learning.
We often rely on automatic informationprocessing to go through our day.
Involving little conscious thought.
(01:16):
These mental shortcuts allow us to exertlittle mental effort in our everyday lives
and make swift judgements when needed.
The last factor that identified as oneof the methods of categorizing as social
and cultural dynamics, our upbringing andsocial environment, as well as any direct
and indirect experiences with members ofvarious social groups and print on us.
(01:42):
Think like baby ducks.
We see something.
The first thing we see that's our mom.
Well, that's how infants also gettheir imprints into their mind.
We do the same thing even as adults.
These shape our perceptions, bothconsciously and unconsciously.
Welcome to the Intern Whisperer.
Our show is all about the future workand today's guest is Juan Rivera.
(02:06):
Hi, and today's guest here at theIntern Whisperer is Juan Rivera, and I'm
really excited to have him as a guest.
I've known him for quite a while.
Uh, I know him through the, uh, startupcommunity of, of gamers actually.
And he also is a game developer.
That's how we met at a.
At a Game Jam, he works at the MelroseCenter as a senior digital media design
(02:30):
instructor at the Orlando Public Library.
And the Melrose Center offers an arrayof resources that includes stem and tech
focus from creating games, podcasting onmakerspace, and so much more that inspires
and supports creativity and innovation.
So welcome to the show, Juan.
Hi.
Thank you.
I'm very happy to be here.
I'm excited.
Yeah.
(02:50):
Yeah.
So I'd like you to tell ourlisteners about you using only five
words and why those five words.
So, you and I had talkedabout this in advance.
We have 'em down, so ifyou need support, I'm here.
But we'll start with determined.
So, I think I'm so very determined,like when I focus on something and
(03:12):
if I, if I wanna make somethinghappen, some type of project that I'm
working on, you know, it's like I.
Very determined to get it done.
I do whatever I need to do.
I, I, uh, Spend hours sometimes my,my wife sometimes comes up to me and
she's like, you know, I need attentiontoo, you know, and I'll be mm-hmm.
And I'll be working on somethingfor many days and she can tell that
(03:33):
I'm really focused on something.
So sometimes, you know, we getinto those situations where, um,
you know, this is really importantand I need to get this done.
So that's all I focus on for a little bit.
Even to a fault sometimes.
Mm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, loyal.
Why loyal?
I.
Um, so when I grew up, I feel like myfather wasn't that loyal, you know?
(03:56):
And, um, I, I think that's somethingthat human nature, you know, you get
into, and I'm talking about relationshipright now, but, uh, but it also carries
through, um, the jobs that you do, thepeople you work for, you know, the,
your friends and everything like that.
I think I, um, I don't.
Say things.
I don't, I don't mean to say, you know,I'm, I, I'm, I let people know, Hey,
(04:19):
this is who I am, this is what I do.
And, uh, and it's usually, um,like my friends and my family
and everything like that.
Just, you know, if I tell youI'm gonna do something, hey,
I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do that.
I'm gonna be there for you.
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
Uh, no matter what comes up.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
Like I, and, uh, Even my relationshipwith my spouse and my wife and
(04:44):
everything like that is something thatI value very much to be loyal, um,
and be there for her and my family.
Oh, that's a good quality.
Um, hardworking, kind oftied into determining right?
Determin.
Yeah.
So it's kind of liketying into the same thing.
I, I work real hard for, you know,um, The achievements in my life.
(05:07):
You know, I work realhard in relationships.
I work real hard at my job.
Um, I think a lot of times nowadays, Idon't know if it's a new generation thing.
I think that, uh, it, it's like alot of people expect things to just
happen, but things don't happenunless you work for them or you're
willing to do something for them.
(05:28):
You know what I mean?
So, uh, I think that'swhere that comes in.
And I, I honestly think thatthat's, Something that we're missing
nowadays in this new generation,um, where they wanna, they wanna.
Get a lot for less work, I think.
Right.
You know what I mean?
(05:48):
So, yes.
Because that is why we havepeople go and shop for us.
Instead of going to a store buyingit ourselves, I'm going, really?
Oh my gosh.
Like, exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I could understand it if there wasa, some type of a disability, but
no, I just don't wanna leave myhouse and go to Shucks grocery shop.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I think that's, uh, and I think that'sa, that's a problem, you know, but Yeah.
(06:10):
You know, hopefully, uh, I'm, I'm kindof hoping that, I have a situation
where in my house I have adult children.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, and I'm hopingthat when they get out in the
world, they'll learn, oh yeah.
How to take care of themselves, how totake care of themselves kind of thing.
Yeah.
So that's what I'm talking about.
Oh yeah.
(06:31):
I'll have to tell you about aconversation I had said that.
Well, I'll just jump it in here.
That was one of the thingsthat I had said to my parents.
I said, you know, you guysdid a great job of raising us.
You taught us to be resilient.
You taught us to be able to beindependent, to take care of ourselves.
So I'm so grateful for that.
Yeah.
But you know, they didn't letus, they didn't give us no slack.
(06:51):
Like I said, oh, I want contacts.
They went, well, you're gonnahave to get a job to do that.
Yeah, exactly.
They did, they made me go do that.
They made us go pick oranges in, uh, theorange grove with the migrant workers.
They did a lot of stuff that helped shapeour character and be grateful for a lot.
Yeah, I, I did something similarwith, with, with my children.
You know, it's like I told them,you know, as long as you are.
(07:14):
Um, you're in school, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I'll take care of you.
You know, if you're not, if you, if youdon't wanna go to school, that's fine,
but you'll have to take care of yourself.
You know, you have to get ajob and everything like that.
And I even, I have one of mykids who I have her pay pay rent.
She pays rent at home and Good.
That's good.
And she's looking to move outand give her a few years to say,
(07:35):
Hey, in a few years, you know,You have to find a place to live.
I think if I don't wanther to go anywhere.
No, I really don't.
But I don't think that I'm doing herany service by No sheltering her.
You know what I mean?
So it's like, it's like, uh,she has to leave the nest
everywhere she does on her own.
You know what I mean?
So I think that's the only waythat she will, uh, Learn, you
(07:58):
know, you are exactly right.
You're exactly right.
So that tied into being a goodfather because you know, you're
helping to shape those behaviors.
Correct.
Yeah.
And, and that's also, you know,uh, you asked me earlier, off, off
camera, um, you know, uh, people who.
Who, or things that shaped me, who I am.
(08:18):
Mm-hmm.
Everything like that.
And one of those things was my father.
And, and he was a, he was a great dad.
I don't wanna say that, you know, but hewasn't a really good husband and mm-hmm.
Um, even though he, it, because he wasn'ta, a good husband at times, um, it put
us as children to certain scenariosand certain conditions that Right.
(08:38):
When wearing, um, you know, conducive to.
Healthy lifestyle.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
So, um, I always said to myself, youknow, I'm gonna try to be different.
I'm gonna be different than that.
I'm gonna be a good dad.
I'm gonna, you know, uh, makesure that I'm loyal, make sure
that I'm there for mm-hmm.
My family and my kids.
And, um, and, you know, help them.
(09:01):
Help them.
Not, not be an absent person,not person that Right.
You know, it's, It'sonly there certain days.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
So I'm always gonna be there.
I wanna be there for my kidsand my family and my life.
Um, and that's my legacy, you know?
That's, that's who, who's gonnasurpass me them, you know?
So, yeah.
(09:21):
Absolutely.
Uh, you used the wordsinnovative and smart.
We'll combine them together.
Okay.
Why did you choose those?
Um, because I, I think I'm, I'mpretty creative when it comes to,
you know, We, I always have theseconversations with the people at
work, um, and I'm really involvedinto virtual reality, uh, development.
(09:42):
Mm-hmm.
You know, and, and, and teaching andclasses and sharing the technology with
the public and everything like that.
Uh, but I always have myconversations with, with my coworkers
about what's the future like.
Right.
So, and we come up with,with these ideas that mm-hmm.
I have no means of like, Puttingthem together and actually do it
(10:04):
myself without a large investmentor, or something like that.
Right.
That I'm not ready tomake that commitment yet.
Mm-hmm.
But I come up with ideassometimes that then a few
months later, uh, here they are.
Mm-hmm.
Know this is, this is the future.
Uh, and I'll tell you a little storyabout, um, I think I invented the iPad.
(10:24):
Okay.
Okay.
Alright.
So back in 1990, I thinkit was 1997 or 1998.
Um, I'm really, and this, you mightnot know this about me, I'm really, uh,
involved into, I used to be, I'm, I'mgetting back into it now, into comic book.
(10:45):
I'm an artist, I draw Oh yeah.
You know, and I used to, backthen I used to want to write and
produce my own comic book mm-hmm.
And publish it and everything like that.
You know, high school kidstrying to do their thing.
Um, and we had a.
Meetings with friends and we weretrying to come up with what the future
of comic books was gonna be like.
Mm-hmm.
We were like, you know, you know,what's the next type of comic book?
(11:09):
So we came up with, uh, havinga digital comic book back then.
Mm-hmm.
And we were like, well, thisdigital comic book, how will people.
Use it.
And we were like, well, on thecomputer, oh, well you don't want
to go to your computer and do it.
Well, how about if we comeup with some type of device
that they hold on their hand?
Mm-hmm.
And then they can read the images onthe device, and then maybe they, they
(11:30):
swipe their hand on the, on the screen tochange the pages or something like that.
So like a screen that theywould have on their hands so
they can view the comic books.
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
Um, and we were like, well, wedon't think a lot of people would.
Invest money on something like thatis possible, like a touchscreen on
a computer, you know what I mean?
(11:51):
But, uh, I don't think peoplewould invest money on that one.
And so we were like, well, then peoplewould buy it if maybe they could do
more than just look at comment books.
Maybe they could, I don't know,like surf the internet or mm-hmm.
Look at ads or somethinglike that, you know?
So I think that was the moment.
And when was this?
(12:12):
It was back in like 1997.
1990.
Okay.
Then Yes.
You were way ahead of it because I dida real quick search here and it says,
um, the iPad itself actually traces backto 2004 when designer Jonathan, ive and
others, created a new tablet prototype.
There you go.
So you were visionary.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There you go.
Back then, You only, and it'ssurprising, we always think, oh, if I
(12:36):
only had money to do this, well somethings, yeah, that might be the case.
But that's when the MacGyver ofanybody kicks in and go, okay,
I'm gonna build this and I onlyhave gum and uh, pizza twine.
Right.
And now I've gotta make it blow up.
Well, no, I mean that's, that'sreally exciting about what's going
on right now in the world too, thatwe have access to so many tools
(12:58):
where, You can do that cheaply.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Like you can actually come up withthese prototypes and these ideas and
they don't have to be very expensive.
Hmm.
I, I can actually see, yeah.
A comic book being somethingthat's, uh, Definitely digital.
It's online.
It's almost like a movie, but I thinkthat if you can interject yourself
(13:19):
as the character in it mm-hmm.
Kinda like what they do in movies.
It's, you know, which ending do you want?
Pick the ending.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Then you begin to see yourselfas that superhero, which has
to feel different than a game.
Yeah.
It's, it's a comic.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So do you guys, well, we haven't gottenthere yet, but I'll save this question.
I'll come back.
(13:40):
Okay.
I'll ask later.
Alright.
So where did you go to school?
You can pick wherever you wanna start.
Um, how did you end upto where you're now?
What's that journey been like?
Um, I think it's, it was long.
That's okay.
Yeah, it was very long.
So I'll start with high school.
Okay.
Um, I graduated from Boone High Schoolhere, here in local Orlando, Florida.
(14:02):
Um, and, At the moment, you know,like I said, in high school I was
really involved into arts and I wentto, uh, you know, drawing classes and
painting classes and all that stuff.
And I, um, that journey wasactually really interesting.
You know, learning about drawingand painting and graphics and, and
(14:23):
digital art and all that stuff.
