He was a gracious and considerate host who understood both the U.S. and China and was very patient when trying to explain both the challenges and opportunities.

As regards the Metaverse, Robert’s view that it was already here and presented more global opportunity than any other technical development certainly contributed to my belief in accelerated technical progress. I also very much liked that his focus was on how the bridging of the digital and physical worlds would have its greatest impact on commerce by enabling a real-time and direct communication between producers and consumers.

He already lived in the Metaverse, teleporting instantly between Mandarin and English, China and the U.S., and tech talk and a shared tea time – with ample room for contemplation of the opportunities and challenges.

He was and is a bridge.

See you next time in the Metaverse, Robert. I miss your calm confidence.

For me and I think for many others as well, Robert was a bridge for us to understand and potentially engage with China.

CRD and other virtual world/real world manufacturing projects will eventually find their way into the future for Chinese manufacturing and will have great impacts on the world. I’m disappointed for him that he didn’t get to get to see the outcome of his efforts.

Robert, you will be missed.