E143: Your Mind Is the Only Prison | Bas Wouterse on AI, Magic & Building a Life That Actually Matters

Hi, everyone, and welcome back. Today, my guest is Baz Wouters, who has spent over 20 years at the intersection of hardware, software, mixed reality, and AI. He's built VR solutions, AR systems for spinal surgeons in Orlando, won a Times Magazine Innovation Award, and received FDA approval for a technology that is literally reducing the number of people who die on operating tables. And I could continue and continue and continue, but when you sit down with Baz, he has nothing about titles, or focused on career or achievement. He is all about people, even though he is one of the coolest and badass CTOs on this planet. He is all about humanity, people, thirst, and what can we do better in this world. So we talk about people, about fear, about what we tell ourselves, who we are, and why most of us are living inside a prison that we built ourselves. So this episode is full of, I would say, magic tricks, because Baz loves magic. A quick deroute to the Amazon jungles where he found himself working when we still had DVDs in our homes. And also the operating rooms of the future. Why you don't need... Also we touch base on the changes in the medical field. And why not everyone needs to be a unicorn? That's it. So this one is a warm, funny, wise episode with Bass. I hope you enjoy it and let's dive in. And Bass is, I would say, the veteran of the Web Summit Conference. So that's where we met. And it was really cool because the crew of the conference, they really nicely accepted into their circle and welcomed me, which I'm very grateful for. And it's always great every year to come back to Lisbon for the conference and to reconnect with all the crew and all the people. people, real stories, and real challenges that break the status quo. I'm your host, Juvila, and welcome to Perception and Paradox. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to Perception Paradox. My name is Joville, I'm your host, and today I have Bas with me. Hi, Bas.

Welcome. Hi, Joville. Good to see you again. We know each other for quite a few years, so it's funny to finally do a podcast together. Because I think we've been around the world a few times. I've met you all around the globe, especially in Denmark and Lisbon. And it's good to see you again. It's like a reunion.

It is earlier than it usually is. So that's amazing. I love it. I just thought we haven't spoken for a long time. So we need to catch up now, you know, sooner. So why not to do it on the podcast? And you've been working on pretty cool stuff. And usually when we hang out, it's like all the magic tricks and then me trying to understand those magic tricks. And then later on, we all get with the crowd to the tech part as well. So how have you been with your magic? And maybe you can remind the story. What role does magic play in your life?

It's a very minor role, but it has become a very big role. Because the fun thing is, I used to do a lot of magic tricks when I was younger, when I was 18 or 16, somewhere in between there. And I was doing magic tricks in bars to earn my beer. So I was actually going to bars just for fun. talking to people, having fun with people, telling jokes, and then, of course, doing a side gig of doing