Alvin Graylin — “The Next Normal”.
Alvin Graylin is the President of HTC China. He is leading all aspects of the HTC business in the China Region and is responsible for Vive VR, phone, Viveport content platform and investments. And recently he has taken on the global responsibility for running the Software Business Unit for HTC as well.
The company has launched the Vive XR Suite, a collection of software applications that enable users to work, learn, socialize and share live experiences in an immersive environment. I spoke to a very friendly and humble person who knows very well where he wants to go with HTC and the Vive ecosystem.
WebAR technology is literally at their users’ fingertips. And with it, AR has the unique ability to transform objects, the user’s environment, or even users themselves into an immersive world. It gives brands/organizations a technology which their audience can instantly manifest extraordinary digital experiences with only a few taps. Not wasting any time, intrepid marketers have found ways to deploy AR and take advantage of the way it boosts engagement (again, not exaggerating). A Sony Pictures’ WebAR experience had users dwelling in the experience for a full five minutes. Compare that with any typical website bounce statistic.
AR also gives brands/organizations the chance to give richer details and deepen ties. W-in-a-Box is a brand that is putting water in cartons instead of polluting plastic bottles. With a snap of the QR code, an entire story is revealed on the user’s smartphone—and within the user’s own context. If W-in-a-Box is placed on your fancy Nordic kitchen table, the story unfolds atop your fancy Nordic kitchen table. If W-in-a-Box is on your Post-It-papered office desk, then the story unfolds on your Post-It-papered office desk. WebAR allows the product to become the medium. And as the W-in-a-Box video shows, the storytelling and information sharing can be more profound, more elaborate and more colorful than four sides of a carton will allow. Plus, when the experience happens in your own environment, it feels more personal, more relevant. It is easier to forge a better bond.
When the pandemic is over, politicians on both sides of the aisle will affect (and try to induce) amnesia about what happened during the crisis.
Alvin was born in China and educated in the US. He received his MS in computer science from MIT, MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and BS in electrical engineering from the University of Washington, where he had specialized in VR and AI over two decades ago. Alvin Graylin is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese.
He has over 28 years of business management experience in the tech industry, including 20 years in Greater China. Prior to HTC, Alvin was a serial entrepreneur, having founded four venture-backed startups in the mobile and internet spaces, covering mobile, social, adtech, search, AI, big data and digital media. Additionally, he has held $100+ million P&L roles at a number of public companies.
Today, Alvin Graylin is the China President at HTC, leading all aspects of HTC’s business in the region (Vive/VR, phone, Viveport content platform, partnerships and investments) and the company’s SW Business globally.
He is also currently Vice-Chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance (IVRA.com) with 300+ company members, President of the $18B Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance and oversees the Vive X VR Accelerators in Beijing, Shenzhen and Tel Aviv. Graylin is a sought after speaker and thought leader in the areas of VR/AR, AI, Entrepreneurship, and doing business in China by events and media globally.