Um, I was, um, that motivatedme to continue that into.
College to get into graphicdesign and, um, come up with ads
and and, and stuff like that.
And, So soon after high school, Iwent into Valencia Community College,
(14:43):
and I went to the Which campus?
East Campus.
Well, here we are at East Campus.
I actually came here to East Campusand I was part of their, they didn't
have this nice building then, though.
That was, we're talking about,oh, this is, uh, it's still
relatively new, we'll call it.
Um, but, um, but I did a lot of the,the, I, I followed that track, you know?
(15:04):
Mm-hmm.
I took the classes forart and graphic design.
Um, and then I got married, hadchildren's, had to put school to the
back burner for many, many years.
Um, every once in a while we'll come backand take a course here and there and,
but I continued that safe, same track.
I wanted to get into graphic design.
Um, eventually life happens.
(15:27):
I got divorced and I have twochildren and, um, not enough money
to support, uh, a divorce and.
Two children in my own place.
And so I had to move back home.
And I lived with my mother for a littlewhile, but I decided that I needed
more, you know, so I decided to finishmy, my schooling, went back to school.
(15:47):
Um, and my mother helped me outa lot and to be able to do that.
And, but, uh, I wanted to go to U CF, I wanted to move on from Valencia.
I did what I needed to do here.
I wanted to move on to U C F.
I wanted to get a bachelor'sdegree in graphic design, but
I couldn't find a clear trackfor graphic design specifically.
(16:08):
Like it was either, you know, atthe moment it was either like web
design or game design, or that Icouldn't, I, I, I, I wasn't easy
for me to find that track mm-hmm.
That I needed to, to follow.
So I came across, uh, visual language.
Okay.
And I, I read the description and I waslike, oh, this is really interesting.
(16:28):
It's about 3 D animation.
And, and um, was thatunder the game track?
No, it's, uh, it's digital.
Digital media.
It was under the digital, digital media.
I think they still haveit out there under that.
They, they still have it onthe digital media, but I think
it's called 3 D animation now.
Mm-hmm.
But at the time it was calledvisual language and, um, It
(16:49):
was a pretty intense program.
They still have it, uh, at, at U C F.
Yep.
Where you go into theprogram for two years.
Mm-hmm.
During those two years you have tointerview to get into the program,
they have to look at your portfolio andit's kind of like getting into a job.
So the whole two years was kindof like working on a studio.
Mm-hmm.
You know, um, and I, I, it was awesome.
(17:14):
It was an awesome experience.
I learned a lot about not only.
3 D animation, but also howto work with other people.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
And I think that's one of the, one ofthe things that is lacking nowadays.
I mean, I don't, I don't follow whatschools are doing, so I'm not a, I'm
not aware of what's going on now.
Mm-hmm.
But at the time, back in, uh, 2011,2012, um, when I, once I graduated, the
(17:41):
skills that I learned about working withother people was, um, Just as valuable.
Mm-hmm.
As this, as the digital mediaskills that I learned in the school.
You know what I mean?
And I, and what I found at the momentwas that even though it was like, kind
of like a wax song, wax off kind of Yeah.
(18:02):
Kind of experience.
Yeah.
Because you didn't know you werelearning this, but you actually
did learn this, you know?
Yeah.
Uh, people skills, you know?
I thought that at the moment,nobody else was doing that.
Mm-hmm.
U C F had this program that, that Ididn't know that I, that I learned
this valuable skill, but then at theend I was like, I recognized that.
I was like, mm-hmm.
Oh, hey, wow.
(18:23):
This is something, and that not a lotof people get to experience in school.
Mm-hmm.
You know, to be able to workwith other people in the team.
And the whole program was.
Ran, ran in a way where the facultywas like the production managers of,
of a project, and we had two projectswe had to create during two years.
Um, two movies that we created.
(18:45):
We split up the, the, we workedwith the same people for two years.
How long is the movie?
Uh, five minutes.
Oh my God.
Two years to produce?
Five minutes.
Five minutes.
Oh my gosh.
It was 30 kids.
Uh, 15 did one movieand 15 did another kid.
So really it was only 15 of us.
Yeah.
And, but two years, becausewe also had to learn.
(19:05):
We had to learn how to do it, and thenwe had to, and then we did it, you know?
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, so it was a, a wonderfulskill where I learned how to do 3
D animation and 3 D modeling andrigging and everything like that.
And I actually fell in love withreading and programming, which
not a lot of people mm-hmm.
Like to do because it's tediousand you have to pay attention to
(19:25):
detail and everything like that.
Uh, and that's what I like to teach now.
I like to teach those.
Yeah.
Programming and, uh, Rigging classes.
Uh, for those of you don't know, riggingis the process of preparing a three
d animation character for animation.
Mm-hmm.
So that, that way it's easier forthe animator to do what they need
to do to animate the character.
(19:45):
Yeah.
It's putting the skeletoninside of the model.
Correct.
And then the animator makes them dance.
Correct.
Exactly.
Um, so after I graduated from, wefinished our movie, a movie and
everything, we graduated, we went to some.
Uh, we submitted the movie to severaldifferent, um, film festivals and
(20:07):
we got some awards for Really?
Yeah.
For the movie we created.
Um, and then I went toback to work, you know?
Yeah.
At the moment I was working at Disney.
Um, I worked for.
I've had many different jobs.
It's hard to get a job at Disneyif you're in, in animation too.
In animation.
I wasn't an animator though.
(20:28):
Oh, okay.
Lemme make that clear.
Okay.
I was working at, atattractions at the moment.
Gotcha.
I wanted to get into like the animationprogram and everything, but Disney
doesn't have an animation program here.
Mm-hmm.
Which I, you know, when I was going toschool, I was single and I had two kids.
Um, And my ex-wife lived here in Orlando.
So even though I was gonna school andI really wanted to go to Pixar and I
(20:50):
wanted to go do all those differentthings, unfortunately I wasn't able to.
Mm-hmm.
Because I, I couldn't leave my kidsand I couldn't take 'em with me.
Mm-hmm.
So, um, I had to just,you know, get another job.
So, uh, I worked for, and,and the jobs that I, I worked
for were pretty interesting.
'cause I worked for Disney.
I was a, a lifeguard.
And then I, uh, I left thereand I went to work for the
(21:12):
Richard Petty driving experience.
Hmm.
And then I, through working there, Ibecame a race car driving instructor.
So, nice.
So I would take, people are on theracetrack and give 'em rides and, and,
and exotic cars like, uh, Porsches and.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
Yeah.
So that was pretty fun, butit wasn't what I wanted to do.
(21:34):
So through that job I.
I was able to get into their artdepartment and I did some of the ads
for promotions and stuff like that.
And then, um, continued from there andjust, I met people in the industry where
they, they took me from there and Iwent, you know, moved from one job to
the other where I ended up, um, hereat the, I, I worked for an r d company
(21:54):
one time, designing products, you know,for cell phones and stuff like that.
Then I, uh, I got this job at theMelrose Center as an instructor
through a contact, um, that I knew,and I went to the interview and
everything like that, and this was it.
I was like, oh, this isthe place I need to be.
I, I can do all thethings that I want to do.
I can, I.
Create, I can reach outto people, I can teach.
(22:17):
And uh, I was very happy beingthere at the Melrose Center.
Mm-hmm.
So that's my journey towhere I, I ended up here.
Yeah.
And all of those things set you up forbeing able to walk right into that job.
Yeah.
That sounds amazing.
Yeah.
Perfectly.
So what is the Melrose Center?
Tell us about it.
So the RAL Center is, um, Primarily,it's kind of like a, a coworking space.
(22:39):
So it's a place that we haveavailable at the library that
people can come in and work on theirprojects, specifically speaking
digital media based type of projects.
Mm-hmm.
So, um, we give you access to all ofthe resources you need there to be
able to bring that project to life.
Mm-hmm.
Whatever you can think of.
Um, we give you access to computerworkstations that are loaded with,
(23:03):
uh, creative software like theAdobe, the entire Adobe Suite.
Is that all of the computers,like in that main area?
The big open area too?
Yeah.
All of them have the Adobe suite,they have 3 D modeling software,
game engines, um, audio engineeringsoftware, like the ones you were
talking about, audacity and mm-hmm.
Uh, logic Pro Tools.
Um, It is part of like,uh, the library system.
(23:28):
A lot of all, all of the resourcesare available with your library card.
They're not, you don'thave to pay anything extra.
So pretty much what we're tryingto do is, Uh, remove any barriers.
Barriers for you to Thank you.
Yeah.
Remove any barriers for you to be ableto, uh, create what you need to create.
You no longer have to haown the expensive equipment.
(23:48):
We have it so you can come and use it.
Yeah.
We don't, you know, just.
Um, and then just so our listenersknow, for those that are in Orlando,
this is like an open station.
You pretty much just walk up to thetable and you can start doing it.
You don't have to check it out, butI know you also have another room
over there that's ar, vr stuff.
Um, we do, so that's where I work.
We have a game development lab.
(24:09):
And in the game development lab, we giveyou access, um, specifically for game
development kind of devices and resources.
Um, developers need that sothey can test their products.
Mm-hmm.
So they can test their games, you know,so we have Android tablets, we have, uh,
VR headsets, um, computer workstations.
We have these really nice Alienwarelaptops that you can use to develop.
(24:31):
Uh, we have, if you, youknow, Orlando, Florida is the.
Uh, capital of simulations, you know?
Yeah.
It's a lot of the research thatsimulations get done here for the
armed forces and everything like that.
So, um, being here and, and those arethe, the primary jobs that, that we
have available here in Orlando, Florida.
(24:52):
We actually have asimulator rig that you can.
You can utilize to develop any type ofsimulator that sim this simulator rig.
You can check it out.
And it has steering wheels, it haspedals, different types of pedals.
It has levers and joysticks all in oneworkstation that you can use to, uh,
you know, And that's a lot of money.
(25:15):
Just so our listeners know,that's a lot of money.
And when you don't have to buy itand you can just use your library
card and come down there and do it.
I, Orlando Public Library is knownto be a five star library, and I can
definitely see why, based on what youhave to offer from the Melrose Center.
Yeah.
And you know, and like, I like,like, like you said, you know,
it's, it's all available, you know.
Yeah.
(25:36):
It's great.
I know there's a makerspace,there's a sewing lab, there's
like 3 D, um, printing.
You have so much that's available.
I can go through thewhole list if you will.
Oh, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Yeah, so we also have a, a, afully equipped video studio mm-hmm.
Video studio with um, uh,currently, uh, green screen and
(25:57):
um, black magic four K cameras.
Mm-hmm.
Um, even has a controlroom studio that you can.
Switch camera feeds during your recording.
Uh, live for, uh, ideal for likeinterview type of, uh, recordings.
We also have, uh, a fully equippedaudio studio where you can do mm-hmm.
(26:17):
Where you can record livemusic, including a band.
That recording area.
It's pretty big.
Yeah.
Uh, we actually record, um, a podcastthere, uh, called Reel To Reel.
Mm-hmm.
So check it out.
Yep.
And, um, We also do, um, another eventcalled Melrose in the mix, um, there
(26:40):
at the audio studio where we invite alocal performer to perform, uh, a very
intimate show, um, at the Melrose Center.
We record it and then we actually per, uh,Melrose in the mix, it's also a TV show.
We produce it at the Minerals Centerand it gets, uh, air on, um, the
local channel, I think is the.
(27:03):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, P B S channel or something like that.
Um, so we produce that there as well.
And, but that the same studio that weproduced the show, and it's available
for patrons to just use and record.
I have an idea.
Yeah.
I already have an idea.
I'm going, yep, that's, yep.
I'm going.
Okay.
Let's go do this.
Yeah.
We have also a fully equipped,uh, pho photo studio with, um,
(27:26):
Canon 70 cameras, uh, in a 60.
