Timmy Ghiurau leads Volvo Cars innovative tech and initiatives surrounding virtual and augmented reality, working with virtual simulators and eye-tracking to create the future of self-driving cars and user experience research.
Even though he doesn’t call himself a car person, he quickly fell in love with the automotive industry as a student of Innovative Communication Technologies and Entrepreneurship at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. When doing his Master’s thesis at Volvo’s Copenhagen office in 2014, he felt that Volvo redefined mobility, pushing for innovation, safety, and sustainability. He also resonated with developing products that multiply and get accessed by millions of users.
After giving the rock star career a stab in his teens, Timmy’s math skills, programming knowledge, and interest in game engines sent him to be a software developer. With a focus on eye-tracking and VR, this path led him to work closely with the founders of game engine Unity, Danish eye-tracking startup The Eye Tribe (later acquired by Facebook’s VR division Oculus) – and patents in XR and eye-tracking.
At Volvo, Timmy currently sets the trend on how car companies use game engines and AR/VR technologies in their development. He also helps Volvo Cars Tech Fund with finding new opportunities in tech startups.
On the side, he invests and advises fashion and tech startups all around Europe.