About me

I’m a designer, researcher, and founder who builds systems that understand when and how to pay attention. My work sits at the intersection of AI, sensing, and human behavior—developing technologies that make machines more aware, responsive, and socially intelligent.

From pioneering eye-contact sensors and attentive displays at the Human Media Lab, to inventing the gaze-tracking system later commercialized by Samsung (Smart Pause / Smart Scroll), to leading early brain-computer interface R&Dat InteraXon (Muse), my focus has been consistent: teaching computers to interpret the subtle cues that shape human interaction.

As Founder & CEO of Synbiota, I extended that mission into biology—creating one of the first open, AI-assisted biotech collaboration platforms. Our work won the SXSW Interactive Accelerator, demonstrating that collective intelligence and open systems can accelerate real science.

Today, my projects explore how AI perception models for gaze, emotion, speech, and body language can create richer turn-taking, attention, and empathy in everyday devices. I’m especially interested in how AI can inhabit the physical world gracefully: sensing context, respecting privacy, and amplifying human presence rather than replacing it.

Background

• Founder & CEO, Synbiota Inc. — Open synthetic biology platform, SXSW Winner

• Founder, Kameraflage Inc. — Patented AR display technology

• Director of Research (Product), InteraXon — Led prototyping for the Muse BCI

• Fellowships — Mozilla Labs, SynBERC

• Academic Roots — Invited student, MIT Media Lab; Human Media Lab researcher; BA (Film & Media) Queen’s University; Global Solutions Program, Singularity University @ NASA Ames

I’m currently focused on AI systems that can see, listen, and respond as social participants—from gaze-responsive agents to embodied computing prototypes.

If you’re building toward that same future of human-aware AI, let’s talk.
Email: connord [at] media.mit.edu