01
Technology should disappear.
Every time someone notices the tech mid-experience, something's wrong. I design for invisibility.
The Founder · 001
M.L.
HARIRAS
TONGYAI
Founder & XR Director — Building rabbit holes for brands that matter.
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Prestige 300 Highflyer 2024◆King's College London — MSci AI & Robotics◆Visionary — Augmented City · Prestige Thailand◆Thailand Tatler · McKinsey & Co Alumni◆Spatial XR · Gamification · Bangkok◆Prestige 300 Highflyer 2024◆King's College London — MSci AI & Robotics◆Visionary — Augmented City · Prestige Thailand◆Thailand Tatler · McKinsey & Co Alumni◆Spatial XR · Gamification · Bangkok◆
In His Own Words
THE ARCHITECT
BEHIND THE
RABBIT HOLES.
“I didn't set out to run an XR studio. I set out to make technology feel like something you'd want to walk into.”
Hariras founded Augma Imaginarium to close the gap he kept seeing in the industry — between tech that was impressive on paper and experiences people actually remembered. An MSci in AI & Robotics from King's College London and a BEng from Queen Mary gave him the toolset. A decade of hands-on projects across Thailand, the UK, and Southeast Asia taught him what made immersive work — and what didn't.
His work spans AR, VR, location-based gaming, AI-driven product design, healthcare blockchain, and brand activations — from island-scale treasure hunts on Niantic Lightship to the Grab Hot Deals Station at Central World. Every project treated the same way: the technology serves the story, not the other way around.
In 2024, he was named a Prestige 300 Highflyer by Prestige Thailand and featured as a “Visionary, Augmented City” in the Innovator Issue. He's a McKinsey & Co alumnus, a Cambridge AI Business Analytics certificate holder, and the only member of the team who still hand-solders Arduino boards at 2 a.m.
“Stories connect us more than we realize. AR is how we tell them without the limits of the physical world — where only imagination sets the edge.”
— M.L. Hariras Tongyai, Founder
Futurist
XR Designer
AI & Robotics Engineer
Gamification Specialist
Product Director
Spatial Computing
8+
Years XR & AI Experience
20+
Projects Shipped
4
Degrees & Certifications
2024
Prestige 300 Highflyer
Featured In
Prestige Thailand — November 2024
Prestige Thailand — May 2024 Innovator Issue
Thailand Tatler Magazine — April 2017
Bangkok Post — Cryptocurrency Panel 2021
Royal Thai Embassy London — 2017
300
Prestige Highflyer Ranking 2024
KCL
MSci AI & Robotics · King's College London
10+
Years Building Future Technology
Academic Background
EDUCATION &
CERTIFICATIONS
Four credentials across AI, engineering, business analytics and behavioural design — collected specifically because no single field teaches you how to build immersive experiences that actually work.
2017 — 2019
MSci Artificial Intelligence & Robotics
King's College London
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
2014 — 2017
BEng Electronics & Electrical Engineering
Queen Mary, University of London
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
2019
AI Business Analytics & Decision Making
University of Cambridge
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
2022
Gamification & Behavioural Design
Thammasat University
Bangkok, Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand
Recognition
AWARDS &
RECOGNITION
Eight national features, three innovation program finals, two scholarships, and one international consular project — across Thailand, the UK, and Southeast Asia.
2024
Prestige 300 Highflyer 2024
Prestige Thailand · November 2024 Issue · Bangkok Post
2024
"Visionary, Augmented City"
Innovator Issue · Prestige Thailand · May 2024
2021
Top 12 Finalist
AIS Intouch Invent Builder Program · Bangkok
2021
Cryptocurrency Panel Speaker
Bangkok Post Forum
2017
"Gaga for Gadgets"
Thailand Tatler Magazine · April 2017
2017
"Hyperloop for Thailand"
Driving ASEAN with Innovations Award · Royal Thai Embassy London
2014
Engineering Excellence Award Scholarship
Queen Mary, University of London
Alumni
McKinsey & Co Alumni
McKinsey & Company
Career
THE
JOURNEY
A decade of shipping at the intersection of technology and storytelling — from consular booking systems in London to city-scale AR in Bangkok. Scroll to follow the path.
