Dean Mai

I specialize in identifying disruptive, core technologies and strategic technology trends in early-stage startups, research universities, government sponsored laboratories and commercial companies.

In my current role, I lead sourcing of strategic technology investment opportunities and managing Dyson’s diligence and outreach processes, specifically in the U.S., Israel and China.

I write here (sporadically) on the convergence of science and engineering, with broader adopted interests in novel disruptive technologies, cognitive psychology, human-computer interaction (HCI), philosophy, linguistics and artificial intelligence (AI).

All in cognitive psychology

Aug 9
Aug 9 Similar information rates across languages, regardless of varying speech rates

Dean Mai

cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence

Language and linguistics are studied through a wide range of tools and perspectives. Over the past few years, a proliferation of mathematical methods, newly available datasets and computational modeling (namely probability and information theory) has led to an increased interest in information transmission efficiency across human languages.

May 9
May 9 Intuitive physics and domain-specific perceptual causality in infants and AI

Dean Mai

cognitive psychology

More recently, cognitive psychology and artificial intelligence (AI) researchers have been motivated by the need to explore the concept of intuitive physics in infants’ object perception skills and understand whether further theoretical and practical applications in the field of artificial intelligence could be developed by linking intuitive physics’ approaches to the research area of AI—by building autonomous systems that learn and think like humans.

Dec 31
Dec 31 Virtual reality as a tool for stress inoculation training in Special Operations Forces

Dean Mai

vr & ar, cognitive psychology

Stress is a common factor in tactical fast-paced scenarios such as in firefighting, law enforcement, and military—especially among Special Operations Forces (SOF) units who are routinely required to operate outside the wire (i.e., in hostile enemy territory) in isolated, confined, and extreme (ICE) environments (albeit seldom such environment is long-duration by choice).

Aug 9 Aug 9 Similar information rates across languages, regardless of varying speech rates

May 9 May 9 Intuitive physics and domain-specific perceptual causality in infants and AI

Dec 31 Dec 31 Virtual reality as a tool for stress inoculation training in Special Operations Forces

Aug 9
Aug 9 Similar information rates across languages, regardless of varying speech rates

May 9
May 9 Intuitive physics and domain-specific perceptual causality in infants and AI

Dec 31
Dec 31 Virtual reality as a tool for stress inoculation training in Special Operations Forces