
Nix Liu Xin
Nix Liu Xin — Chinese-born US-based tech innovator and digital artist — works with emerging mediums and technologies such as motion visual arts, architecture, extended reality, 3d scanning, robotics, and artificial intelligence for the world's top brands and organizations. His creativity centers around the iconic "phygital" realities merging fluid forms, movements, visual effects, colors, and sounds at the intersection of real and virtual worlds.
Since 2024 he has been building spatial AI ventures — internal R&D first, then a run of collaborations — which in 2026 became 01.SPACE, where he is Founder and CEO. It lets creators build interactive 3D with AI, right in the browser: creative capabilities become blocks — assets, effects, behaviors, controls — and an agent assembles them into a workflow the creator can see, change, and reuse. Backed by MiraclePlus (formerly known as Y Combinator China).
As the founder and creative director of Play.Work, a media art and tech company, Nix has collaborated with Mercedes-Benz, Burberry, Bosie, Chris Lee (Li Yuchun), London Fashion Week, Microsoft, Miss Grit, NYLON, Polestar Cars, SCI-Arc Robot Lab, Victor Ma (Ma Boqian), Wallpaper, WhatWorld Club, etc., to create bespoke films and music videos fusing CGI virtual and live-action real worlds.
Nix holds a Master in Design Studies (Media/Technology) from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he won the Domain Award; cross-registered at MIT Media Lab and Sloan School of Management. He also holds an M.Arch 2 degree from SCI-Arc; and B.A. with Honors degree from the University of Liverpool where his graduation project won Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize.
Nix was endowed with numerous awards. To name a few: he won the first prize of the prestigious CGarchitect 3D Awards 2020 and was nominated in 2019; he was selected as one of 12 artists to hold solo exhibitions at Lianzhou Foto Festival in 2019. Recently, Nix founded and organized the international New Digital Design Forum, and invited world-renowned artists, designers, and professors to bridge the communication of Post-Digital culture between west and east. Nix has been invited to give guest lectures and speakings at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, Tongji University, Gensler SF, etc. Additionally, his works have been exhibited at World Trade Center in New York City, Los Angeles, Liverpool, Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai, and so on.
Since 2024 he has been building spatial AI ventures — internal R&D first, then a run of collaborations — which in 2026 became 01.SPACE, where he is Founder and CEO. It lets creators build interactive 3D with AI, right in the browser: creative capabilities become blocks — assets, effects, behaviors, controls — and an agent assembles them into a workflow the creator can see, change, and reuse. Backed by MiraclePlus (formerly known as Y Combinator China).
As the founder and creative director of Play.Work, a media art and tech company, Nix has collaborated with Mercedes-Benz, Burberry, Bosie, Chris Lee (Li Yuchun), London Fashion Week, Microsoft, Miss Grit, NYLON, Polestar Cars, SCI-Arc Robot Lab, Victor Ma (Ma Boqian), Wallpaper, WhatWorld Club, etc., to create bespoke films and music videos fusing CGI virtual and live-action real worlds.
Nix holds a Master in Design Studies (Media/Technology) from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he won the Domain Award; cross-registered at MIT Media Lab and Sloan School of Management. He also holds an M.Arch 2 degree from SCI-Arc; and B.A. with Honors degree from the University of Liverpool where his graduation project won Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize.
Nix was endowed with numerous awards. To name a few: he won the first prize of the prestigious CGarchitect 3D Awards 2020 and was nominated in 2019; he was selected as one of 12 artists to hold solo exhibitions at Lianzhou Foto Festival in 2019. Recently, Nix founded and organized the international New Digital Design Forum, and invited world-renowned artists, designers, and professors to bridge the communication of Post-Digital culture between west and east. Nix has been invited to give guest lectures and speakings at UCL Bartlett School of Architecture, Tongji University, Gensler SF, etc. Additionally, his works have been exhibited at World Trade Center in New York City, Los Angeles, Liverpool, Beijing, Suzhou, Shanghai, and so on.
