Aaron Selverston

Prototyping The Future 2016 Speakers

Aaron works at the nexus between civil society and technology, building tools that empower communities by bringing innovation to the street. He conceived of the OWL virtual reality kiosk after spending countless hours reporting on public meetings in Palo Alto and witnessing the utter dysfunction of that antiquated process. Aaron founded Owlized to provide tactical urban solutions which enable communities to visualize design alternatives in situ and respond to survey questions from the street, without deviating from their busy lives. Today the OWL and other innovative design solutions at Owlized are driving civic engagement, resiliency, place-making, data visualization and marketing initiatives for cities, developers, learning institutions and ad agencies.

Aaron is also an award-winning reporter whose work has appeared on NPR, CNN, PBS, Salon, and other major outlets. He was founding editor of Palo Alto Patch (AOL), and has received broad recognition for his reporting across a variety of mediums, including a George Polk Award for a story on the impacts of sea level rise on the residents of Kiribati.

Aaron lives in San Francisco and is a 16-year Burning Man veteran, flies a paraglider, and could eat Mexican food four meals a day.