Alvin Wang Graylin, MSC, MBA

Alvin Wang Graylin, MSC, MBA is Global VP of Corporate Development at HTC, Vice Chairman at Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance (IVRA), and President at Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA). He is the Coauthor of Our Next Reality: How the AI-powered Metaverse Will Reshape the World, published by Hachette Book Group. Read Feeling Spatial: Lessons from Alvin Wang Graylin.

He is a recognized technology pioneer, entrepreneur, executive, and thought leader with 30+ years of experience delivering innovative products in the AI, XR, cybersecurity, and semiconductor industries.

Alvin is Global VP of Corporate Development at HTC, a global leader in the VR/AR space. Previously, between 2016 and 2023, he served as the China President of HTC. Under his leadership, HTC has been voted as the top VR company in China at the World Conference of VR Industry (WCVRI) and he has been recognized by media and industry experts as the most influential person in XR in China.

He was leading all aspects of the HTC business in the China Region (Vive VR, phone, Viveport content platform, and investments) resulting in clear VR market share, brand, and ecosystem leadership, and was also responsible for strategic partnerships on a global basis. He founded and oversees the ViveX VR Accelerator at 3 of its 6 global locations.

Alvin is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on the topics of VR/AR/AI in China and globally. He was invited Speaker at Mobile World Congress Barcelona, Harvard XR2024 XRxAI Extended Intelligence Conference, Investopia Conference, 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Global Symposium, The EDGE Global AI & Web3 Investment Summit, and TEDx.

In 2023, Alvin authored his Our Next Reality — How the AI-powered Metaverse Will Reshape The World, published by Hachette Book Group. Watch Alvin W. Graylin Book Talk: Our Next Reality and Our Next Reality: a Debate of our AI-powered Immersive Future. Read These New Books Will Help You Understand AI. Listen to Episode 50: Alvin Wang Graylin “Our Next Reality.

In 2016, Alvin became the Vice Chairman of the Industry of Virtual Reality Alliance and President of Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (VRVCA). IVRA is the only VR industry organization endorsed by the Chinese Government. It was cofounded by MIIT, CCID, and HTC to help unite the VR industry under a common goal and accelerate advancement in the space.

Formed in 2016, the VRVCA is a close-knit membership comprised of 50 of the top investors in the world who want to invest in the VR/AR industry. They are focused on long-term growth in the VR industry through identifying, sharing, and investing in the world’s most innovative and impactful VR technology and content companies. VRVCA holds regular meetings around the world bridging the top VR/AR startups with leading investors.

Alvin was on the Board of Directors at the Immersive Tech between 2021 and 2022. Immersive Technology (F360) is a Canadian company creating fully immersive location-based entertainment solutions using VR/XR technologies and managed by an impressive team of industry veterans. Read Immersive Tech Announces Industry Leader & HTC China President Alvin Wang Graylin to its Board of Directors.

Between 2018 and 2021, he was a Distinguished Professor of VR Technologies at Beihang University where he teached and mentored students for the #VR Masters degree program at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (BUAA).

Alvin earned his Master’s Degree of Science in Computer Science from MIT in 2000, where he specialized in AI as applied to symbolic understanding, and scalable globally distributed data networks for cloud computing. In the same year, he earned his Master’s Degree in Business from MIT’s Sloan School of Management on the entrepreneurship and operations track, where he led two teams to the finals of MIT’s 50K b-plan competition.

Alvin built his foundation in VR research at the Human Interface Technology Lab at the University of Washington over 30 years ago under the tutelage of Professor Tom Furness, The Godfather of VR. There he earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Electrical Engineering in 1993, focused on Virtual Reality, parallel processing CPU architecture, and applied Neural Network AI for NLP applications.

Alvin began his career in 1991, when he was Chip Design Engineer for IBM, designing the PowerPC Chip. He continued as Partner and Cofounder of CompuNeed Consulting in 1991, where he operated a system integration provider for SMBs doing custom programming projects, network operations, and device procurement until 1993 when he became Senior Manager at Intel Corporation.

At Intel, he started as an Engineer designing advanced processor architectures and PC subsystems and later moved to business and marketing roles. He helped found Intel’s China organization in the early 90s and ran the Consumer PC business in China for 3 years growing from zero to $300 million in revenue.

Later, he was on the founding team for the Intel Online Services division which operated 10+ cloud computing data centers across 5 continents and ran the Asia Regional Business until 1999.

He went on to found Investment Compass Corp. and was their CEO. It was a Provider of web-based institutional-level financial analytics tools and services for online retail investors to enable more data-driven decision-making.

In 2000, he was CEO and Founder of iCompass, provider of e-Business Intelligence and personalization technology based on big data AI analytics systems to consumer portals and e-commerce stores. iCompass was funded by Morningside Ventures.

In 2001, Alvin became the Director of Client/Server and Consumer Groups at Trend Micro, and in 2003, the Director of Product and Marketing at WatchGuard Technologies.

In 2005, he was Chairman, CEO, and Cofounder of mInfo until 2015. It was a leading Mobile Search provider to Chinese carriers and users, and a Mobile Marketing solutions provider to leading brands and agencies in China. mInfo’s natural language mobile search services are available nationwide via SMS, WAP, IM, and apps.

In 2012 and 2013, Alvin was the Founder of Guanxi Inc, a location-based social discovery platform, and of Model+, China’s only cross-agency mobile platform for searching and booking professional models.

In 2015, he was briefly a TV Host at Shanghai Media Group, where he hosted a weekly TV show “Future Now” focused on highlighting innovative tech companies in China.

In the same year, Alvin was Founding Director at SOSV MOX, where he was tasked with launching the program and driving market success for the first batch of the MOX accelerator. MOX is SOSV’s “Mobile-Only Accelerator” located in Taipei — which enables mobile apps, platforms, and services from around the world to reach hundreds of millions of mobile-first, mobile-only users.

Alvin is Board Member of the Virtual World Society (VWS) and Member of Wise Qatar Foundation.

He was born in China during the Cultural Revolution to Eurasian parents and emigrated to the U.S. in 1980 as the country’s reform period started. Alvin has recently relocated back to the U.S. after almost 20 years working and living in China during its internet and mobile boom and is currently based in Seattle, Washington.

Read The 3 phases of AI evolution that could play out this century, Metaverse Musings with Alvin Wang Graylin, and GCV Powerlist 2018: Alvin Wang Graylin.

Listen to Reimagining Education in VR with Alvin Wang Graylin.

Read Feeling Spatial: Lessons From Alvin Wang Graylin, Alvin Wang Graylin from HTC to speak at UW ECE Graduation, HTC Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin on the Transformative Potential of Virtual Reality, and Future of Work Series: Alvin Wang Graylin, President of HTC China.

Watch From a tea farm to the Metaverse, Viewpoints #8 — w/ Alvin Wang Graylin, HTC Vive, Early years with VR & HTC and future of remote working — Field of View with Alvin Wang Grayli, Living in the Metaverse, and Virtually Shaking the foundation of our reality TEDxTianshanPark.

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