“Beaming” people anywhere in the world with David Nussbaum of Proto

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Guy Raz interviews Proto founder David Nussbaum about building a holographic telepresence platform that lets people appear as realistic 3D projections in a box. Nussbaum traces the idea from podcasting and radio to hologram concerts, then to a broader vision for live “beaming” for education, business, entertainment, and eventually consumer use, while addressing cost, adoption, and AI safety concerns.

Main Topics: From radio and podcasting to entrepreneurial media ventures (Priority: 5/5): Nussbaum explains how his background in radio sales and hosting an early comedy podcast taught him how to produce, fund, and market audio content, laying the groundwork for later business-building. The Tupac Coachella hologram as a creative turning point (Priority: 5/5): Seeing Tupac’s posthumous Coachella performance inspired Nussbaum to explore holographic projection as a future medium, not just as a novelty but as a way to make impossible appearances feel real. Digital resurrection concerts and the limits of Pepper’s Ghost (Priority: 4/5): He describes his earlier company’s work with holographic performances of deceased celebrities and why the approach was costly, labor-intensive, and difficult to scale. Proto as live telepresence for the living (Priority: 5/5): Nussbaum positions Proto as a tool for connecting living people in real time—teachers, doctors, performers, executives—rather than resurrecting the dead, emphasizing presence and interactivity. Prototype development, fundraising, and product design (Priority: 4/5): The conversation covers how Nussbaum built early prototypes with limited resources, used trade shows to demonstrate the concept, and later raised capital to commercialize both large and smaller versions of the device. Consumer and enterprise future of holographic communication (Priority: 4/5): Nussbaum outlines a roadmap from expensive institutional devices toward cheaper consumer products and even software/app-based integrations, with uses in retail, malls, schools, and homes. AI, consent, and safety controls (Priority: 5/5): The interview closes on concerns about synthetic media and misuse. Nussbaum says Proto emphasizes consent, privacy, encryption, and partner control to prevent unauthorized or unsafe holographic/AI outputs.

Key Arguments: Media and broadcasting experience can translate directly into product-building and sales, because Nussbaum used his radio-advertising relationships to finance early podcasting and later ventures. The Tupac hologram showed that photorealistic projection could evoke a real emotional response and open up entirely new forms of live performance. Holographic concerts were expensive and fragile because they relied on labor-intensive Pepper’s Ghost-style setups and could cost hundreds of thousands per show. Proto is fundamentally about connecting living people in real time, not recreating the dead; its value lies in presence, interaction, and scale. The technology has practical enterprise uses now—education, healthcare, conferences, retail—and can eventually become a consumer communication device. As AI-generated media becomes more realistic, systems like Proto must build in explicit consent, encryption, and guardrails to prevent misuse.

Data Points: Podcast episode count: 300+ episodes - Nussbaum says his early comedy podcast ran every Saturday for five years. Podcast duration: 5 years - He describes producing the show over a five-year period. Hologram concert production cost: hundreds of thousands of dollars per show - Nussbaum explains why digital resurrection concerts were expensive to stage. ProtoEpic price: around $60,000 - Guy Raz references the large commercial version seen at CES. Smaller Proto model price: around $6,000 - Nussbaum describes the tabletop version aimed at lower-cost deployments. Tabletop device height: 24 inches tall - He explains the dimensions of the miniature version. Large device dimensions: 7 feet tall, 4 feet wide, 2 feet deep - Nussbaum describes the physical footprint of the full-size box. Trade show usage: longest lines in every trade show - He says the prototype drew major attention at conventions. University deployment: about 30 colleges and universities - Nussbaum cites current educational adoption. Funding raised: $3 million in 2020 and $12 million in 2021 - Guy Raz notes Proto’s fundraising milestones. Event travel distance: 8,000 miles - Referenced in the William Shatner example of beaming to Sydney, Australia.

Pivotal Quotes: "I wanted to do something as big as Tupac was for digital resurrection. I wanted to do something like that for live beaming." — David Nussbaum: He explains the shift from hologram concerts to Proto’s telepresence mission. "This is not VR. This is R. It’s real." — David Nussbaum: He contrasts Proto with virtual reality and emphasizes physical presence. "You’re not a hologram company. You’re a time machine." — William Shatner: Nussbaum recounts Shatner’s reaction after using Proto to avoid long-distance travel.

Implications: Proto suggests a future where telepresence becomes more immersive than video calls, reshaping education, entertainment, retail, and remote work. If costs fall and safeguards hold, holographic communication could become a mainstream medium.