Jeri Janet Ellsworth (born August 14, 1974) is an American
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones.
An entreprene ...
,
computer chip designer and inventor. She gained fame in 2004 for creating a complete
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
emulator
In computing, an emulator is Computer hardware, hardware or software that enables one computer system (called the ''host'') to behave like another computer system (called the ''guest''). An emulator typically enables the host system to run sof ...
system on a chip
A system on a chip (SoC) is an integrated circuit that combines most or all key components of a computer or Electronics, electronic system onto a single microchip. Typically, an SoC includes a central processing unit (CPU) with computer memory, ...
housed within a
joystick
A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Also known as the control column, it is the principal control devic ...
, called
Commodore 30-in-1 Direct to TV.
It runs 30 video games from the 1980s, and at peak, sold over 70,000 units in a single day via the
QVC
QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...
shopping channel.
Ellsworth was hired by
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation, also known as Valve Software, is an American video game developer, video game publisher, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution pl ...
to develop augmented reality hardware, but was terminated in 2013. She co-founded
castAR to continue the work—with permission—but the company shut down on June 26, 2017 without completing development.
She started another company, Tilt Five, to create AR hardware based on the same principles.
Ellsworth has publicly talked about various homebrew projects, such as how to manufacture semiconductor chips at home.
Early life
Ellsworth was born in
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States
Georgia may also refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
and grew up in the towns of
Dallas, Oregon and
Yamhill, Oregon. Her mother died when she was one.
Ellsworth was raised by her father, Jim, a car mechanic and
Mobil
Mobil Oil Corporation, now known as just Mobil, is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil, formerly known as Exxon, which took its current name after history of ExxonMobil#merger, it and Mobil merge ...
service station owner.
When she was eight years old, she disassembled her toys to learn how they worked. In response her father stopped buying toys, put an empty box at his work saying "bring your broken electronic gizmos", and every few weeks, gave them to her. She started making simple modifications to them.
She persuaded her father to let her use a
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
computer which had been purchased for her brother.
She taught herself to program by reading the manual. She earned spending money working for her father, pumping gas, cleaning wrenches, replacing oil filters, and other "mechanical things".
In high school, she drove
dirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorc ...
cars with her father and began designing new models in his workshop, eventually selling custom race cars. She
dropped out of high school to continue the business.
Computer stores
In 1995, at the age of 21, Ellsworth tired of race track social atmosphere,
so she and a friend started a business assembling and selling computers based around the
Intel 486
The Intel 486, officially named i486 and also known as 80486, is a microprocessor introduced in 1989. It is a higher-performance follow-up to the Intel 386. It represents the fourth generation of binary compatible CPUs following the 8086 of ...
microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...
. When she and her partner had a disagreement,
Ellsworth opened a separate business in competition. This became a chain of four stores, "Computers Made Easy", selling consumer electronics services and equipment in the
Willamette Valley towns of
Canby,
Monmouth, and
Albany, Oregon.
[
]
When profit margins shrank,
[
] she sold the chain in 2000 and moved to
Walla Walla, Washington to attend
Walla Walla College, studying circuit design. She left after a year because of a "cultural mismatch". Ellsworth said that questioning professors' answers was frowned upon.
Hardware design
In 2000, Ellsworth unveiled a prototype video expansion for the
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...
at a Commodore Exposition.
Ellsworth then began designing digital circuits that mimicked the behavior of the C64. In 2002, she designed the chip used in the
C-One as an enhanced C64 which could also emulate other home computers of the early 1980s, including the
VIC-20
The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...
and
ZX81
The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-c ...
. She and a fellow developer displayed the C-One at a technology conference, which led to Mammoth Toys, a Division of NSI International, NSI Products (HK) Limited hiring her to design the "computer in a chip" for the
C64 Direct-to-TV C64-emulating joystick. She began the project in June 2004 and had the project ready to ship by that Christmas. It sold over a half-million units, in the US, Europe, and elsewhere. She did not receive payment, nor the commission she was owed,
but a story in the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' brought her to the public eye.
On December 3, 2010 Ellsworth released information on how to build a TSA "naked" scanner using repurposed satellite antenna parts. Ellsworth has worked on numerous subjects as diverse as homemade semiconductors (2009),
homemade electroluminescent (EL) displays (2010),
EL phosphor manufacture from common ingredients and ways to make transparent EL backplanes and phosphor without using expensive indium-tin-oxide coated glass and hard-to-obtain chemicals.
Ellsworth was named "MacGyver of the Day" on February 25, 2010 by ''
Lifehacker
''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on 31 January 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is owned by Ziff Davis. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including Microsoft Windows, M ...
''.
Ellsworth is a freelance
ASIC and
FPGA designer.
Augmented reality
In early 2012, Ellsworth and other hardware hackers were hired by
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
to work on gaming hardware. Along with several other Valve employees, Ellsworth was terminated the following year.
On May 18, 2013, Ellsworth announced that she had developed an
augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR), also known as mixed reality (MR), is a technology that overlays real-time 3D computer graphics, 3D-rendered computer graphics onto a portion of the real world through a display, such as a handheld device or head-mounted ...
development system named
castAR with fellow ex-Valve engineer Rick Johnson, with the blessing of
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Pip ...
's
Gabe Newell
Gabe Logan Newell (born November 3, 1962), also known by his nickname Gaben, is an American video game developer and businessman. He is the president and co-founder of the video game company Valve Corporation.
Newell was born in Colorado and ...
, and would be funding it via
Kickstarter
Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...
later in the year. Her start-up company,
Technical Illusions, started developing castAR.
Ellsworth later revealed she had been secretly working to make
castAR have "true VR and true AR" in addition to the previously announced projected AR capabilities. The castAR Kickstarter, launched on October 14, 2013, reached its goal of $400,000 in 56 hours and finished with $1.05 million, 263% of the original goal. The project didn't deliver the devices and paid back the funds to backers before shutting down the company in 2017.
In September 2019, Ellsworth initiated a Kickstarter for a new device based on the same principles of the castAR, called Tilt Five. This Kickstarter exceeded the previous one, hitting its initial target of $450,000 in 17 hours, and eventually gaining $1,767,301. Initially scheduled to deliver Kickstarter product by June 2020, the manufacturing was delayed by the Covid pandemic, but has continued to sign gaming contracts.
Public speaking and webcasts
Ellsworth was a keynote speaker at the Embedded Systems Conference on May 5, 2011.
From December 2008 until March 2009, Ellsworth hosted a weekly
webcast, ''Fatman and Circuit Girl'', together with musician
George Sanger.
On May 30, 2009, Ellsworth demonstrated her Home Chip Lab at
Maker Faire Bay Area 2009.
Personal life
Ellsworth is a
pinball
Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...
aficionado and owns over 80 pinball machines.
In 2016, she became a licensed
amateur radio
Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...
operator, holding an Extra Class license with callsign AI6TK.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
''The Life Story of Jeri Ellsworth, American Entrepreneur & Inventor''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellsworth, Jeri
1974 births
Living people
21st-century American women engineers
21st-century American engineers
American women company founders
American company founders
Businesspeople from Oregon
Commodore people
Walla Walla University alumni
American business executives
American technology company founders
People from Dallas, Oregon
YouTubers from Georgia (U.S. state)
People from Mountain View, California
Businesspeople from Seattle
Amateur radio women
Amateur radio people
21st-century American women inventors
Engineers from California
21st-century American inventors
People from Yamhill, Oregon
YouTubers from Oregon
YouTubers from California