Dr. Rizwan Virk is a computer scientist, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, bestselling author, indie film producer, futurist , professor and video game industry pioneer. He is a graduate of MIT and Stanford and recently earned his doctorate at Arizona State University’s College of Global Future. His interdisciplinary academic research, done at the Center for Science and the Imagination, has been on the role of technoscientific narratives (including science fiction) about the future of virtual reality and AI on innovation/entrepreneurship, religion, and the future of society. He also teaches at the Fulton Schools of Engineering, and is part of the Future of Being Human Initiative at ASU.
Dr. Virk’s startups have created software used by many of the Fortune 500 and have produced video games, including Tap Fish and Penny Dreadful: Demimonde, have been played by millions. He was the founder of Play Labs @ MIT, a startup accelerator at the MIT Media Lab, and is a venture partner at Griffin Gaming Partners, one of the largest VC funds dedicated to video games.
Dr. Virk’s books include The Simulation Hypothesis, Wisdom of a Yogi, The Simulated Multiverse, Startup Myths & Models, Treasure Hunt and Zen Entrepreneurship. He has appeared on the world's largest podcasts, including The Joe Rogan Experience and Armchair Expert, and has written articles future of science, tech and media for NBC News, CNN, Scientific American, The Telegraph, TechCrunch and Fast Company.