Who we are
We are first generation Salvadorans giving a voice to our communities with Augmented Reality
About us
We are a team of artists and engineers envisioning the collective future of our people. Mixing creativity with technology, our mission is to bring Augmented Reality (AR) to communities that have been underrepresented.
Lucid Skies is a 100% Salvadoran owned collective, combining art and technology to inspire our community. We are focused on creating innovative augmented reality experiences to inspire youth to pursue skills revolving art, technology, and community.
Technology develops rapidly and is one of the determining factors of what the future looks like. With this insight it is clear that if we want our communities to be prosperous, we must succeed in understanding both the technical design and the societal implications of what we create and share this knowledge with our communities. At Lucid Skies the AR experiences we design, ranging from interactive mental health prompts to music reactive experiences, have been used by 10 million people. By sharing the knowledge that we obtain from creating massively popular augmented reality experiences, we hope to bring the skills of the future to our people and to collaborate on what technology has to offer through our collective minds.
We believe in making engineering knowledge, particularly augmented reality, accessible, as a means of empowering disenfranchised communities. The engineering skills obtained through AR are very diverse; the spectrum and limits of modern hardware and software are encompassed, with space for creativity, culture, and art. By involving community members and educators in integrating art, mental health, and culture into engineering education, we aim for long term impact, bringing communities into the forefront of technology through our workshops, installations, and murals.
With AR our creativity paints the world beyond tangible reality.
From the incredible architectural masterpieces of the Mesoamerican cities to the complex system of calendars that mapped the stars, our people have always created technologies that were works of art. We believe in the notion that technology can be art. We are not people who are merely consumers of technology, but we are actively combining our work ethic, wisdom, and intelligence to create our future.
Founders
Daniel Villanueva
Hola, I am Daniel Villanueva, a first-generation Salvadoran Chicano and an emerging leader in augmented reality platforms. I co-founded Lucid Skies, to create a safe space for BIPOC artists and engineers to combine advanced technology with creativity.
My upbringing as the oldest child of Salvadoran war refugee parents has been the driving force behind my work. My parents left everything and everyone they knew. They sacrificed their childhoods and traversed dangerous deserts and escaped the violence of the Salvadoran civil war to find opportunities in America.
They couldn't afford to support my pursuit of higher education or extracurricular activities. Instead, they expected me to find a job immediately after high school, a common reality for many people in the San Fernando Valley. There's a noticeable absence of innovative opportunities, which often dampens our enthusiasm for learning new skills and pushing our boundaries, whether it's in our careers or our artistic endeavors.
I believe that Augmented Reality (AR) technology offers an exciting and innovative way for individuals to immerse themselves in the world of technology. This dynamic medium not only captivates the imagination but also fosters an accessible and engaging entry point into the realm of tech-driven possibilities. This is important because if we are left out in the advancements of technology we as a community will be left behind.
Today, my work primarily revolves around augmented reality software and interactive installations. I'm deeply committed to crafting transformative experiences that resonate with people of all ages. Whether it's leveraging AR to share untold stories from our parents or fostering cultural appreciation through immersive exhibits, I firmly believe in AR technology as a potent instrument for driving positive social change and innovation in our communities. My work is a direct reflection of this commitment, and I'm eager to continue this journey of cultural exploration and technological innovation.
Kevin Villanueva
Growing up in a household shaped by the experiences of my parents who fled the war in El Salvador, I felt a cultural and economic gap between my home and school. I witnessed classmates with support systems and resources while facing the reality of working extra hours to finance my studies.
Despite the struggle to bridge these worlds, my parents instilled in me a drive to achieve my goals. So I saved $300 for my first laptop in highschool to embark on my computer science journey at UCSB.
Despite not having family members who went to college and minimal financial resources, I was awarded scholarships and conference grants from organizations such as Great Minds in STEM, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Edison International, and more. In my spare time I taught computer science lessons to middle schoolers from Latino communities.
Overcoming these hurdles, I entered the technology sector, securing roles at Amazon and Snapchat. After paying off my student loans, helping my mom pay for nursing school, and ensuring my parents could pay for my grandparents’ medications and visit their family in El Salvador, I decided I wanted to do more for my community.
Driven by a passion to make technology accessible to disenfranchised communities, such as immigrants, I founded Lucid Skies with my cousin. This venture enables me to blend creativity, storytelling, and cutting-edge technology, especially Augmented Reality, to inspire and empower the next generation.