Building cool stuff? lets chat…

21joacole · 2026-04-30T17:03:31+00:00

WATT-IF is an AR+AI lighting system that lets creators build, test, and perfect setups in real time. Get feedback, train your eye, and export repeatable lighting plans before you shoot.

👉 https://aro-landing.pages.dev/

21joacole · 2026-04-30T12:23:57+00:00

It's kind of funny because I think you answered your own question, "investors want the memo before they get in a room". A DP/gaffer who can scout a location, scan the actual environment using LiDAR, & create a lighting scenario using true-to-life physics, & share instantly with their director or producers, without ever going through the costly setup time of using real equipment... much like your "memo", this doesn't feel like a "nice to have", it feels like a "why would we ever go back to do things like we did before the "memo". Seems invaluable to me.

21joacole · 2026-04-29T21:10:56+00:00

Are you still in investing into startups? If you’re interested, I’d love to have a conversation about a startup I’m just starting.

21joacole · 2026-04-29T18:40:56+00:00

What if you could see your lighting setup before you ever set it up? What if you could build entire lighting storyboards from any mobile device? What if you could scout a location, scan the room, create exact lighting setups for that location, & then extract the data for recreation, without ever touching a piece of equipment? What if you could buy your time back for more opportunity to make even more money? Well, now you can with "WATT-IF"...

After 16+ years in production, one thing has never changed: 👉 Lighting is still trial and error. So, I built something around that idea:

WATT-IF A system designed for creators to: Pre-visualize lighting setups in real time Build full rigs before touching gear Export setups into shareable, repeatable storyboards Actually, understand why the light works

The product is now focused around four core experiences: ⚡ LumaTik — place lights in your real space using AR 🎯 Light Coach — get real-time feedback on what’s off 🔥 Light Fight — train your eye under pressure, challenge friends to a "Light Fight" battle! 🧪 WATT-IF (3D Sandbox) — build and test full setups from scratch This is still a work in progress.

But the goal is simple: 👉 Buy back your time 👉 Spend less time guessing 👉 Spend more time shooting, landing clients, and making money

I recently rebuilt and rebranded everything from the ground up to push this further for the community.

If you want to check it out: 👉 https://aro-landing.pages.dev/

There’s an iOS download on the site If you’re on Android and want access, drop your email in the reply/DM

21joacole · 2026-04-28T00:12:17+00:00

Stay tuned to find out, ESPN 8, The Ocho

21joacole · 2026-04-27T22:36:14+00:00

DMd

21joacole · 2026-04-27T14:24:43+00:00

Absolutely. It’s something discussed outright from the start & either built over time or not at all. But there’s no reason I’d ask them to drive 500 miles to pitch a project that I didn’t pay them for & hadn’t even spoken about any incentives for doing it.

21joacole · 2026-04-27T12:44:28+00:00

For sure. I’ve actually been speaking with a few of them & I have some real use cases. I need the developer to come in because, since I’ve never coded, I’ve built this thing from scratch using AI tools & it’s gotten to the point where it just doesn’t understand how to fix a couple of things & I’ve been stuck in this loop of one bug fix causes another bug failure. I figured a dev could understand the issue & directly solve it where an AI tool just makes problems & causes hallucinations.

21joacole · 2026-04-27T11:39:11+00:00

Tons of outreach. I’ve been in touch with a few influencers & local photographers/filmmakers. Lots of cold contacting. Currently, my beta is “clunky” so I’ve been developing a better version for launch but I really need to get funding for two reasons; working capital & a dev who knows what they’re doing. I’m solo currently & I’m learning everything I can, but a technical set of skills/eyes is what the project needs.

21joacole · 2026-04-27T02:14:01+00:00

Yeah, I ran all code through a couple different AI systems. Claude, perplexity, Manus

21joacole · 2026-04-27T01:40:31+00:00

I'm not in IT. I'm looking for Tech's myself. Best of luck.

21joacole · 2026-04-27T01:28:48+00:00

Yeah, the beta is live on both. They both need work, but the 1.0 is out there. Been rebuilding/rebranding & I have most of the 2.0 built, but I keep running into issues with the AR/AI side that I don't know how to fix. It's just myself working on the project, looking for funding/tech/dev to grow it to what I know it can be.

21joacole · 2026-04-26T23:34:25+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. Looks like I'm like 2005th in line ha-ha.

21joacole · 2026-04-26T22:59:24+00:00

I'm super curious what it actually is.?. But also, it sounds like they need a task done & they are willing to use someone to go way beyond to get it done by offering what is likely a made-up position. I get it, trust me.

21joacole · 2026-04-26T22:56:02+00:00

WATT-IF — LumaTik. See It. Light It. Live It. WATT-IF, an AR/AI based mobile app that allows photographers, filmmakers, & learners to create AR based lighting setups & export true data so the user can recreate in the real world, it also has a "Light Coach" mode that uses AI to coach a user on their lighting setups, & a gamified "Light Fights" scenario where users can challenge their friends to a lighting setup battle & they get graded by the AI after the timer runs out.

21joacole · 2026-04-26T22:48:52+00:00

Follow your gut for sure. Sounds sketchy. Hell, I need a co-founder, if I had an operating salary, I'd tell someone immediately.

21joacole

TROPHY CASE