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Mike Griffin
editMike Griffin is an entrepreneur and scientific expert born in London in 1966. Originally working on early research on Virtual Reality and industrial processing, Mike developed advanced Virtual Reality systems for training first responders and blue chip organisations such as the BBC. He has since moved over to developing XR solutions for businesses and now spends a lot of his effort working on sustainable 3d printing solutions.
Life
editEarly Life
editHis early years were spent in the South of the UK, notably Wiltshire, but at the age of 7 he moved to North Lancashire where he stayed until he was 18. His father was an educator, where he eventually rose to being the Principal of the Lancaster and Morecambe College of Further Education. His mother spent her time raising him and his two elder brothers, as well as supporting his father.
Mike first got into technology when his elder brother purchased a Sinclair ZX80 home computer. He learnt to program this in BASIC and went on to save up and buy his own machine, at the time a BBC Micro and learnt to program in both assembly language and BBC Basic.
Education
editMike's fascination with the works of Isaac Azimov, a notable science fiction writer, initially led him to moving to Reading University in 1984, where he studied at the Department of Cybernetics.[1]. He achieved a degree in Cybernetics and Control Engineering in 1987 and stayed on to do a PhD.
PhD in Virtual Reality
editMike was fascinated with early 3d graphics, particularly the works of James D Foley and particularly his book on interactive computer graphics[2]. He had already written an early virtual world generator (DaisyWorld) in 1983 and wanted to experiment with immersion following on the works of Ivan Sutherland and his "Sword of Damocles" system. Mike developed a magnetic head tracking system and an early headset utilising Sinclair TV80 pocket TV sets. These were CRT based systems and quickly replaced with Casio TV400's based on LCD technology.
This system was eventually coupled with a robotic arm and a simulated head with a pair of Sony Video Cameras and electret microphones. This system allowed the video and audio to be mixed into the virtual world providing an operator with a combined virtual and telerobotic view of the environment. This was one of the first extended reality systems.
MIke's PhD thesis, entitled "A cybernetic perspective of virtual reality[3]" was published in 1991 and his PhD was granted later that year.
Career
editMike started work as a Post Doctoral research fellow at Reading University working on a number of projects with Molins Advanced Technology Group, mainly on process control. Mike developed a genetic algorithm platform whilst working with his work colleagues for improving printing process control[4] in bank note production for the Bank of England.
Mike was then head hunted by a new startup founded inside the Colt Group called ColtVR, there they worked with the SuperScape desktop virtual reality system to create experiences for a wide range of industrial clients including the BBC, NatWest Bank, Royal Sun Alliance, Sainsbury's and other blue chip organisations.
In 1994, Mike, with his business partner of the time, he raised venture funding to buy ColtVR and rename it VectorCommand Ltd[5][6]. This company was to develop a desktop training system, termed the Tactical Command Trainer in collaboration with the Fire Service College - the premier training establishment for the UK Fire Service.
Although the company went on to trade successfully for 17 years, eventually due to the proposed reorganisation[7] of the Fire Services by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, business trading and the business was sold as a Pre-packaged insolvency in 2016[8]
After a brief period trading as a Limited Liability partnership, in 2017 Mike then set up his own company called Augmented Solutions Limited. This company specialises in augmented reality, ai applications and web apps. This company has developed products such as TagScan (an XR based inventory system) and PrintXR, an XR application for 3d printing.
In 2023, Mike got an Innovate UK grant for sustainable manufacturing and developed a new trading arm of Augmented Solutions called MyPrintPod. This division specialised in utilising recycled plastic, low carbon energy and 3d printing to make products, parts, tooling and prototypes for businesses.
Campaigning and Pro Bono Work
editMike is an avid campaigner for the voice of SMEs through his membership of ACT | The App Association, where he has lobbied at both the UK Government and the European Commission on aspects as wide as digital markets and essential patents. In addition Mike supports sustainability initiatives such as the People, Planet Pintinitiative, which brings like minded companies and individuals together to help improve the environment. Finally Mike is a mentor at Cambridge Enterprise, a part of Cambridge University supporting their small startups.
References
edit- ^ "BBC - A History of the World - Object : Happy, a Reading University robot". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ Foley, James D.; Van Dam, Andries (1984). Fundamentals of interactive computer graphics. The systems programming series (Repr. with corr ed.). Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-201-14468-0.
- ^ "A cybernetic perspective of virtual reality / by M.P. Griffin". rdg.ent.sirsidynix.net.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ Sutanto, E.; Warwick, K.; Griffin, M. (1992). "Application of logistic regression for fault analysis in an industrial printing process". IEEE Proceedings. IEEE: 675–680. doi:10.1109/IMTC.1992.245054. ISBN 978-0-7803-0640-0.
- ^ RP, MDM Publishing Ltd- (2015-07-09). "VectorCommand - APF Magazine". Asia Pacific Fire. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ "Vector Command Ltd". The Critical Communications Review. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ "The future of the fire and rescue service | Fire Brigades Union". www.fbu.org.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
- ^ "VECTORCOMMAND LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2025-07-30.