With different backdrops and, uh,all types of lighting equipment.
Um, we just recently gota, a, uh, a boom for Yeah.
Light that you can hoverabove and everything.
Yeah.
So I don't know a lot aboutthis, that studio, but I know
we have a lot of the equipment.
(27:47):
In addition to the workstation, likeI said, we also have sound booths and
we're getting a few more right now.
So you can do like a podcast.
Mm-hmm.
In a sound booth.
Um, and, um, what else do we have?
Oh, we also, at the Mineral Center, uh,they hire a lot of industry professionals.
This is where I come in.
Um, we have a game development lab.
(28:09):
I am the instructor there.
And what I do is I also teachclasses throughout the month.
On the equipment that's availablethere for you to use it.
So again, to removeanother barrier, so, right.
You know, let's say you have an ideaand you wanna to bring that, you
know that product to life, but youdidn't know how to use the, we have a
motion capture suit that you can do.
(28:30):
Mm-hmm.
To record animations.
That's the suit.
Yeah.
Well, is a kind of, kind of,it's, it's the perception neuron.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I gotta make sure I say that.
'cause it's a local company.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's okay.
A little shout out.
Yeah.
So, um, and they, so you can usethe suit, but if you don't know how
to use it, you can attend my class.
(28:51):
I'll show you how to set it up, howto record it, how to even retarget
the animation that you record fromthe software into your own character.
So, uh, that's, that's the typeof classes that we teach there.
We, um, teach Photoshop, illustrator,unity, uh, blender all life, and, uh, or.
(29:12):
Virtual classes, but with alive instructor, not recorded
classes that you can attend to.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we have a, also, inaddition to digital media, we have
a makerspace, like you mentioned.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, the fab lab.
And in there we give you access to,uh, hands-on tool for you to actually
create something like 3 D printers.
We have, uh, C NNC machines.
Oh, well, laser cutters actually.
(29:35):
Mm-hmm.
Other hand tools for mm-hmm.
Crafting and creating your ownprojects like in real life, so.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
I love it.
I love it.
So, um, we're gonna switchinto a different question.
Uh, some of them you kind of alreadyhit on, but we're, we're gonna go
and drop some of these in here.
Who in your life hashad the biggest impact?
(29:57):
I would say my mother.
Okay.
My mother has had the biggest,I can't, my father's as well.
But, um, it, my, my father in a waywhere, hey, I don't wanna do that.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Uh, the things that, that he haddone, and again, I want to clarify.
He's not a bad person.
He's not a bad father.
(30:18):
He, you know, a child of the,uh, Sixties and they, they have a
different life back when I was younger.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and life was different.
You know, men was allowedto do certain things mm-hmm.
And women weren't allowedto do certain things.
Um, so that's a productof society at the moment.
I guess that's what I,I say about my father.
(30:40):
Yeah.
I love him.
Mm-hmm.
And I respect him andeverything like that.
And he's still very much in my life.
Uh, but I decided that I wantedto go a different way, you know?
So that's how he impacted my life.
My mother impacted my life in a way whereshe was caught in a situation where she
just felt like she couldn't stay there.
(31:00):
Mm-hmm.
You know, I, I grew up in Puerto Rico.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, I was born and raised therefor 15 years, and during that time,
you know, my mother had to leave.
She just couldn't be there anymore.
So we, she uprooted usand moved us over here.
Uh, Her and her three childrento Orlando, Florida, and this
(31:20):
is where I've been ever since.
Right.
Um, I was 15 years old.
I'm, did she know anybody here?
She had a, a cousin.
Okay.
Well, she had some sense of family.
That's good.
Yeah.
So she had a, a cousin here and I was 15.
I'm 45 now, so that was 30 years ago.
Okay.
Yeah.
So she moved us here.
We didn't know any English.
(31:41):
Wow.
We all three of us, my, my sister'solder, well, let's say four.
Including your mom and,well, she knew you.
Of course she Oh, she did?
Yeah.
She knew because this is what I,uh, uh, you know, part of the story,
she grew up before she was in PuertoRico, she grew up in Chicago, born,
um, I don't think she was born there.
I think she just grew up there.
She moved there very young, andshe grew up there and then moved
(32:02):
back when she was very young.
So she knew English.
She was very fluent in English.
Mm-hmm.
But her kids weren't, um, My oldersister started high school in, I, I
wanna say 10th grade, maybe 11th grade.
Mm-hmm.
And I started in ninth grade.
That's when we moved here.
I started in ninth grade.
And that's a hard time for kids.
Yeah.
And my, my younger brother started inmiddle school, so it was a little bit
(32:24):
easier for him to acclimate to, yeah.
Change of culture and languageand everything like that.
But for me and my sisterwas a little bit harder.
It was hard.
It was very hard.
So, Back then, I don't know if theystill do, they had a program called esol.
Esol.
Yeah, they do.
And we would go into the ESOL program.
And, um, one thing that my, my sisterlearned very quickly was that in the ESOL
(32:48):
program at the moment, I, I'm sure they'rewonderful now, but at the moment it was a
way for, 'cause it was all Spanish kids.
Right.
You know, we were all the same language.
We're all so in the, even thoughwe were trying to learn English,
We were surrounded by Spanish.
Yeah.
You know, so it was kind oflike a, a double-edged sword.
(33:10):
We're supposed to learn English, butwe're all Spanish speaking people and we
can't really speak Spanish anywhere else.
Right.
So that's what wecommunicated with one another.
And she learned very quickly.
She was like, I'm not gonna learn Englishif I'm not around English, you know?
So I think two or three months intothe class she talked to the sub, the
administration, and they let her get out.
(33:32):
And she went to regular Englishclasses and everything like that.
I stayed the whole year, but after thewhole year, I saw how much that was.
Like it was helping her from her,for her being my older sister.
So then, uh, the next year they wanted meto put into EOL classes and I opted out.
I said, no, I want to go into regularclasses and everything like that.
And my mother had a full-time job.
(33:57):
Um, and when we.
Uh, got home from school.
We didn't know what we werelistening to in the classes.
We didn't, we didn't understand English.
We had a translator that would tell usand everything like that, but um, a lot
of the notes were written on the board.
So we would fanatically write whateverwe thought we hear, we hear in English
(34:19):
or whatever we wrote from the board.
We would write it down.
My mom every night would sitdown with us and she would.
Translate everything for us.
Mm-hmm.
You know, so that we could understandwhat we were learning, you know?
Mm-hmm.
All three of us, mind you.
And so we were able to kind of like,uh, learn through that experience,
(34:42):
you know, and her hard work Yeah.
To be able to do this.
So yeah, she really shaped, yeah.
That's a big sacrifice too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's good.
That's good.
So you obviously have carried that overinto your own, raising your own kids.
So what would you wantto be remembered for?
(35:04):
So I think, um, primarily I want to beremembered as a good father, you know?
Yeah.
As somebody that was therefor his killed children.
He was supportive and, um,helped them succeed in life.
And, uh, you know, they're my legacy.
So.
I'm pretty sure that they,they have that lesson.
Yeah.
So we're gonna take a momentand acknowledge our sponsor
(35:26):
and we'll be right back.
Our sponsor is Transcend Network Here.
Transcend Network helps early stagestartup founders find product market
fit through weekly experiments, receivefundraising support and build a global
founder investor network for EdTechand the future of Work Technologies.
The Intern Whisperer is affiliatedwith Employers 4 Change and we thank.
(35:48):
Transcend Network for beinga sponsor of our show.
Okay.
In the second half of our show,we talk about the future of
jobs and the industries in 2030.
Um, what do you think 2030is gonna look like, Juan?
Because you're working in anamazing place where you get
to always see cool innovation.
You're active in, um,the game jams and you're.
Always, uh, coming for those things.
(36:10):
Pretty sure that youfollow a lot of trends.
I do.
Have you, have you seen thenew, uh, Apple Vision Pro?
I didn't watch the program,but I did watch the video.
Okay.
So yeah.
So the, the, the Vision Prois a new type of VR hits it.
Yeah.
Okay.
Right.
And, um, the things that thingsthink that this thing can do
is it's pretty incredible.
(36:31):
Yeah.
Um, but, And I even, I,I just did it myself.
You know, I just called Do you havethat technology down there yet?
We do, we do.
We don't have Division Pro,but we have something similar.
Okay, okay.
A little bit older.
Okay.
Okay.
And let me, let me tell you what it is.
And I, I just did it myself.
I called that, uh, a VR headset.
Yeah.
But Division Pro is nota VR headset at all.
(36:52):
Okay.
It, what it is is a spatial computer.
So, and what these, uh, devices.
Are eventually going to do, andI, I believe this is that they're
gonna replace your desktop.
Mm-hmm.
Computer, they're gonna be replaced.
Yeah.
So, okay.
Um, it, so you can compute anywhere,you can use your computer anywhere.
(37:13):
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't have to be, uh, in the headset.
And I, so I wouldn't have a computer.
I wouldn't even be using my phone.
And you wouldn't evenbe using your keyboard.
Okay.
So that's what it, that's whatthis is, is a spatial computer.
So what it is, is, um, in thefuture, I believe that this is gonna
be the new way to compute, right?
Because there's advantages,there's disadvantages right now.
(37:35):
So the disadvantages are that you dohave to wear some type of headgear to be
able to visualize this, your computer.
Okay.
Um, But I think that in the future, theheadgear is gonna get more comfortable.
It's gonna get lighter and it's gonna bea wearable computer, something that you,
you have on like sunglass light, kindalike sunglasses or something like that.
(37:57):
Yeah.
That you, okay.
Eventually.
Right.
But we have to go through this hardshipto learn if there's even a market.
Expensive.
You know what I mean?
And it is expensive, right.
But um, What this is going to allow you todo is if you have it on and you're walking
around, you'll be able to have like adscome up, or, which I think that's the, it
is not a good example, but not ads, butinformation about what you are looking at.
(38:21):
You know, you're going down the streetand you'll be able to see, okay,
there's a Taco Bell around the corner,you know, this way they have a special
today, something comes up or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
You know, on your, on your headgearthat, that you have, uh, on.
Um, so.
I think this is the first stepsof that technology for 2030.
So can people see that If there's, ifI have this device on and it's like
(38:44):
the weight of a pair of sunglasses,can people see what I'm seeing?
So I.
It depends on the headset right now.
No.
So like the Vision Pro, you cannot.
So Vision Pro, you know where I've gone.
You have no idea.
No.
So I'm gonna throw it down here.
Go ahead.
So I can already see, because peopleenjoy the privacy of having their
own phone and being able to lock itdown and their computers and they
(39:05):
think they're locking stuff down.
But some people do thingsthat are on the dark web.
And they cross over intoareas that they shouldn't do.
Correct.
So I'm sitting here going, so wouldthey be able to watch pornography?
Would they be able to watch really, youknow, sinister things, things like that?
Yes, of course.
And, and then what I'm thinking is, wouldpeople be able to see what you're seeing?
(39:26):
So like there's.
Don't think so.
Privacy is still there.
Not like, I don't think, I amnot for any of those things.
They're all bad, in my opinion.
They're bad.
So, um, I'm just, yeah, I don't think so.
Because So to, for currently.
For currently, yeah.
I don't know.
What's the future look like?
I don't know if they're gonna implysome type of lenses in your eyes.
Even if they do.
(39:47):
Okay dude, you have gotto watch Black Mirror.
They do that.
They actually put this littlething, it's the size of a penny.
They put it on here.
And then, because everything is kindof embedded into us, like, boom, you
sit back and then there's the vin,it's like contacts and they go right
over your eyes and you're like in it.
So, uh, even, even so like, even if thatactually happens, nobody can really see it
(40:10):
from the outside world and you can see it.
So yeah, there is the privacy therewhere you, you're the only one that's
able to vi visualize this, right?
Um, even if you have glasseson, unless they're like sitting.