2016
Royal Thai Embassy London — Contracted Developer
Redesigned and built the consular booking system for the Royal Thai Embassy in London.
2017
McKinsey & Co · Thailand Tatler · Hyperloop Award
"Gaga for Gadgets" feature in Thailand Tatler. Won Driving ASEAN with Innovations Award at the Royal Thai Embassy London for the Hyperloop for Thailand proposal.
2019
MSci AI & Robotics — King's College London
Completed postgraduate degree in Artificial Intelligence & Robotics. Earned Cambridge AI Business Analytics Certification. Began consulting across Singapore, London, and Bangkok.
2021
Motiwatt Founded · Bangkok Post Panel Speaker
Founded Motiwatt — AI-powered fitness gamification platform. Top 12 Finalist at AIS Intouch Invent Builder Program. Featured as Cryptocurrency Panel Speaker at Bangkok Post Forum.
2022
CTO — KUN Inter Group
Served as Chief Technology Officer at KUN Inter Group. Completed Thammasat Gamification & Behavioural Design Certification. Led design of THG Medical Utility Token super app for Thonburi Health Group.
2023
Baan ARVR Founded · Koh AR Launched
Founded Baan ARVR — XR open house and education roadshows across Bangkok and Nakorn Nayok. Built and launched Koh AR — location-based island AR storytelling and treasure hunt using Niantic Lightship ARDK.
2024
Augma Imaginarium · Prestige 300 Highflyer · Augmented BKK
Founded Augma Imaginarium. Named Prestige 300 Highflyer 2024 and "Visionary, Augmented City" by Prestige Thailand. Launched Augmented BKK — city-scale park AR adventure. Delivered AR activation for Thailand Post across Talad Noi, Bangkok.
2025
Grab Hot Deals Station · Ongoing Expansion
Delivered Grab Hot Deals Station gamification activation at Central World Bangkok for Grab Thailand x Conxo Lab. Continuing to expand Augma Imaginarium's portfolio of spatial and immersive experiences.
What I Believe
EIGHT THINGS
I BUILD AROUND.
I've shipped 20+ projects across six countries since 2016. These are the truths I've learned — the ones that actually held up under pressure.
02
Stories come before systems.
I'll delete three months of code before I'll ship a world without a reason to exist. Narrative first, always.
03
The founder should be in the code.
I write, solder, prototype, and debug. If a client's project matters, my hands are on it — not just a pitch deck.
04
Degrees don't build rabbit holes. Taste does.
My credentials opened doors. Taste kept the doors open. Both matter; only one ships the project.
05
Real AR isn't overlay. It's authorship.
Sticking a 3D model on a table isn't immersion. Writing a world that responds to place, person, and moment — that is.
06
Every Thai story deserves global craft.
I studied in London to bring global-grade production back to Thai projects. The ambition should never be smaller than the audience.
07
Gamification without a why is manipulation.
Points can coerce. Well-designed play can transform. The difference is whether the person leaves better off.
08
Every project teaches you what to unlearn.
I keep a document of things I was sure about at 22 and wrong about by 30. It keeps me honest — and the studio sharp.
The Record
A decade,
measured.
0+
Years Building
First project: Royal Thai Embassy London, 2016
0+
Projects Shipped
Solo and founder-led
0
Degrees & Certifications
KCL · Cambridge · QMUL · Thammasat
0
Countries Worked In
TH · UK · SG · JP · US · HK
★ 0
Prestige Highflyer 2024
Top 300 Thailand
0
AIS Intouch Finalist
Top 12 · Motiwatt, 2021
0+
Press Features
Tatler · Prestige · Bangkok Post · more
1
Studio Founded
Augma Imaginarium, 2024
Work With Hariras
Founder-led.
Every project.
Hariras is hands-on from the brief through launch — not a figurehead on a pitch deck. If you're building something that needs that level of attention, start the conversation below.