Danny Paul on Tech That Feels: Key Insights into Emotion, AI, AR, and the Future of Connection
- Nico Fara
- May 27
- 5 min read
This week on the Immergence Show, we were thrilled to host Danny Paul, Chief Creative Officer at The Electric Factory. He is a recognized voice in creative technology, known for using storytelling to build the future and making extraordinary things with talented people. Danny shared profound insights into the crucial need for emotional resonance in AI, AR, and spatial experiences.
This article distills the key educational takeaways and pivotal insights from our discussion. While we explore the core concepts here, to truly grasp the depth of Danny Paul's vision, including his candid thoughts on bringing historical figures like Leonardo da Vinci to life and the specific challenges in capturing personality, not just facts, the full video interview is a must-watch.
The Problem: Tech's Emotional Deficit
We live in an era of breathtaking technological advancement, from AI that learns at lightning speed to AR that overlays our reality. Yet, as Danny points out, much of this tech feels impressive but emotionally hollow. During periods of intense innovation, we often get caught up in the what – the capabilities, the novelty – and lose sight of the why. We build things because we can, not always because they are meaningful or impactful to our human experience. This pursuit of "innovation for innovation's sake" can lead to experiences that feel gimmicky, disconnected, and ultimately, fail to resonate. Danny warns that this isn't just a missed opportunity; it can lead to alienating users and even "atrophying your brand."
Key Insight: "We get lost in the technology for technology sake... It's lacking in that substantive core which seeks to elevate our existence, rather than to just assert its own existence as a technology."
Designing with Empathy: The Electric Factory Approach
How can we build tech that feels? For Danny and The Electric Factory, the answer lies in an integrated approach where creative and technology are not separate; they are intertwined from the start. Their strategy is deeply informed by both the potential and the accountability of building real-world applications. It's about moving beyond the "cool" factor to understand the impact an experience can have. This means designing for people, recognizing our inherent desire to engage, connect, and feel. It's about seeing users not as demographics, but as individuals with emotional lives.
A powerful example is their "Paper World" project, an AR adventure developed with Children's Hospital of LA and Snap. This experience uses AR to encourage post-operative children to move, exploring a visually gentle world to accelerate recovery and reduce complications. It was a complex challenge, requiring not only technical solutions (like working around LiDAR limitations) but deep empathy – designing visually (not text-based) for a multilingual community and creating something motivating yet respectful during a sensitive time.
Key Insight: "Paper World helped set the stage and started to normalize the use of augmented reality in more practical and meaningful ways that are still emerging."
Personal Connection Through Spatial Tech: 'Niko's Gift'
The potential for emotional connection was vividly demonstrated in another project, "Niko's Gift." While experimenting with Google's Geospatial AR, the team had a "light bulb moment": this technology wasn't just for large-scale, public experiences; it could be profoundly intimate and personal. They used it to create a gift for a creative director, GJ, who was isolated during the pandemic, separated from his family in Australia after his mother's passing. They created an anthropomorphic bunny (GJ's "ego") doing the salsa (a nod to his nephew's parents) and placed it via geospatial AR in his young nephew Niko's driveway in Australia. It became a deeply personal, persistent connection across continents, showcasing how tech can bridge distance in a heartfelt, human way – a stark contrast to impersonal brand activations.
Key Insight: "People look at AR as being that sort of typical Times Square experience... but we realized in that moment that this was very intimate, this was very personal, and this is something that you could actually use to share a gift."
The Rise of Agentic AI & The Future of Brands
Looking ahead, Danny sees the rise of "Agentic AI" as a transformative force. We're moving beyond using AI simply as a search tool towards personal agents that understand us – our aesthetics, preferences, and data – and act as intermediaries. This shift necessitates a new approach: "Agentic Engine Optimization" (AEO). Brands will need to optimize not just for keywords, but for these intelligent, personalized agents. Success will hinge on authenticity, real value, and a strong brand identity that can flex across ecosystems without feeling forced. As agents start communicating with each other (through protocols like MCP), the very nature of the web and brand interaction could change fundamentally.
Key Insight: "As [Agentic AI] matures, brands are going to have to understand how to optimize for not just people, but for personal agents, very, very personal agents that have been trained upon my behavior and my data."
Looking Ahead: Danny Paul's Vision for an Augmented Future
Danny is particularly excited about the arrival of sophisticated, stylish AR glasses. He believes these will finally allow AR to break free from phone screens and "selfie filters," enabling a more seamless, practical, and world-augmenting integration into our lives. This pairs with his interest in new storytelling formats, like "ambient" narratives with rich, optional backstories, and "smart NPCs" that move beyond games to become personalized brand representatives.
For Danny’s full, unfiltered predictions on where technologies like AI Imaginary Friends and interactive characters like AI Darth Vader are heading – including some truly eye-opening scenarios discussed off-the-cuff – the complete Immergence Show episode is unmissable.
Unlock the Full Strategic Discussion
This article provides a strategic overview, but the magic is in the details! To hear Danny Paul share his journey from poet to CCO, the specific hurdles faced in making Leonardo da Vinci feel human, and a deeper dive into the 'why' behind projects like "Paper World," and to truly absorb their expertise:
About Your Host & The Immergence Show
Nico Fara is a Business Strategist, Product Marketer, and passionate Community Builder specializing in the vibrant intersection of AI, Gaming, XR, Fashion, and Consumer Tech. With a talent for translating visionary tech into compelling product strategies and fostering thriving, engaged communities, Nico empowers brands to connect authentically with their audiences and drive impactful growth. Explore Nico's insights further by visiting her website or connect on LinkedIn.
About The Immergence Show: Get your weekly dose of community and cutting-edge insights on The Immergence Show, a thriving live community event where innovation in AI, XR, Web3, Gaming, and Retail-Tech meets a deeply engaged global community. We host interactive discussions with industry pioneers, ensuring our audience of creative technologists, entrepreneurs, and brand executives leaves with fresh perspectives and actionable knowledge. Join the live experience every Tuesday at 12 PM EST on LinkedIn, catch up on all past episodes via our YouTube Channel and find more resources on our website.
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