Right next to you and listeningto what you're doing, you know?
Yeah.
'cause like somebody can look overyour shoulder and see your phone.
They can see your phone, right.
Yeah.
But I think with glasses on that,that's even more private, you know?
'cause maybe it's righton your face, maybe.
(40:32):
Right.
But right now, currently theonly way you can see it is by
putting a screen in front of you.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
And this, uh, so that screenactually, you cannot see through it.
Yeah.
All right.
For example, they're, but whatthey're doing is they have cameras.
There's like a bypass camera.
Mm-hmm.
That projects on that screen.
Your real world.
Yeah.
(40:52):
So, uh, even though the VisionPro, you look at it and it looks
like it has your eyes there.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the eyes are actually anotherscreen facing the other way.
There's another screen facing theother way that is projecting your.
Your face onto it.
So other people, so maybe you havepresence to read to other humans.
It's like, uh, you know, real presence,even though you're not looking at them.
(41:15):
Mm-hmm.
You have the levels on or whatever.
So it's kind of like a passthrough thing that, that projects
your face on the front of it.
Okay.
So anyway.
Um, all that to say, I'm gonna come downand have you do a demo and show it to me.
Okay, no problem.
Yeah, I don't have that one.
Uh, the, the one that I have, uh,over there, I still wanna see what
new, new toys you have down there.
Correct?
Yeah.
And, and it's, uh, it'scalled the Magic Leap.
(41:35):
Uh, you heard of Magic Leap?
Yes.
So the Magic Leap was the firstiteration of this special computer.
All right.
Uh, even though, you know, I don'tknow how popular they are right
now in the industry or whatever.
Didn't they, somethinghappened to that company too?
Something happened to it.
I'm not a hundred percentsure I follow that.
Yeah.
I think that they either gotbought or they had to reorganize.
Something happened, but that the VisionPro I, I believe it's the successor.
(42:02):
I, I believe so.
Yeah, because it, that's what that is.
The, the Magic Leap is a spatial computer.
The, mm-hmm.
The Vision Pro is aspecial computer as well.
So maybe they have somethingto do with this development.
It's kinda like chat, right?
You know, chat 3, 4, 5.
We're in five now, I think.
Yeah.
It moves fast.
Everything's moving.
So fast's another the computer.
(42:28):
Eventually what's gonna happen is,You'll have a projection of a keyboard
maybe on the, on I've seen this.
I've seen this stuff before.
Yeah.
And they take three pins.
Awesome.
So we're talking about, um,special computers mm-hmm.
And how the, the, uh, vision Prois, uh, is a special computer.
Mm-hmm.
And I think this is gonna be a new lineof, of products that are gonna be coming
(42:49):
out, where people are gonna learn whatthat term is and what that, what that is.
And it's gonna be a thing.
Think of that.
Um, again, right now it'snot that comfortable.
You know, they're, they're strivingto make it as comfortable as
possible, but it's the few firstiterations of what the future of
your desktop is gonna be, you know?
Right.
It started with the phone, you know,a lot of people are doing a lot of
their work on tablets and phones Right.
(43:11):
And everything like that.
They're not, they don't havereally a desktop anymore.
It's a, a mobile world, you know,so that's gonna be the next step.
Of this mobile world where your computeris gonna be something that that is in,
in your real space, you know you'renot gonna have, so I saw these things.
It was on, I think it was Japanese, I'mpretty sure it was Japanese, not Chinese.
And they had three pins and they would goand put these three types of technology
(43:34):
devices together and it would, uh,it would show me a keyboard that I
could actually type on like a three.
An image of it.
And then it would also put up a monitorand then I could look at that monitor
and everything is just a projection.
A projection, yeah.
Of what I see.
I'm going That would be so cool.
Because then you don't haveto have the big mon, you know,
(43:56):
big computer thing, anything.
They have this thingtoo that you can wear.
It's like a, a thing on your chestor maybe you wear on your, oh.
Uh, something you wear on your wristthat you, you go like this and there's
like a keyboard appears on your arm.
Wow.
That you can.
It's like a hologram.
Type like this or whatever.
So watch Black Mirror, you'regonna see that kind of stuff.
See, but you will also see that theyembed this stuff into our body, so Yes.
(44:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's scary, scary stuff.
So that's the, that'sthe, that's beyond 2030.
So yeah, so that's when we getto what ethical dilemmas do youth
foresee with this type of technology.
So, um, Ethical dilemmas.
You know, that's a really good question.
We can talk a long time, but youonly get to have a few minutes.
Yeah.
Not a lot of people, you know, um,think about those type of things, but
(44:41):
ethical dilemmas, I think that, you know,disconnect it's disconnection, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I think that's a, that'sgonna be a problem.
I agree.
You know, even, even.
With the services that we provide,even the library, you know what I mean?
Like the library is a place where peoplecan come in and, and actually grab a
book and actually read it, you know?
Yeah.
Fortunately though, um, you know, youhave to physically go to the library.
(45:03):
You actually physically haveto pick, pick up the book.
But we're becoming, uh, we're, we're,we're in a time where people are.
Maybe because of Covid, we learnedthis and we have, we're locked up
at home for two, two and a halfyears or two years isolated to me.
Isolated.
And we, we become that way, you know?
And, and we, we've become asociety that is used to having,
(45:25):
Things come to you rather thanyou come and get it, you know?
And there will be aday the grid goes down.
Yeah.
And then what?
Yeah.
Then people have to learn howto interact with each other.
We're gonna, we're gonna devolve.
Yeah.
Or maybe we really evolve because nowwe're realizing that we really are
what makes it magic to be a human.
(45:45):
Yeah.
Not the devices.
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that's gonna be the, thebiggest dilemma or ethical dilemma.
Is the, is that ethics?
I don't know, is it?
No, I, I believe that too, becauseI believe that people are gonna
have to be taught how to be human.
Yeah.
And how to interact with eachother and how not just interact.
(46:08):
I mean, it's like communicate andto be able to know, oh, this is
what it's like to give people hugs.
It's like if you stay too faraway from, and all we do is
communicate through a screen.
We're in a lot of trouble.
You seeing how you, you seeing how welike people greet each other nowadays,
it's like, oh, hey, how you doing?
And sometimes you go in, Andthey don't know what to do.
Is it fist bump or No?
(46:29):
I haven't seen that because I pretty muchjust go, come here, let's bring it in.
Let's do a hug.
Yeah.
But I, I do see other peoplebehaving that way too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I agree.
And some of it I think is, uh,whatever generation, not some of it.
I, I do believe whatever generationyou're born into, the technology, the
history, um, those factors begin toshape how we interact and we communicate.
(46:52):
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But the, the one thing I, I do think thatwe're trying to do here at this library,
and I don't know if this is a thing thato other libraries are trying to do, is
that we're, we're trying to grow withthe, with the technology, we're trying
to, you know, stay at the cutting edge.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
And, and, uh, giving people accessto this tools and studying and, and
(47:12):
you know, we, we made a big shifta few years back when, um, Digital
books were a big thing with Yeah.
Tablets and everything like that and,and audio books and everything like that.
And instead of putting our foot on theground and saying, no, we're gonna just be
a place with books, we dabble into that.
Mm-hmm.
Into, into that side.
And we have a, a, a, a variety ofdigital content available at the library.
(47:37):
Yeah.
Nowadays.
So you can check out fromwhat do you use audio?
Um, we do.
Um, I don't use the, you know, theaudio books or whatever it's called.
There's a name for it.
I think we use Livy.
Oh, okay.
A program called Livy.
Mm-hmm.
For audiobooks.
Yeah, I know there's alot of that out there.
And people listen to, you know, likebooks on, used to be books on tape.
(47:59):
Right.
And then we moved to books onCDs and now you can just listen
to it on demand and Yeah.
And that's really great.
It's not, it's not just books.
There's a lot of knowledge just accessingdatabases and accessing, you know,
Videos online or something like that.
It's not just the matter of reading abook, but there's just access to, I know
you guys have e-learning down there too.
People can learn anything.
(48:19):
We have all sorts.
We even have like QuickBooks, whatever.
We even ha give all of our patronsaccess to LinkedIn learning.
Mm-hmm.
For free.
You just have to use your librarycard and you, you have, you have
access to LinkedIn learnings.
I did not know that.
Yeah.
Entire library of, of, uh,tutorials and everything like that.
So you can come and learn a new language.
(48:40):
You using our databases.
I think our databases accessto our database is, is just
as, uh, um, strong as our.
I'm gonna tell you I learned alot through Duolingo, but yeah.
And we have access toa program called Mango.
Yeah, mango.
You have that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So does the Winter Park Library.
Mm-hmm.
Well, we are at the end of our show,so best mentoring advice that you
(49:04):
want to share with our listeners.
And we have a prettybroad range of listeners.
I, I think I would say is, um,Just, just do it, you know?
Nike.
Yeah, just Nike.
Just do it.
If if there's something that youwanna do and you wanna access or you
wanna try to achieve, hey, go do it.
Because I, I'll tell you what, mostof the people who become successful
(49:25):
doing something, it's becausethey were the ones who did it.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
It's not.
There's a need out there.
People need a certain technologyor a certain problem, and you're
sitting here thinking, oh,there's so many people doing that.
There's so many peoplethat want to do that.
Mm-hmm.
But they're not the ones doing it.
Mm-hmm.
So if you go out there and just make ithappen and just do it, you know, start.
(49:45):
That project start that, that idea orsomething like that, you may be the
only one that is actually doing it.
Mm-hmm.
At the moment, you know what I mean?
That is, is very true.
If I, if I would've taken my ownadvice back in 1997 or 98 when we,
I would've been the inventor of theiPad, but I didn't, you would've been.
Yeah.
So just do it like, youknow, 20 years ahead of time.
(50:07):
So, um, how can our listeners find you?
So I want to, uh, give you thelibrary, uh, the Melrose Center blog.
So make sure you go checkus out at ocs.info/melrose.
Okay?
Um, and if you need to get in contact withme, the best way by far to get ahold of me
(50:28):
is, uh, by accessing me through my email,which is Rivera dot Juan at OCS info.
Okay, we've got that.
And then I also added, uh, MelroseCenter's, Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and their YouTube channel.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
We appreciate it.
Well, you are.
Thank you for having me here today.
It was really fun.
(50:49):
It was fun.
And I actually know so much more aboutyou that I don't normally get to know
when I go to Game Jams or come tothe library, which you do not work
on the weekends when we're there.
So, yeah.
Uh, it's really, really nicegetting to know you better.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, I wanna thank you forbeing a guest and um, we look
forward to seeing you again soon.
(51:09):
Alright.
Awesome.
Thank you.
We wanna thank our sponsor, Cat 5 Studios.
Thank you to our video teamGabe LaPorte and Tommy Myers.
Music is by Sophie Lloyd.
Visit Employers 4 Change at www.e4c.tech.
To learn how you can create realdiversity and inclusive culture while
(51:32):
skilling your people for the future ofwork, please subscribe and download the
Intern Whisperer on Pod Beam Employers4 change YouTube channel or stream
from your favorite podcast channel,please drop us a comment and share our
show to enlighten others about amazingpeople that make every day better.
Hi, my name is Isabella Johnston,host of the Intern Whisperer, which is
brought to you by Employers 4 Change.
Today's tip of the week continuesour focus about unconscious bias.
This week, we will focus on thefactors that play within our
unconscious mind and create bias.
The first factor is how ourbrain categorizes information.
(00:31):
Humans have a natural tendency to assigneverything into a relevant category.
This happens unconsciously, butthis categorizing also leads us
to assign a positive or negativeassociation to each category.
These categories allow our brainsto know what to do or how to
behave, but classifications oftencan cause us to over generalize.
(00:55):
The second factor is heuristics.
This is defined as enablingsomeone to discover or learn
something for themselves.
