Jared Schiffman

Jared Schiffman has worked at the intersection of design, computer science and education for over two decades. Jared’s work fuses the physical world with the digital world and plays with relationship between the two. His projects are steeped in metaphor and gesture, and emphasize the power of direct experience. Jared is the founder of Perch Interactive Inc, a startup intent on revolutionizing the retail environment. PERCH is a digital display platform that attracts customers and motivates them to touch, pick up and discover the products on display. As shoppers engage, PERCH reveals dynamic digital content, directly beside the product. PERCH is the first technology to combine interaction with physical products, display of digital media and user analytics in one retailer-friendly package. In 2005, Jared co-founded Potion, an interactive design and technology firm located in New York City. Potion has completed major projects for the Smithsonian, the National Holocaust Museum, HP, Bell Labs and the New York Public Library. Potion has been invited to the White House twice as finalists for the National Design Award in the Interaction Design category in 2009 and 2010. Potion was also named one of the “Top 10 Most Innovative Design Companies” in 2010 by Fast Company magazine. Jared has taught courses at Parsons (The New School) and New York University, and prior to founding Potion, at the Gate’s funded High Tech High in San Diego. Jared received a Masters degree in Media Arts & Science from the MIT Media Lab where he studied with Prof John Maeda in the Aesthetics & Computation Group. Jared also holds an SB in Computer Science & Engineering from MIT as well.