Tom Gruber

Designer, Entrepreneur, Inventor, Musician, Photographer

Tom Gruber is a technologist, designer, and entrepreneur, using technology to augment human intelligence. He was cofounder and head of design for Siri, which created the first virtual assistant for everyone. After launching Siri at Apple, he stayed on to lead the Advanced Technology Group for 8 years, where his team invented and prototyped future product features. He led the design of RealTravel, a popular Web 2.0 site that harvests the collective knowledge of travelers around the world. He pioneered the space of Collaborative Knowledge Management, which allows large virtual organizations to collaborate on line and contribute to a collective memory of their work and knowledge. He invented HyperMail, the granddaddy of open-source software that turns email conversations into collective memories on the Web. He is known in the Artificial Intelligence world for foundational work in ontology engineering and the Semantic Web. Today he advises startups applying AI to improve the human condition.

Collective Intelligence. Ocean conservation. Underwater photography. Humanistic AI.

Every product should be designed to be used by people with the widest possible range of physical, cognitive, social, and educational abilities. We are all "disabled" to varying degrees, depending on context and circumstance. When we drive a car, we are cognitively limited by the attentional demands of hurling a heavy machine around; our hearing is impaired by the noisy environment; we cannot see a device interface very well, and we may not be able to touch it safely. When we sit down to learn, we are impaired by lack of sleep, poor motivation, and inadequate prerequisite education. When we communicate using technology, we are limited by the medium from experiencing the full richness of the in-person interaction. We should not be expected to be super human to use technology. If we design products for everyone -- in situations of impairment -- we will create products that are a joy to use all the time.

Psycho-Socio-Technical Design, Software Product Design

Contact improvisation.