An example is utilizinga hands-on or interactive
heuristic approach to learning.
We often rely on automatic informationprocessing to go through our day.
Involving little conscious thought.
(01:16):
These mental shortcuts allow us to exertlittle mental effort in our everyday lives
and make swift judgements when needed.
The last factor that identified as oneof the methods of categorizing as social
and cultural dynamics, our upbringing andsocial environment, as well as any direct
and indirect experiences with members ofvarious social groups and print on us.
(01:42):
Think like baby ducks.
We see something.
The first thing we see that's our mom.
Well, that's how infants also gettheir imprints into their mind.
We do the same thing even as adults.
These shape our perceptions, bothconsciously and unconsciously.
Welcome to the Intern Whisperer.
Our show is all about the future workand today's guest is Juan Rivera.
(02:06):
Hi, and today's guest here at theIntern Whisperer is Juan Rivera, and I'm
really excited to have him as a guest.
I've known him for quite a while.
Uh, I know him through the, uh, startupcommunity of, of gamers actually.
And he also is a game developer.
That's how we met at a.
At a Game Jam, he works at the MelroseCenter as a senior digital media design
(02:30):
instructor at the Orlando Public Library.
And the Melrose Center offers an arrayof resources that includes stem and tech
focus from creating games, podcasting onmakerspace, and so much more that inspires
and supports creativity and innovation.
So welcome to the show, Juan.
Hi.
Thank you.
I'm very happy to be here.
I'm excited.
Yeah.
(02:50):
Yeah.
So I'd like you to tell ourlisteners about you using only five
words and why those five words.
So, you and I had talkedabout this in advance.
We have 'em down, so ifyou need support, I'm here.
But we'll start with determined.
So, I think I'm so very determined,like when I focus on something and
(03:12):
if I, if I wanna make somethinghappen, some type of project that I'm
working on, you know, it's like I.
Very determined to get it done.
I do whatever I need to do.
I, I, uh, Spend hours sometimes my,my wife sometimes comes up to me and
she's like, you know, I need attentiontoo, you know, and I'll be mm-hmm.
And I'll be working on somethingfor many days and she can tell that
(03:33):
I'm really focused on something.
So sometimes, you know, we getinto those situations where, um,
you know, this is really importantand I need to get this done.
So that's all I focus on for a little bit.
Even to a fault sometimes.
Mm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, loyal.
Why loyal?
I.
Um, so when I grew up, I feel like myfather wasn't that loyal, you know?
(03:56):
And, um, I, I think that's somethingthat human nature, you know, you get
into, and I'm talking about relationshipright now, but, uh, but it also carries
through, um, the jobs that you do, thepeople you work for, you know, the,
your friends and everything like that.
I think I, um, I don't.
Say things.
I don't, I don't mean to say, you know,I'm, I, I'm, I let people know, Hey,
(04:19):
this is who I am, this is what I do.
And, uh, and it's usually, um,like my friends and my family
and everything like that.
Just, you know, if I tell youI'm gonna do something, hey,
I'm gonna do, I'm gonna do that.
I'm gonna be there for you.
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
Uh, no matter what comes up.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
Like I, and, uh, Even my relationshipwith my spouse and my wife and
(04:44):
everything like that is something thatI value very much to be loyal, um,
and be there for her and my family.
Oh, that's a good quality.
Um, hardworking, kind oftied into determining right?
Determin.
Yeah.
So it's kind of liketying into the same thing.
I, I work real hard for, you know,um, The achievements in my life.
(05:07):
You know, I work realhard in relationships.
I work real hard at my job.
Um, I think a lot of times nowadays, Idon't know if it's a new generation thing.
I think that, uh, it, it's like alot of people expect things to just
happen, but things don't happenunless you work for them or you're
willing to do something for them.
(05:28):
You know what I mean?
So, uh, I think that'swhere that comes in.
And I, I honestly think thatthat's, Something that we're missing
nowadays in this new generation,um, where they wanna, they wanna.
Get a lot for less work, I think.
Right.
You know what I mean?
(05:48):
So, yes.
Because that is why we havepeople go and shop for us.
Instead of going to a store buyingit ourselves, I'm going, really?
Oh my gosh.
Like, exactly.
Yeah, exactly.
I could understand it if there wasa, some type of a disability, but
no, I just don't wanna leave myhouse and go to Shucks grocery shop.
Exactly.
Yeah.
I think that's, uh, and I think that'sa, that's a problem, you know, but Yeah.
(06:10):
You know, hopefully, uh, I'm, I'm kindof hoping that, I have a situation
where in my house I have adult children.
Mm-hmm.
And you know, and I'm hopingthat when they get out in the
world, they'll learn, oh yeah.
How to take care of themselves, how totake care of themselves kind of thing.
Yeah.
So that's what I'm talking about.
Oh yeah.
(06:31):
I'll have to tell you about aconversation I had said that.
Well, I'll just jump it in here.
That was one of the thingsthat I had said to my parents.
I said, you know, you guysdid a great job of raising us.
You taught us to be resilient.
You taught us to be able to beindependent, to take care of ourselves.
So I'm so grateful for that.
Yeah.
But you know, they didn't letus, they didn't give us no slack.
(06:51):
Like I said, oh, I want contacts.
They went, well, you're gonnahave to get a job to do that.
Yeah, exactly.
They did, they made me go do that.
They made us go pick oranges in, uh, theorange grove with the migrant workers.
They did a lot of stuff that helped shapeour character and be grateful for a lot.
Yeah, I, I did something similarwith, with, with my children.
You know, it's like I told them,you know, as long as you are.
(07:14):
Um, you're in school, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I'll take care of you.
You know, if you're not, if you, if youdon't wanna go to school, that's fine,
but you'll have to take care of yourself.
You know, you have to get ajob and everything like that.
And I even, I have one of mykids who I have her pay pay rent.
She pays rent at home and Good.
That's good.
And she's looking to move outand give her a few years to say,
(07:35):
Hey, in a few years, you know,You have to find a place to live.
I think if I don't wanther to go anywhere.
No, I really don't.
But I don't think that I'm doing herany service by No sheltering her.
You know what I mean?
So it's like, it's like, uh,she has to leave the nest
everywhere she does on her own.
You know what I mean?
So I think that's the only waythat she will, uh, Learn, you
(07:58):
know, you are exactly right.
You're exactly right.
So that tied into being a goodfather because you know, you're
helping to shape those behaviors.
Correct.
Yeah.
And, and that's also, you know,uh, you asked me earlier, off, off
camera, um, you know, uh, people who.
Who, or things that shaped me, who I am.
(08:18):
Mm-hmm.
Everything like that.
And one of those things was my father.
And, and he was a, he was a great dad.
I don't wanna say that, you know, but hewasn't a really good husband and mm-hmm.
Um, even though he, it, because he wasn'ta, a good husband at times, um, it put
us as children to certain scenariosand certain conditions that Right.
(08:38):
When wearing, um, you know, conducive to.
Healthy lifestyle.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
So, um, I always said to myself, youknow, I'm gonna try to be different.
I'm gonna be different than that.
I'm gonna be a good dad.
I'm gonna, you know, uh, makesure that I'm loyal, make sure
that I'm there for mm-hmm.
My family and my kids.
And, um, and, you know, help them.
(09:01):
Help them.
Not, not be an absent person,not person that Right.
You know, it's, It'sonly there certain days.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
So I'm always gonna be there.
I wanna be there for my kidsand my family and my life.
Um, and that's my legacy, you know?
That's, that's who, who's gonnasurpass me them, you know?
So, yeah.
(09:21):
Absolutely.
Uh, you used the wordsinnovative and smart.
We'll combine them together.
Okay.
Why did you choose those?
Um, because I, I think I'm, I'mpretty creative when it comes to,
you know, We, I always have theseconversations with the people at
work, um, and I'm really involvedinto virtual reality, uh, development.
(09:42):
Mm-hmm.
You know, and, and, and teaching andclasses and sharing the technology with
the public and everything like that.
Uh, but I always have myconversations with, with my coworkers
about what's the future like.
Right.
So, and we come up with,with these ideas that mm-hmm.
I have no means of like, Puttingthem together and actually do it
(10:04):
myself without a large investmentor, or something like that.
Right.
That I'm not ready tomake that commitment yet.
Mm-hmm.
But I come up with ideassometimes that then a few
months later, uh, here they are.
Mm-hmm.
Know this is, this is the future.
Uh, and I'll tell you a little storyabout, um, I think I invented the iPad.
(10:24):
Okay.
Okay.
Alright.
So back in 1990, I thinkit was 1997 or 1998.
Um, I'm really, and this, you mightnot know this about me, I'm really, uh,
involved into, I used to be, I'm, I'mgetting back into it now, into comic book.
(10:45):
I'm an artist, I draw Oh yeah.
You know, and I used to, backthen I used to want to write and
produce my own comic book mm-hmm.
And publish it and everything like that.
You know, high school kidstrying to do their thing.
Um, and we had a.
Meetings with friends and we weretrying to come up with what the future
of comic books was gonna be like.
Mm-hmm.
We were like, you know, you know,what's the next type of comic book?
(11:09):
So we came up with, uh, havinga digital comic book back then.
Mm-hmm.
And we were like, well, thisdigital comic book, how will people.
Use it.
And we were like, well, on thecomputer, oh, well you don't want
to go to your computer and do it.
Well, how about if we comeup with some type of device
that they hold on their hand?
Mm-hmm.
And then they can read the images onthe device, and then maybe they, they
(11:30):
swipe their hand on the, on the screen tochange the pages or something like that.
So like a screen that theywould have on their hands so
they can view the comic books.
You know what I mean?
Mm-hmm.
Um, and we were like, well, wedon't think a lot of people would.
Invest money on something like thatis possible, like a touchscreen on
a computer, you know what I mean?
(11:51):
But, uh, I don't think peoplewould invest money on that one.
And so we were like, well, then peoplewould buy it if maybe they could do
more than just look at comment books.
Maybe they could, I don't know,like surf the internet or mm-hmm.
Look at ads or somethinglike that, you know?
So I think that was the moment.
And when was this?
(12:12):
It was back in like 1997.
1990.
Okay.
Then Yes.
You were way ahead of it because I dida real quick search here and it says,
um, the iPad itself actually traces backto 2004 when designer Jonathan, ive and
others, created a new tablet prototype.
There you go.
So you were visionary.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
There you go.
Back then, You only, and it'ssurprising, we always think, oh, if I
(12:36):
only had money to do this, well somethings, yeah, that might be the case.
But that's when the MacGyver ofanybody kicks in and go, okay,
I'm gonna build this and I onlyhave gum and uh, pizza twine.
Right.
And now I've gotta make it blow up.
Well, no, I mean that's, that'sreally exciting about what's going
on right now in the world too, thatwe have access to so many tools
(12:58):
where, You can do that cheaply.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Like you can actually come up withthese prototypes and these ideas and
they don't have to be very expensive.
Hmm.
I, I can actually see, yeah.
A comic book being somethingthat's, uh, Definitely digital.
It's online.
It's almost like a movie, but I thinkthat if you can interject yourself
(13:19):
as the character in it mm-hmm.
Kinda like what they do in movies.
It's, you know, which ending do you want?
Pick the ending.
Right?
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Then you begin to see yourselfas that superhero, which has
to feel different than a game.
Yeah.
It's, it's a comic.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
So do you guys, well, we haven't gottenthere yet, but I'll save this question.
I'll come back.
(13:40):
Okay.
I'll ask later.
Alright.
So where did you go to school?
You can pick wherever you wanna start.
Um, how did you end upto where you're now?
What's that journey been like?
Um, I think it's, it was long.
That's okay.
Yeah, it was very long.
So I'll start with high school.
Okay.
Um, I graduated from Boone High Schoolhere, here in local Orlando, Florida.
