BigSky started out just like us. But because they are crowdfunded, they have a much wider remit. I respect BigSky, but with Little Bird we’re trying to do something different.

Hence the name?

We are intentionally small. We’re privately funded, but unlike BigSky we have a narrow focus. Our goal is to build bridges between the fast-growing sector of neurotransmitter regulation and shared AR-space. We’re bridging medicine and neural tech.

You recruited Bernard Zborowski from BigSky, and let’s be honest: since the global success of Spacetime, Big Sky has deep pockets. How did you get a developer like him to walk your way?

Most people in this field aren’t as concerned with money as they are with creating something new. Don’t get me wrong – you have to pay people – but for someone like Bernard who can write his own ticket, how we attracted him was to say, ‘Look, your work and our work would go really well together. We can do something unique and impactful.’ We’re looking to find ways to personalise digital gating codes so that people can better control their own minds, using AR as a feedback system or, in some cases, maybe even as an electrochemical triggering system. That’s a fairly narrow focus compared to the broad-brush commercial techniques of BigSky.

Whenever we start talking about mind control, we’re into the realm of science fiction where governments control people through the chips in their heads.

Yeah, this isn’t that. I mean, with any system, whether you carry it in your pocket, in your body tissue or wear it as jewellery, any communication system can be used to surveil you and control you, but it’s more likely to be used by marketers than the government. Actually, what we’re realising is that governments can barely control things like taxation and voter registration, so they don’t have time to be getting inside people’s heads! But what we are starting to see a lot of is exploration of consensual realities, sharing of virtual spaces. Much of this is surprisingly proactive and positive and not at all sinister. Other uses of shared space are definitely commercial – we’ve all been accosted by AR spambots and some of them can be quite convincing—

I know, I nearly bought fake Arsenal tickets from a kid who looked so real!

Exactly. We’ve all been there. With Little Bird, we’re looking to give people back control of their minds, equip them with tools to stay free of these large-scale hypnotic effects that characterize our age and affect us all. We want you to reclaim yourself from the groupthink – that’s our mission.

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