Connect
01Experience
- 01.SPACEFounder and CEO2026–Present
- Creative.TechEditor-in-Chief2025–Present
- HarvardXRCo-Founder, Cambridge, MA, United States2022–Present
- New Digital Design ForumCo-Organizer2021
- Play.WorkFounder and Creative Director, Los Angeles, United States2020–Present
- Testa & Weiser Inc.Creative Technologist, Los Angeles, United States2019
- Sheppard RobsonDesigner, Manchester, United Kingdom2017–18
02Education
- Harvard UniversityMDes, AI, HCI, Media, Cambridge, United States
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyCross-Registration, Media Lab, Cambridge, United States
- SCI-ArcComputational Design and Theory, Los Angeles, United States
- University of LiverpoolBA, BE, Architecture, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- New York Film AcademyFilmmaking, New York City, United States
03Academic
- AA Summer School — Guest CriticBody as Interface, Shanghai, China2026
- Harvard Innovation Labs — XR & Metaverse Community FellowCambridge, MA, United States2023
- Harvard University Graduate School of Design — Teaching AssistantCambridge, MA, United States2021–22
- The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL — Guest LecturerLondon, United Kingdom2021
- The University of Hong Kong, Department of Architecture — Guest Critic2020
- Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) — Teaching AssistantLos Angeles, United States2019–20
04Judging
- MIT AI for Filmmaking Hackathon 2025 — Judge2025
- MIT AI for Filmmaking Hackathon 2024 — XR Film Panel Organizer and Moderator, JudgeCambridge, United States2024
- An Instant Film Festival — Jury Member2024
- Fiction Beyond Nonfiction International Juried Exhibition — JudgeLi Tang Gallery2022
- LOOP Creative Awards — Judge2022
- CGarchitect 3D Awards — Judge2021
05Recognition
- Design Studies Domain Award — Harvard University2023
- AACYF 30 Under 302023
- Winner of Best Film, Best Visual, Best Music, Best Script, and Best AI Application — MIT AI Filmmaking HackathonDOG: Dream Of Galaxy2023
- Semi-Finalist — MIT Reality HackBeat Blocks2023
- Winner — Independent Shorts AwardsPhygital Supermarket2022
- Official Selection — Digerati Emergent Media FestivalPhygital Supermarket2022
- Official Selection — Digerati Emergent Media FestivalThe Epilogue of a Computer2022
- Official Selection (Innovation) — LA Fashion FestivalThe Era of bosie, Art Director2021
- Winner — CGarchitect 3D AwardsPhygital Shopping Cart2020
- Official Selection, one of 12 artists — Lianzhou Foto FestivalLiverpool Waterfront Moments2019
- Nominee — CGarchitect 3D AwardsAugmented Library Aggregation2019
- Ten Selected Awards — Hsinta Ecological Power Plant Conceptual Design Competition2018
- Winner — Sheppard Robson Jicwood Prize#IMadeLiverpool2017
06Exhibitions & Curatorial
- Language of Visibility — Exhibiting ArtistLi Tang Community x THE BLANC2025
- Technora Audio Visual Festival — Live VisualsTechnora2025
- Evolving Space Vol. 05 — Exhibiting ArtistK11 Select Tianjin, presented by Youth Digital Group, Tianjin, China2024
- Carton-Computility-Vagabond: Revolution in the Mode of Artistic ProductionJiade Artistic Center, Beijing, China2023
- Echoes of Home: A Retrospective Exhibition of the Li Tang Community — Exhibiting ArtistRIVAA Gallery, presented by Li Tang, Roosevelt Island, New York City, United States2023
- Screening at Meow Wolf Denver — ScreeningMeow Wolf Denver, Denver, United States2023
- OfCourse MetaMetaOfCourse, Cryptovoxels (online)2022
- Chair-themed Group Exhibition — Exhibiting Artistmizaji gallery2022
- CC is Dreaming NFTArt Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL, United States2021
- Metaverse Architecture - The Unbuilt WorldBeijing Urban and Architecture Biennale, Phoenix Centre, Beijing, China2021
- ParadoxicalQ Club at K11, Shanghai, Shanghai, China2021
- NFT Art Week Beijing — Exhibiting ArtistNFT Art Week Beijing, NEAL Gallery2021