(14:02):
Um, and, At the moment, you know,like I said, in high school I was
really involved into arts and I wentto, uh, you know, drawing classes and
painting classes and all that stuff.
And I, um, that journey wasactually really interesting.
You know, learning about drawingand painting and graphics and, and
(14:23):
digital art and all that stuff.
Um, I was, um, that motivatedme to continue that into.
College to get into graphicdesign and, um, come up with ads
and and, and stuff like that.
And, So soon after high school, Iwent into Valencia Community College,
(14:43):
and I went to the Which campus?
East Campus.
Well, here we are at East Campus.
I actually came here to East Campusand I was part of their, they didn't
have this nice building then, though.
That was, we're talking about,oh, this is, uh, it's still
relatively new, we'll call it.
Um, but, um, but I did a lot of the,the, I, I followed that track, you know?
(15:04):
Mm-hmm.
I took the classes forart and graphic design.
Um, and then I got married, hadchildren's, had to put school to the
back burner for many, many years.
Um, every once in a while we'll come backand take a course here and there and,
but I continued that safe, same track.
I wanted to get into graphic design.
Um, eventually life happens.
(15:27):
I got divorced and I have twochildren and, um, not enough money
to support, uh, a divorce and.
Two children in my own place.
And so I had to move back home.
And I lived with my mother for a littlewhile, but I decided that I needed
more, you know, so I decided to finishmy, my schooling, went back to school.
(15:47):
Um, and my mother helped me outa lot and to be able to do that.
And, but, uh, I wanted to go to U CF, I wanted to move on from Valencia.
I did what I needed to do here.
I wanted to move on to U C F.
I wanted to get a bachelor'sdegree in graphic design, but
I couldn't find a clear trackfor graphic design specifically.
(16:08):
Like it was either, you know, atthe moment it was either like web
design or game design, or that Icouldn't, I, I, I, I wasn't easy
for me to find that track mm-hmm.
That I needed to, to follow.
So I came across, uh, visual language.
Okay.
And I, I read the description and I waslike, oh, this is really interesting.
(16:28):
It's about 3 D animation.
And, and um, was thatunder the game track?
No, it's, uh, it's digital.
Digital media.
It was under the digital, digital media.
I think they still haveit out there under that.
They, they still have it onthe digital media, but I think
it's called 3 D animation now.
Mm-hmm.
But at the time it was calledvisual language and, um, It
(16:49):
was a pretty intense program.
They still have it, uh, at, at U C F.
Yep.
Where you go into theprogram for two years.
Mm-hmm.
During those two years you have tointerview to get into the program,
they have to look at your portfolio andit's kind of like getting into a job.
So the whole two years was kindof like working on a studio.
Mm-hmm.
You know, um, and I, I, it was awesome.
(17:14):
It was an awesome experience.
I learned a lot about not only.
3 D animation, but also howto work with other people.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
And I think that's one of the, one ofthe things that is lacking nowadays.
I mean, I don't, I don't follow whatschools are doing, so I'm not a, I'm
not aware of what's going on now.
Mm-hmm.
But at the time, back in, uh, 2011,2012, um, when I, once I graduated, the
(17:41):
skills that I learned about working withother people was, um, Just as valuable.
Mm-hmm.
As this, as the digital mediaskills that I learned in the school.
You know what I mean?
And I, and what I found at the momentwas that even though it was like, kind
of like a wax song, wax off kind of Yeah.
(18:02):
Kind of experience.
Yeah.
Because you didn't know you werelearning this, but you actually
did learn this, you know?
Yeah.
Uh, people skills, you know?
I thought that at the moment,nobody else was doing that.
Mm-hmm.
U C F had this program that, that Ididn't know that I, that I learned
this valuable skill, but then at theend I was like, I recognized that.
I was like, mm-hmm.
Oh, hey, wow.
(18:23):
This is something, and that not a lotof people get to experience in school.
Mm-hmm.
You know, to be able to workwith other people in the team.
And the whole program was.
Ran, ran in a way where the facultywas like the production managers of,
of a project, and we had two projectswe had to create during two years.
Um, two movies that we created.
(18:45):
We split up the, the, we workedwith the same people for two years.
How long is the movie?
Uh, five minutes.
Oh my God.
Two years to produce?
Five minutes.
Five minutes.
Oh my gosh.
It was 30 kids.
Uh, 15 did one movieand 15 did another kid.
So really it was only 15 of us.
Yeah.
And, but two years, becausewe also had to learn.
(19:05):
We had to learn how to do it, and thenwe had to, and then we did it, you know?
Yeah.
Um, so yeah, so it was a, a wonderfulskill where I learned how to do 3
D animation and 3 D modeling andrigging and everything like that.
And I actually fell in love withreading and programming, which
not a lot of people mm-hmm.
Like to do because it's tediousand you have to pay attention to
(19:25):
detail and everything like that.
Uh, and that's what I like to teach now.
I like to teach those.
Yeah.
Programming and, uh, Rigging classes.
Uh, for those of you don't know, riggingis the process of preparing a three
d animation character for animation.
Mm-hmm.
So that, that way it's easier forthe animator to do what they need
to do to animate the character.
(19:45):
Yeah.
It's putting the skeletoninside of the model.
Correct.
And then the animator makes them dance.
Correct.
Exactly.
Um, so after I graduated from, wefinished our movie, a movie and
everything, we graduated, we went to some.
Uh, we submitted the movie to severaldifferent, um, film festivals and
(20:07):
we got some awards for Really?
Yeah.
For the movie we created.
Um, and then I went toback to work, you know?
Yeah.
At the moment I was working at Disney.
Um, I worked for.
I've had many different jobs.
It's hard to get a job at Disneyif you're in, in animation too.
In animation.
I wasn't an animator though.
(20:28):
Oh, okay.
Lemme make that clear.
Okay.
I was working at, atattractions at the moment.
Gotcha.
I wanted to get into like the animationprogram and everything, but Disney
doesn't have an animation program here.
Mm-hmm.
Which I, you know, when I was going toschool, I was single and I had two kids.
Um, And my ex-wife lived here in Orlando.
So even though I was gonna school andI really wanted to go to Pixar and I
(20:50):
wanted to go do all those differentthings, unfortunately I wasn't able to.
Mm-hmm.
Because I, I couldn't leave my kidsand I couldn't take 'em with me.
Mm-hmm.
So, um, I had to just,you know, get another job.
So, uh, I worked for, and,and the jobs that I, I worked
for were pretty interesting.
'cause I worked for Disney.
I was a, a lifeguard.
And then I, uh, I left thereand I went to work for the
(21:12):
Richard Petty driving experience.
Hmm.
And then I, through working there, Ibecame a race car driving instructor.
So, nice.
So I would take, people are on theracetrack and give 'em rides and, and,
and exotic cars like, uh, Porsches and.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
Yeah.
So that was pretty fun, butit wasn't what I wanted to do.
(21:34):
So through that job I.
I was able to get into their artdepartment and I did some of the ads
for promotions and stuff like that.
And then, um, continued from there andjust, I met people in the industry where
they, they took me from there and Iwent, you know, moved from one job to
the other where I ended up, um, hereat the, I, I worked for an r d company
(21:54):
one time, designing products, you know,for cell phones and stuff like that.
Then I, uh, I got this job at theMelrose Center as an instructor
through a contact, um, that I knew,and I went to the interview and
everything like that, and this was it.
I was like, oh, this isthe place I need to be.
I, I can do all thethings that I want to do.
I can, I.
Create, I can reach outto people, I can teach.
(22:17):
And uh, I was very happy beingthere at the Melrose Center.
Mm-hmm.
So that's my journey towhere I, I ended up here.
Yeah.
And all of those things set you up forbeing able to walk right into that job.
Yeah.
That sounds amazing.
Yeah.
Perfectly.
So what is the Melrose Center?
Tell us about it.
So the RAL Center is, um, Primarily,it's kind of like a, a coworking space.
(22:39):
So it's a place that we haveavailable at the library that
people can come in and work on theirprojects, specifically speaking
digital media based type of projects.
Mm-hmm.
So, um, we give you access to all ofthe resources you need there to be
able to bring that project to life.
Mm-hmm.
Whatever you can think of.
Um, we give you access to computerworkstations that are loaded with,
(23:03):
uh, creative software like theAdobe, the entire Adobe Suite.
Is that all of the computers,like in that main area?
The big open area too?
Yeah.
All of them have the Adobe suite,they have 3 D modeling software,
game engines, um, audio engineeringsoftware, like the ones you were
talking about, audacity and mm-hmm.
Uh, logic Pro Tools.
Um, It is part of like,uh, the library system.
(23:28):
A lot of all, all of the resourcesare available with your library card.
They're not, you don'thave to pay anything extra.
So pretty much what we're tryingto do is, Uh, remove any barriers.
Barriers for you to Thank you.
Yeah.
Remove any barriers for you to be ableto, uh, create what you need to create.
You no longer have to haown the expensive equipment.
(23:48):
We have it so you can come and use it.
Yeah.
We don't, you know, just.
Um, and then just so our listenersknow, for those that are in Orlando,
this is like an open station.
You pretty much just walk up to thetable and you can start doing it.
You don't have to check it out, butI know you also have another room
over there that's ar, vr stuff.
Um, we do, so that's where I work.
We have a game development lab.
(24:09):
And in the game development lab, we giveyou access, um, specifically for game
development kind of devices and resources.
Um, developers need that sothey can test their products.
Mm-hmm.
So they can test their games, you know,so we have Android tablets, we have, uh,
VR headsets, um, computer workstations.
We have these really nice Alienwarelaptops that you can use to develop.
(24:31):
Uh, we have, if you, youknow, Orlando, Florida is the.
Uh, capital of simulations, you know?
Yeah.
It's a lot of the research thatsimulations get done here for the
armed forces and everything like that.
So, um, being here and, and those arethe, the primary jobs that, that we
have available here in Orlando, Florida.
(24:52):
We actually have asimulator rig that you can.
You can utilize to develop any type ofsimulator that sim this simulator rig.
You can check it out.
And it has steering wheels, it haspedals, different types of pedals.
It has levers and joysticks all in oneworkstation that you can use to, uh,
you know, And that's a lot of money.
(25:15):
Just so our listeners know,that's a lot of money.
And when you don't have to buy itand you can just use your library
card and come down there and do it.
I, Orlando Public Library is knownto be a five star library, and I can
definitely see why, based on what youhave to offer from the Melrose Center.
Yeah.
And you know, and like, I like,like, like you said, you know,
it's, it's all available, you know.
Yeah.
(25:36):
It's great.
I know there's a makerspace,there's a sewing lab, there's
like 3 D, um, printing.
You have so much that's available.
I can go through thewhole list if you will.
Oh, go ahead.
Go ahead.
Yeah, so we also have a, a, afully equipped video studio mm-hmm.
Video studio with um, uh,currently, uh, green screen and
(25:57):
um, black magic four K cameras.
Mm-hmm.
Um, even has a controlroom studio that you can.
Switch camera feeds during your recording.
Uh, live for, uh, ideal for likeinterview type of, uh, recordings.
We also have, uh, a fully equippedaudio studio where you can do mm-hmm.
(26:17):
Where you can record livemusic, including a band.
That recording area.
It's pretty big.
Yeah.
Uh, we actually record, um, a podcastthere, uh, called Reel To Reel.
Mm-hmm.
So check it out.
Yep.
And, um, We also do, um, another eventcalled Melrose in the mix, um, there
(26:40):
at the audio studio where we invite alocal performer to perform, uh, a very
intimate show, um, at the Melrose Center.
We record it and then we actually per, uh,Melrose in the mix, it's also a TV show.
We produce it at the Minerals Centerand it gets, uh, air on, um, the
local channel, I think is the.
(27:03):
Mm-hmm.
Uh, P B S channel or something like that.
Um, so we produce that there as well.
