{"id":35880,"date":"2025-03-18T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/muse.international\/?p=35880"},"modified":"2025-05-09T02:02:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T02:02:47","slug":"future-of-design-an-interview-with-meta-design-lead-yiqi-zhao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/muse.international\/index\/future-of-design-an-interview-with-meta-design-lead-yiqi-zhao\/","title":{"rendered":"Future of Design: An Interview with Meta Design Lead, Yiqi Zhao"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yiqi Zhao is the Design Lead at Meta, specialising in immersive experiences across Meta Quest, cross-screen platforms, and wearables. With a research background at Harvard and MIT Media Lab, Yiqi is passionate about democratising 3D creation by uniting XR and AI while fostering an AIGC community through Deepcake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yiqi Zhao Q1<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My name is Yiqi, and I am currently the Design Lead at Meta, specialising in immersive experiences across Meta Quest products, cross-screen platforms, and wearables. With a research background at Harvard and the MIT Media Lab, my journey in 3D began with brain-computer interfaces (EEG) and wearable AI. Prior to my current role, I led Unity’s platform initiatives, including the visionOS partnership for Apple Vision Pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, I have explored the gaming sector by shipping Destiny 2. Outside of work, I am passionate about community building and lead Deepcake, an AIGC community dedicated to AI-integrated content creation, which is scaling up based on social media. My near-term goal is to continuously advocate for democratising 3D immersive creation by uniting XR and AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, I was always drawn to creating things. At the age of five, I started painting, followed by sculpting, modeling, and tracing floor plans of buildings. I even experimented with spray painting on billboards. In middle school, I taught myself 3D modeling and founded a small community group of creators with fellow anime enthusiasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially, I pursued 3D art as a side hustle during my teenage years. However, I had a deeper aspiration to build something that would leave a lasting impact and make a mark in history. This led me to explore spatial design, specifically architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, I had the opportunity to try virtual reality with the first Oculus Rift DK1. Later, I worked on a research project to create a virtual reality replica of historical architecture, the US Embassy Residences. This marked the beginning of my career as a mixed reality-focused product designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Q3<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Currently, I am part of Meta Reality Labs, serving as a Design Lead responsible for the metaverse experience. The term “metaverse” has evolved over time, and its definition continues to shift. For me, it represents an evolving concept. Decades ago, people referred to 3D immersive experiences in head-worn devices as Virtual Reality. Later, Pok\u00e9mon Go popularised Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality emerged as digital and physical elements interacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As hardware, operating systems, and platforms matured, we began to compare headsets to the next computing platform, giving rise to Spatial Computing. At its core, our mission remains the same \u2013 to connect people and build the future of human connection and the technology that makes it possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(read more here<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yiqi Zhao is the Design Lead at Meta, specialising in immersive experiences across Meta Quest, cross-screen platforms, and wearables. 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