AI Salon Presents: Martin Focazio

Martin Focazio's dad is 86. He's had several strokes, his vision is poor, and he has never owned a computer, sent an email, installed an app, or typed. His iPhone is set to HUGE, and Martin still has to call him to say he sent a text.
What his dad wanted was simple: to watch his DVDs and Blu-rays. But the disc player Martin bought him came with a tiny remote covered in black-on-black text. The "big button" universal remotes built for seniors were no better, and maybe worse.
Then Martin spotted an old arcade game controller, and an idea clicked. What if the remote were huge? All physical controls. Light-up buttons. A joystick. An arcade-style controller for the TV and disc player, built for exactly one user.
The hardware was tricky but doable. The code that made it all work was another story, so Martin brought in AI to help build what he couldn't write himself.

## About Martin:

Martin has spent his career designing technology around real people. He's President and Principal Consultant of Coherent Ways, a firm whose mission is to make things less idiotic by designing spaces, tech, and workflows where friction disappears. At The Salon PRESENTS, he'll share what happens when you point AI at a problem the tech industry forgot: a device for one person, one living room, and one very specific set of needs. It's a story about empathy-first design, building beyond your own skill set, and what becomes possible when AI lets you make the thing that should have existed all along.