# Jeri Ellsworth

> Jeri Ellsworth is a self-taught American electrical engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur whose career runs from building dirt-track race cars and computer shops to designing the C-One and the C64 Direct-to-TV system, leading hardware research at Valve, and co-founding Tilt Five. As CEO of Tilt Five, she is pursuing a social version of augmented reality: lightweight glasses that let several people see and play in a shared holographic world around an ordinary table.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Tilt Five
- **Organizations:** Tilt Five, Valve Corporation, Technical Illusions, castAR, Individual Computers, Mammoth Toys
- **Nationality:** American
- **Known for:** Designed the C-One’s reconfigurable computer chip in 2002., Designed the C64 Direct-to-TV system on a chip, which sold more than half a million units., Built and led Valve’s early hardware R&D lab and contributed to work associated with Valve VR, Steam Box, and Steam Controller development.

## Career timeline

- **Early 1990s** — Built, raced, and sold dirt-track race cars after leaving high school.
- **1995** — Opened a computer store and later expanded the business to five locations.
- **2000** — Presented a Commodore 64 video-expansion prototype and began teaching herself chip design.
- **2002** — Designed the chip used in the C-One reconfigurable computer with Jens Schönfeld.
- **2004** — Designed the C64 Direct-to-TV system on a chip, placing a Commodore 64-compatible computer and games inside a joystick.
- **2011** — Joined Valve to build and lead a hardware R&D lab focused on new forms of game interaction.
- **2013** — Left Valve and co-founded Technical Illusions with Rick Johnson to develop the projected-AR system later known as castAR.
- **2017** — castAR shut down before completing its consumer product.
- **2017** — Co-founded Tilt Five and continued developing projected, retroreflective tabletop AR.
- **2019** — Tilt Five’s Kickstarter raised $1,767,301 from 3,345 backers against a $450,000 goal.
- **2022** — Tilt Five began shipping systems to Kickstarter backers and moved toward general availability.
- **2023** — Tilt Five was commercially available, and Ellsworth continued presenting its social tabletop approach to AR.

## Achievements

- Designed the C-One’s reconfigurable computer chip in 2002.
- Designed the C64 Direct-to-TV system on a chip, which sold more than half a million units.
- Built and led Valve’s early hardware R&D lab and contributed to work associated with Valve VR, Steam Box, and Steam Controller development.
- Co-invented projected augmented-reality technology that became the basis of castAR and Tilt Five.
- Named inventor on patents covering fiducial-marker synchronization, object tracking, wearable input, and head-mounted display technology.
- Led Tilt Five through a Kickstarter that raised $1,767,301 from 3,345 backers.

## Latest updates

- **2024-12** — In an English-language interview, Ellsworth described Tilt Five as the work she is most proud of and said the company plans to keep iterating on its first product.
- **2024-12** — Ellsworth publicly confirmed her Bluesky account for sharing weekend hacking projects.
- **2024-05** — Appeared on the Here’s Waldo podcast to discuss her path from race cars and chip design to Valve, castAR, and Tilt Five.
- **2023-05** — Returned to The AR Show for a two-part conversation about perseverance and bringing Tilt Five to general availability.

## Links

- Website: https://www.jeriellsworth.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeriellsworth
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jeriellsworth
- GitHub: https://github.com/JeriEllsworth
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jeriellsworth
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jeriellsworth.bsky.social
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeriellsworth/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/jeri-ellsworth
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-26