Jiani Zeng is a San Francisco-based designer, researcher, and founder. Her work explores "virtual intimacy in physical reality" through interactive spaces, materials, and products. She holds a Master of Science from MIT and co-founded Butlr Technologies Inc., a spin-off from MIT Media Lab. She was previously a researcher at MIT CSAIL and co-invented “Illusory Material”, which was named “The best experimental project of 2020" by Fast Company and "Best Inventions 2021" by TIME.