And, but that the same studio that weproduced the show, and it's available
for patrons to just use and record.
I have an idea.
Yeah.
I already have an idea.
I'm going, yep, that's, yep.
I'm going.
Okay.
Let's go do this.
Yeah.
We have also a fully equipped,uh, pho photo studio with, um,
(27:26):
Canon 70 cameras, uh, in a 60.
With different backdrops and, uh,all types of lighting equipment.
Um, we just recently gota, a, uh, a boom for Yeah.
Light that you can hoverabove and everything.
Yeah.
So I don't know a lot aboutthis, that studio, but I know
we have a lot of the equipment.
(27:47):
In addition to the workstation, likeI said, we also have sound booths and
we're getting a few more right now.
So you can do like a podcast.
Mm-hmm.
In a sound booth.
Um, and, um, what else do we have?
Oh, we also, at the Mineral Center, uh,they hire a lot of industry professionals.
This is where I come in.
Um, we have a game development lab.
(28:09):
I am the instructor there.
And what I do is I also teachclasses throughout the month.
On the equipment that's availablethere for you to use it.
So again, to removeanother barrier, so, right.
You know, let's say you have an ideaand you wanna to bring that, you
know that product to life, but youdidn't know how to use the, we have a
motion capture suit that you can do.
(28:30):
Mm-hmm.
To record animations.
That's the suit.
Yeah.
Well, is a kind of, kind of,it's, it's the perception neuron.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I gotta make sure I say that.
'cause it's a local company.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's okay.
A little shout out.
Yeah.
So, um, and they, so you can usethe suit, but if you don't know how
to use it, you can attend my class.
(28:51):
I'll show you how to set it up, howto record it, how to even retarget
the animation that you record fromthe software into your own character.
So, uh, that's, that's the typeof classes that we teach there.
We, um, teach Photoshop, illustrator,unity, uh, blender all life, and, uh, or.
(29:12):
Virtual classes, but with alive instructor, not recorded
classes that you can attend to.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, and we have a, also, inaddition to digital media, we have
a makerspace, like you mentioned.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, the fab lab.
And in there we give you access to,uh, hands-on tool for you to actually
create something like 3 D printers.
We have, uh, C NNC machines.
Oh, well, laser cutters actually.
(29:35):
Mm-hmm.
Other hand tools for mm-hmm.
Crafting and creating your ownprojects like in real life, so.
Mm-hmm.
I love that.
I love it.
I love it.
So, um, we're gonna switchinto a different question.
Uh, some of them you kind of alreadyhit on, but we're, we're gonna go
and drop some of these in here.
Who in your life hashad the biggest impact?
(29:57):
I would say my mother.
Okay.
My mother has had the biggest,I can't, my father's as well.
But, um, it, my, my father in a waywhere, hey, I don't wanna do that.
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Uh, the things that, that he haddone, and again, I want to clarify.
He's not a bad person.
He's not a bad father.
(30:18):
He, you know, a child of the,uh, Sixties and they, they have a
different life back when I was younger.
Mm-hmm.
You know, and life was different.
You know, men was allowedto do certain things mm-hmm.
And women weren't allowedto do certain things.
Um, so that's a productof society at the moment.
I guess that's what I,I say about my father.
(30:40):
Yeah.
I love him.
Mm-hmm.
And I respect him andeverything like that.
And he's still very much in my life.
Uh, but I decided that I wantedto go a different way, you know?
So that's how he impacted my life.
My mother impacted my life in a way whereshe was caught in a situation where she
just felt like she couldn't stay there.
(31:00):
Mm-hmm.
You know, I, I grew up in Puerto Rico.
Mm-hmm.
Uh, I was born and raised therefor 15 years, and during that time,
you know, my mother had to leave.
She just couldn't be there anymore.
So we, she uprooted usand moved us over here.
Uh, Her and her three childrento Orlando, Florida, and this
(31:20):
is where I've been ever since.
Right.
Um, I was 15 years old.
I'm, did she know anybody here?
She had a, a cousin.
Okay.
Well, she had some sense of family.
That's good.
Yeah.
So she had a, a cousin here and I was 15.
I'm 45 now, so that was 30 years ago.
Okay.
Yeah.
So she moved us here.
We didn't know any English.
(31:41):
Wow.
We all three of us, my, my sister'solder, well, let's say four.
Including your mom and,well, she knew you.
Of course she Oh, she did?
Yeah.
She knew because this is what I,uh, uh, you know, part of the story,
she grew up before she was in PuertoRico, she grew up in Chicago, born,
um, I don't think she was born there.
I think she just grew up there.
She moved there very young, andshe grew up there and then moved
(32:02):
back when she was very young.
So she knew English.
She was very fluent in English.
Mm-hmm.
But her kids weren't, um, My oldersister started high school in, I, I
wanna say 10th grade, maybe 11th grade.
Mm-hmm.
And I started in ninth grade.
That's when we moved here.
I started in ninth grade.
And that's a hard time for kids.
Yeah.
And my, my younger brother started inmiddle school, so it was a little bit
(32:24):
easier for him to acclimate to, yeah.
Change of culture and languageand everything like that.
But for me and my sisterwas a little bit harder.
It was hard.
It was very hard.
So, Back then, I don't know if theystill do, they had a program called esol.
Esol.
Yeah, they do.
And we would go into the ESOL program.
And, um, one thing that my, my sisterlearned very quickly was that in the ESOL
(32:48):
program at the moment, I, I'm sure they'rewonderful now, but at the moment it was a
way for, 'cause it was all Spanish kids.
Right.
You know, we were all the same language.
We're all so in the, even thoughwe were trying to learn English,
We were surrounded by Spanish.
Yeah.
You know, so it was kind oflike a, a double-edged sword.
(33:10):
We're supposed to learn English, butwe're all Spanish speaking people and we
can't really speak Spanish anywhere else.
Right.
So that's what wecommunicated with one another.
And she learned very quickly.
She was like, I'm not gonna learn Englishif I'm not around English, you know?
So I think two or three months intothe class she talked to the sub, the
administration, and they let her get out.
(33:32):
And she went to regular Englishclasses and everything like that.
I stayed the whole year, but after thewhole year, I saw how much that was.
Like it was helping her from her,for her being my older sister.
So then, uh, the next year they wanted meto put into EOL classes and I opted out.
I said, no, I want to go into regularclasses and everything like that.
And my mother had a full-time job.
(33:57):
Um, and when we.
Uh, got home from school.
We didn't know what we werelistening to in the classes.
We didn't, we didn't understand English.
We had a translator that would tell usand everything like that, but um, a lot
of the notes were written on the board.
So we would fanatically write whateverwe thought we hear, we hear in English
(34:19):
or whatever we wrote from the board.
We would write it down.
My mom every night would sitdown with us and she would.
Translate everything for us.
Mm-hmm.
You know, so that we could understandwhat we were learning, you know?
Mm-hmm.
All three of us, mind you.
And so we were able to kind of like,uh, learn through that experience,
(34:42):
you know, and her hard work Yeah.
To be able to do this.
So yeah, she really shaped, yeah.
That's a big sacrifice too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's good.
That's good.
So you obviously have carried that overinto your own, raising your own kids.
So what would you wantto be remembered for?
(35:04):
So I think, um, primarily I want to beremembered as a good father, you know?
Yeah.
As somebody that was therefor his killed children.
He was supportive and, um,helped them succeed in life.
And, uh, you know, they're my legacy.
So.
I'm pretty sure that they,they have that lesson.
Yeah.
So we're gonna take a momentand acknowledge our sponsor
(35:26):
and we'll be right back.
Our sponsor is Transcend Network Here.
Transcend Network helps early stagestartup founders find product market
fit through weekly experiments, receivefundraising support and build a global
founder investor network for EdTechand the future of Work Technologies.
The Intern Whisperer is affiliatedwith Employers 4 Change and we thank.
(35:48):
Transcend Network for beinga sponsor of our show.
Okay.
In the second half of our show,we talk about the future of
jobs and the industries in 2030.
Um, what do you think 2030is gonna look like, Juan?
Because you're working in anamazing place where you get
to always see cool innovation.
You're active in, um,the game jams and you're.
Always, uh, coming for those things.
(36:10):
Pretty sure that youfollow a lot of trends.
I do.
Have you, have you seen thenew, uh, Apple Vision Pro?
I didn't watch the program,but I did watch the video.
Okay.
So yeah.
So the, the, the Vision Prois a new type of VR hits it.
Yeah.
Okay.
Right.
And, um, the things that thingsthink that this thing can do
is it's pretty incredible.
(36:31):
Yeah.
Um, but, And I even, I,I just did it myself.
You know, I just called Do you havethat technology down there yet?
We do, we do.
We don't have Division Pro,but we have something similar.
Okay, okay.
A little bit older.
Okay.
Okay.
And let me, let me tell you what it is.
And I, I just did it myself.
I called that, uh, a VR headset.
Yeah.
But Division Pro is nota VR headset at all.
(36:52):
Okay.
It, what it is is a spatial computer.
So, and what these, uh, devices.
Are eventually going to do, andI, I believe this is that they're
gonna replace your desktop.
Mm-hmm.
Computer, they're gonna be replaced.
Yeah.
So, okay.
Um, it, so you can compute anywhere,you can use your computer anywhere.
(37:13):
Mm-hmm.
It doesn't have to be, uh, in the headset.
And I, so I wouldn't have a computer.
I wouldn't even be using my phone.
And you wouldn't evenbe using your keyboard.
Okay.
So that's what it, that's whatthis is, is a spatial computer.
So what it is, is, um, in thefuture, I believe that this is gonna
be the new way to compute, right?
Because there's advantages,there's disadvantages right now.
(37:35):
So the disadvantages are that you dohave to wear some type of headgear to be
able to visualize this, your computer.
Okay.
Um, But I think that in the future, theheadgear is gonna get more comfortable.
It's gonna get lighter and it's gonna bea wearable computer, something that you,
you have on like sunglass light, kindalike sunglasses or something like that.
(37:57):
Yeah.
That you, okay.
Eventually.
Right.
But we have to go through this hardshipto learn if there's even a market.
Expensive.
You know what I mean?
And it is expensive, right.
But um, What this is going to allow you todo is if you have it on and you're walking
around, you'll be able to have like adscome up, or, which I think that's the, it
is not a good example, but not ads, butinformation about what you are looking at.
(38:21):
You know, you're going down the streetand you'll be able to see, okay,
there's a Taco Bell around the corner,you know, this way they have a special
today, something comes up or whatever.
Mm-hmm.
You know, on your, on your headgearthat, that you have, uh, on.
Um, so.
I think this is the first stepsof that technology for 2030.
So can people see that If there's, ifI have this device on and it's like
(38:44):
the weight of a pair of sunglasses,can people see what I'm seeing?
So I.
It depends on the headset right now.
No.
So like the Vision Pro, you cannot.
So Vision Pro, you know where I've gone.
You have no idea.
No.
So I'm gonna throw it down here.
Go ahead.
So I can already see, because peopleenjoy the privacy of having their
own phone and being able to lock itdown and their computers and they
(39:05):
think they're locking stuff down.
But some people do thingsthat are on the dark web.
And they cross over intoareas that they shouldn't do.
Correct.
So I'm sitting here going, so wouldthey be able to watch pornography?
Would they be able to watch really, youknow, sinister things, things like that?
Yes, of course.
And, and then what I'm thinking is, wouldpeople be able to see what you're seeing?
(39:26):
So like there's.
Don't think so.
Privacy is still there.
Not like, I don't think, I amnot for any of those things.
They're all bad, in my opinion.
They're bad.
So, um, I'm just, yeah, I don't think so.
Because So to, for currently.
For currently, yeah.
I don't know.
What's the future look like?
I don't know if they're gonna implysome type of lenses in your eyes.
Even if they do.
(39:47):
Okay dude, you have gotto watch Black Mirror.
