Jinsoo An is a Korean American immigrant, designer, researcher and technologist dedicated to enhancing human relations

Past through present and future

Prior to immigrating to California in 1995, Jinsoo was raised on a small family-owned farm in South Korea, just a few miles away from the DMZ. Surrounded by wet rice fields and unpaved roads where an endless chain of tanks roared, he often waved his arms and shouted, “M.R.E.!.” Occasionally, a friendly soldier in an enormous tank would pop out to throw him a bag of what seemed like a Happy Meal from outer space.

Through this curiosity-ridden environment juxtaposed with home-brew games, gadget teardowns and hanging fermented soybeans (meju), he developed a peculiar fascination for the world.

Decades later, his passion has evolved into creating unique digital experiences across 20 industries such as food, gaming, electronics, apparel and automotive. With these experiences, he has helped to shape the lives of hundreds of millions of people in N. America and Europe.

In 2013, he became involved in a series of projects that decoded how people interpret senses and emotions. In the following year, he founded Project Nourished, a public-benefit initiative with a goal of diversifying methods of consumption and maximizing therapeutic qualities of ingestibles through embedded tableware and mixed-reality ingestible.

During his spare time, Jinsoo enjoys collecting and restoring antiquated cameras and electronics. He also loves to inspire people of all ages by speaking to them and educating them on a number of topics related to the human condition. Some of his favorite topics include: play, hyperreality, fandom, commensality, social isolation, aging and community reintegration. Periodically, he engages with local and global communities to strengthen public–private partnerships in the hope of improving the role of technology in people’s daily lives.