Jaron Lanier is an American computer scientist, visual artist, and technologist widely recognized as a founder of the field of virtual reality. In 1985, he and Thomas G. Zimmerman left Atari to establish VPL Research, Inc.

, the first company to commercially sell VR goggles and wired gloves, fundamentally shaping how we interact with digital environments. Beyond his groundbreaking work in virtual reality, Lanier has established himself as a multifaceted innovator spanning technology, philosophy, and the arts. He is a computer philosophy writer, futurist, and composer of contemporary classical music, bringing a unique interdisciplinary perspective to complex technological challenges.

In the late 1990s, he contributed to Internet2 applications, and throughout the 2000s served as a visiting scholar at Silicon Graphics and various universities. Since 2006, he has worked at Microsoft, currently holding the position of Interdisciplinary Scientist at Microsoft Research since 2009, where he continues to explore the intersection of human experience and technological advancement.