Barry Silverstein

Barry Silverstein became the director of the University of Rochester's Center for Extended Reality (CXR) in 2026, after serving as the senior director of optics and display research at Meta Reality Labs Research. The center is a transdisciplinary hub focused on artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality, computing, data science, neuroscience, and everything in between.

Upon graduating from the University of Rochester in 1984, Silverstein began a 28-year career at Eastman Kodak Company, where he worked on everything from space-based optical systems to 3D digital cinema projectors.

In 2013, he moved to IMAX as the senior director of research and development hardware. There, he led a focused team of scientists, engineers, designers, and technicians to design, develop, and commercialize IMAX’s premier laser projection system. Utilizing a novel optical system, the team created the IMAX Prismless Laser Projector, delivering unprecedented image quality with high resolution, brightness, and contrast required for IMAX’s premier theatrical presentation. The technical achievement was an Oscar-worthy feat, eventually earning Silverstein and his colleagues a Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

That led him to Meta in 2017, where he transitioned from making the world’s largest projection systems to the world’s smallest. He oversaw multiple teams researching and developing optical, display, and photonic technology for head-mounted AR and VR headsets and worked to make that technology viable for commercialization.