They do that.
They actually put this littlething, it's the size of a penny.
They put it on here.
And then, because everything is kindof embedded into us, like, boom, you
sit back and then there's the vin,it's like contacts and they go right
over your eyes and you're like in it.
So, uh, even, even so like, even if thatactually happens, nobody can really see it
(40:10):
from the outside world and you can see it.
So yeah, there is the privacy therewhere you, you're the only one that's
able to vi visualize this, right?
Um, even if you have glasseson, unless they're like sitting.
Right next to you and listeningto what you're doing, you know?
Yeah.
'cause like somebody can look overyour shoulder and see your phone.
They can see your phone, right.
Yeah.
But I think with glasses on that,that's even more private, you know?
'cause maybe it's righton your face, maybe.
(40:32):
Right.
But right now, currently theonly way you can see it is by
putting a screen in front of you.
Mm-hmm.
Okay.
And this, uh, so that screenactually, you cannot see through it.
Yeah.
All right.
For example, they're, but whatthey're doing is they have cameras.
There's like a bypass camera.
Mm-hmm.
That projects on that screen.
Your real world.
Yeah.
(40:52):
So, uh, even though the VisionPro, you look at it and it looks
like it has your eyes there.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the eyes are actually anotherscreen facing the other way.
There's another screen facing theother way that is projecting your.
Your face onto it.
So other people, so maybe you havepresence to read to other humans.
It's like, uh, you know, real presence,even though you're not looking at them.
(41:15):
Mm-hmm.
You have the levels on or whatever.
So it's kind of like a passthrough thing that, that projects
your face on the front of it.
Okay.
So anyway.
Um, all that to say, I'm gonna come downand have you do a demo and show it to me.
Okay, no problem.
Yeah, I don't have that one.
Uh, the, the one that I have, uh,over there, I still wanna see what
new, new toys you have down there.
Correct?
Yeah.
And, and it's, uh, it'scalled the Magic Leap.
(41:35):
Uh, you heard of Magic Leap?
Yes.
So the Magic Leap was the firstiteration of this special computer.
All right.
Uh, even though, you know, I don'tknow how popular they are right
now in the industry or whatever.
Didn't they, somethinghappened to that company too?
Something happened to it.
I'm not a hundred percentsure I follow that.
Yeah.
I think that they either gotbought or they had to reorganize.
Something happened, but that the VisionPro I, I believe it's the successor.
(42:02):
I, I believe so.
Yeah, because it, that's what that is.
The, the Magic Leap is a spatial computer.
The, mm-hmm.
The Vision Pro is aspecial computer as well.
So maybe they have somethingto do with this development.
It's kinda like chat, right?
You know, chat 3, 4, 5.
We're in five now, I think.
Yeah.
It moves fast.
Everything's moving.
So fast's another the computer.
(42:28):
Eventually what's gonna happen is,You'll have a projection of a keyboard
maybe on the, on I've seen this.
I've seen this stuff before.
Yeah.
And they take three pins.
Awesome.
So we're talking about, um,special computers mm-hmm.
And how the, the, uh, vision Prois, uh, is a special computer.
Mm-hmm.
And I think this is gonna be a new lineof, of products that are gonna be coming
(42:49):
out, where people are gonna learn whatthat term is and what that, what that is.
And it's gonna be a thing.
Think of that.
Um, again, right now it'snot that comfortable.
You know, they're, they're strivingto make it as comfortable as
possible, but it's the few firstiterations of what the future of
your desktop is gonna be, you know?
Right.
It started with the phone, you know,a lot of people are doing a lot of
their work on tablets and phones Right.
(43:11):
And everything like that.
They're not, they don't havereally a desktop anymore.
It's a, a mobile world, you know,so that's gonna be the next step.
Of this mobile world where your computeris gonna be something that that is in,
in your real space, you know you'renot gonna have, so I saw these things.
It was on, I think it was Japanese, I'mpretty sure it was Japanese, not Chinese.
And they had three pins and they would goand put these three types of technology
(43:34):
devices together and it would, uh,it would show me a keyboard that I
could actually type on like a three.
An image of it.
And then it would also put up a monitorand then I could look at that monitor
and everything is just a projection.
A projection, yeah.
Of what I see.
I'm going That would be so cool.
Because then you don't haveto have the big mon, you know,
(43:56):
big computer thing, anything.
They have this thingtoo that you can wear.
It's like a, a thing on your chestor maybe you wear on your, oh.
Uh, something you wear on your wristthat you, you go like this and there's
like a keyboard appears on your arm.
Wow.
That you can.
It's like a hologram.
Type like this or whatever.
So watch Black Mirror, you'regonna see that kind of stuff.
See, but you will also see that theyembed this stuff into our body, so Yes.
(44:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's scary, scary stuff.
So that's the, that'sthe, that's beyond 2030.
So yeah, so that's when we getto what ethical dilemmas do youth
foresee with this type of technology.
So, um, Ethical dilemmas.
You know, that's a really good question.
We can talk a long time, but youonly get to have a few minutes.
Yeah.
Not a lot of people, you know, um,think about those type of things, but
(44:41):
ethical dilemmas, I think that, you know,disconnect it's disconnection, you know?
Mm-hmm.
I think that's a, that'sgonna be a problem.
I agree.
You know, even, even.
With the services that we provide,even the library, you know what I mean?
Like the library is a place where peoplecan come in and, and actually grab a
book and actually read it, you know?
Yeah.
Fortunately though, um, you know, youhave to physically go to the library.
(45:03):
You actually physically haveto pick, pick up the book.
But we're becoming, uh, we're, we're,we're in a time where people are.
Maybe because of Covid, we learnedthis and we have, we're locked up
at home for two, two and a halfyears or two years isolated to me.
Isolated.
And we, we become that way, you know?
And, and we, we've become asociety that is used to having,
(45:25):
Things come to you rather thanyou come and get it, you know?
And there will be aday the grid goes down.
Yeah.
And then what?
Yeah.
Then people have to learn howto interact with each other.
We're gonna, we're gonna devolve.
Yeah.
Or maybe we really evolve because nowwe're realizing that we really are
what makes it magic to be a human.
(45:45):
Yeah.
Not the devices.
That's right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So I think that's gonna be the, thebiggest dilemma or ethical dilemma.
Is the, is that ethics?
I don't know, is it?
No, I, I believe that too, becauseI believe that people are gonna
have to be taught how to be human.
Yeah.
And how to interact with eachother and how not just interact.
(46:08):
I mean, it's like communicate andto be able to know, oh, this is
what it's like to give people hugs.
It's like if you stay too faraway from, and all we do is
communicate through a screen.
We're in a lot of trouble.
You seeing how you, you seeing how welike people greet each other nowadays,
it's like, oh, hey, how you doing?
And sometimes you go in, Andthey don't know what to do.
Is it fist bump or No?
(46:29):
I haven't seen that because I pretty muchjust go, come here, let's bring it in.
Let's do a hug.
Yeah.
But I, I do see other peoplebehaving that way too.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I agree.
And some of it I think is, uh,whatever generation, not some of it.
I, I do believe whatever generationyou're born into, the technology, the
history, um, those factors begin toshape how we interact and we communicate.
(46:52):
So, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But the, the one thing I, I do think thatwe're trying to do here at this library,
and I don't know if this is a thing thato other libraries are trying to do, is
that we're, we're trying to grow withthe, with the technology, we're trying
to, you know, stay at the cutting edge.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
And, and, uh, giving people accessto this tools and studying and, and
(47:12):
you know, we, we made a big shifta few years back when, um, Digital
books were a big thing with Yeah.
Tablets and everything like that and,and audio books and everything like that.
And instead of putting our foot on theground and saying, no, we're gonna just be
a place with books, we dabble into that.
Mm-hmm.
Into, into that side.
And we have a, a, a, a variety ofdigital content available at the library.
(47:37):
Yeah.
Nowadays.
So you can check out fromwhat do you use audio?
Um, we do.
Um, I don't use the, you know, theaudio books or whatever it's called.
There's a name for it.
I think we use Livy.
Oh, okay.
A program called Livy.
Mm-hmm.
For audiobooks.
Yeah, I know there's alot of that out there.
And people listen to, you know, likebooks on, used to be books on tape.
(47:59):
Right.
And then we moved to books onCDs and now you can just listen
to it on demand and Yeah.
And that's really great.
It's not, it's not just books.
There's a lot of knowledge just accessingdatabases and accessing, you know,
Videos online or something like that.
It's not just the matter of reading abook, but there's just access to, I know
you guys have e-learning down there too.
People can learn anything.
(48:19):
We have all sorts.
We even have like QuickBooks, whatever.
We even ha give all of our patronsaccess to LinkedIn learning.
Mm-hmm.
For free.
You just have to use your librarycard and you, you have, you have
access to LinkedIn learnings.
I did not know that.
Yeah.
Entire library of, of, uh,tutorials and everything like that.
So you can come and learn a new language.
(48:40):
You using our databases.
I think our databases accessto our database is, is just
as, uh, um, strong as our.
I'm gonna tell you I learned alot through Duolingo, but yeah.
And we have access toa program called Mango.
Yeah, mango.
You have that?
Yeah.
Yeah.
So does the Winter Park Library.
Mm-hmm.
Well, we are at the end of our show,so best mentoring advice that you
(49:04):
want to share with our listeners.
And we have a prettybroad range of listeners.
I, I think I would say is, um,Just, just do it, you know?
Nike.
Yeah, just Nike.
Just do it.
If if there's something that youwanna do and you wanna access or you
wanna try to achieve, hey, go do it.
Because I, I'll tell you what, mostof the people who become successful
(49:25):
doing something, it's becausethey were the ones who did it.
Mm-hmm.
You know what I mean?
It's not.
There's a need out there.
People need a certain technologyor a certain problem, and you're
sitting here thinking, oh,there's so many people doing that.
There's so many peoplethat want to do that.
Mm-hmm.
But they're not the ones doing it.
Mm-hmm.
So if you go out there and just make ithappen and just do it, you know, start.
(49:45):
That project start that, that idea orsomething like that, you may be the
only one that is actually doing it.
Mm-hmm.
At the moment, you know what I mean?
That is, is very true.
If I, if I would've taken my ownadvice back in 1997 or 98 when we,
I would've been the inventor of theiPad, but I didn't, you would've been.
Yeah.
So just do it like, youknow, 20 years ahead of time.
(50:07):
So, um, how can our listeners find you?
So I want to, uh, give you thelibrary, uh, the Melrose Center blog.
So make sure you go checkus out at ocs.info/melrose.
Okay?
Um, and if you need to get in contact withme, the best way by far to get ahold of me
(50:28):
is, uh, by accessing me through my email,which is Rivera dot Juan at OCS info.
Okay, we've got that.
And then I also added, uh, MelroseCenter's, Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram, and their YouTube channel.
Yeah.
Thank you very much.
Yeah.
We appreciate it.
Well, you are.
Thank you for having me here today.
It was really fun.
(50:49):
It was fun.
And I actually know so much more aboutyou that I don't normally get to know
when I go to Game Jams or come tothe library, which you do not work
on the weekends when we're there.
So, yeah.
Uh, it's really, really nicegetting to know you better.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Well, I wanna thank you forbeing a guest and um, we look
forward to seeing you again soon.
(51:09):
Alright.
Awesome.
Thank you.
We wanna thank our sponsor, Cat 5 Studios.
Thank you to our video teamGabe LaPorte and Tommy Myers.
Music is by Sophie Lloyd.
Visit Employers 4 Change at www.e4c.tech.
To learn how you can create realdiversity and inclusive culture while
(51:32):
skilling your people for the future ofwork, please subscribe and download the
Intern Whisperer on Pod Beam Employers4 change YouTube channel or stream
from your favorite podcast channel,please drop us a comment and share our
show to enlighten others about amazingpeople that make every day better.
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