Dr. Tom Furness is an amalgam of University Professor, Inventor, Virtual Reality Pioneer and Entrepreneur in a professional career spanning 59 years.  He has made notable contributions in photonics, electro-optics, human interface technology, and their application in medicine, education, training, design and entertainment.  He is considered the ‘grandfather’ of virtual reality and augmented reality.  Tom earned a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University in 1966 and the Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Southampton, England in 1981.  For 33 years he served as a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA and the founder of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) at UW and founder and international director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and the HIT Lab Australia at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania.

Prior to joining the faculty at the UW, Tom served a combined 23 years as an U.S. Air Force officer and civilian scientist at the Armstrong Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he developed advanced cockpits and virtual interfaces for the Department of Defense.  He is the author of the Super Cockpit program and served as the Chief of Visual Display Systems and Super Cockpit Director until he joined the University of Washington in 1989.

Since the beginning of his career Tom has continued to play an active role in virtual and augmented reality development and application.  In 1998 he received the Discover Award for his invention of the virtual retinal display. Tom is co-inventor of the ChromaID technology licensed to Visualant Inc. and received the 2013 SPIE Prism Award for this work. In June 2015 he gave keynote titled ‘Being the future’ at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, California, where he received the first ‘Auggie’ lifetime achievement award for his 50-year contribution to the VR and AR Industries. In March 2016 Tom received the IEEE VR Career Award for his lifetime contributions to the fields of virtual and Augmented Reality and in October 2016 the Virtual Reality Foundation of Los Angeles Proto Award also for lifetime achievement.  In November 2021 Tom was presented the Accenture Lifetime Achievement Award by the Academy of International Extended Reality and Elected to the IEEE VTCG Academy.  Most recently in October 2023 Tom was awarded the first Heart for Humanity Award by the Girls S.T.E.A.M. Institute.

Tom lectures widely and has appeared in many national and international network and syndicated television science and technology documentaries and news programs.  He has testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee.  He is the inventor of the personal eyewear display, the virtual retinal display, the HALO display and holds 26 patents in advanced sensor, display and interface technologies. With his colleagues and students Dr. Furness has published over 400 papers and conference proceedings and started 27 companies, two of which are traded on NASDAQ at a market capitalization of > $ 15 B (USD).  In 2005 he founded the RATLab LLC, a private company where he experiments with advanced sensors and biophotonics.

Tom is a Fellow of the IEEE and a member of the Computer Society and Photonics Society of the IEEE. He is the founder and chairman emeritus of the Virtual World Society, a non-profit for extending virtual reality as a learning system for families and other humanitarian applications.  In June 2025 at Augmented World Expo he announced that under his direction the Virtual World Society was starting a new initiative called The Light School.  The Light School will be a pioneering academy that trains individuals to navigate their inner and outer worlds using immersive technology, AI, and quantum consciousness—awakening their full potential and cultivating the attributes of transcendence to uplift humanity.

Tom Nolan runs a ten piece rock ‘n soul band in the Los Angeles area.  He is a lead singer, harmonica player and percussionist.  His band plays for dancing, and they are always successful.  They play all over California, at clubs, benefits, community concerts, weddings, bar mitzvahs—wherever folks need to dance.

The band is carrying on the great soul and blues traditions, as well as playing Tom’s original compositions. Tom is blessed with many long-time collaborators, including his writing partner, David Hoyt.  The band has been active for thirty five years.

Tom has produced 8 records. His most recent record is called Workin’ It! By Tom Nolan and is available on ITunes and Spotify.

Tom worked as an educator for thirty five years, he has been married to Peggy OBrien for forty five years, and he has two fantastic grown children.  His son, Jesse, a great musician himself, sits in with the band regiularly.  Tom lives in Venice, California.  He loves LA.