- Creative Code Art FestivalLightbox NYC, New York City, United States2020
- Infinity Festival Hollywood — Student Exhibitor, Panel DiscussionLos Angeles, United States2019
- Lianzhou Foto Festival 2019 — SoloLianzhou, China2019–20
- SCI-Arc Spring Show 2020 & 2019Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, United States2019–20
- Here ThereThe Oculus at The World Trade Center, New York City, United States2019
- Unknown Future: LSA Degree Show 2017Liverpool School of Architecture, Liverpool, United Kingdom2017
- bluecoat + architecture: process and productBluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom2017
- FusionAintree University Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom2016
- Barcelona-Beijing: Hyperconnected CitiesInstituto Cervantes, Beijing, China2016
07Speaking Engagements
- University of Nottingham Ningbo China — SpeakerNingbo, China2025
- Harvard China Forum — SpeakerHow Holographic 4D and AI Reshape Art Creation, Cultural Heritage and Audience Experience, Cambridge, United States2025
- Harvard HCAC — Speaker4D + AI: How Volumetric Media Reshapes Immersive and Interactive Entertainment2025
- XJTLU — SpeakerXrchitect — Think and Act Out of Box, Suzhou, China2024
- An Instant Film Festival — SpeakerReshaping Reality, Beijing, China2024
- AI & Design Panel — PanelistParsons School of Design, New York City, United States2024
- Oxford AI Cross-Disciplinary Summit — SpeakerOxford University Chinese Students and Scholars Association, Oxford, United Kingdom2024
- Beijing Normal University, School of Design for Future — Guest LecturerDigital Realities Factory2024
- China Academy of Art — SpeakerPhygital Realities All At Once2023
- Stanford University — SpeakerWhen Science Fiction Meets Reality: AI, Digital Art and Interactive New Media2023
- Central Academy of Fine Arts — Guest LecturerDesign for Playful Realities2023
- XJTLU / QROOM — Guest LecturerFuture Realities: Creativity x Technology2023
- Ivy League Alumni Cruise — SpeakerNew York City, United States2023
- Harvard Ventures Roundtable — PanelistVirtual Reality2022
- Power Station of Art (PSA) — PanelistShanghai, China2022
- BerkleeDNA — SpeakerBerklee College of Music, Boston, MA, United States2022
- Gensler — Speaker"Playful" Practice, San Francisco, CA, United States2021
- DigitalFUTURES Talk — SpeakerNew Hybridities: Young Chinese Designers, Online2021
- OfCourse — Guest Lecturer2021
- The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL — Guest LecturerPhygitalism, London, England, United Kingdom2021
- Weiser Vertical Studio — Guest LecturerSCI-Arc2021
- Testa Vertical Studio — Guest LecturerSCI-Arc2020
- Cutting-Edge Work From Universities — PanelistInfinity Festival Hollywood, Los Angeles, United States2019
08Publications & Interviews
- Awesome 3DGS Artists — Directoryvolumography.com2026
- A-Z: Harvard University Graduate School of Design 2023 — PublicationHarvard University Graduate School of Design2024
- MIT AI for Filmmaking Hackathon 2023 / 2024 — FeatureCreative.Tech2024
- 2023
- 2023
- Born Dreamers — InterviewAbout Magazine2023
- 100 Art Practitioners — InterviewTSA Art2023
- NFT: Shifting from financial behavior to spiritual demandArt Trade Journal2021
- Shifting the Boundary of Physical and Virtual Worlds in 3D ArtFox Renderfarm2021
- Dialogue with Nix Liu XinRenderbus2021
- Nine Post-Digital Art Strategies (Translation and Editorial Column) — TranslationNew Digital Design Forum2021
- LIU Xin: At the Intersection of Digital and Reality — InterviewGlobal Knowledge Leifeng2020
- Infinite World — InterviewWhatWorldStudio2020
- Phygital Supermarket Worlds — PrintUNDERSCORE VOL 8 INTERRUPT2020
- Underscore Vol. 06: [Intro/Extro]vert — PublicationSCI-Arc, Los Angeles, United States2020
- Underscore Vol. 05: Money — PublicationSCI-Arc, Los Angeles, United States2019
- Dream of Studying — InterviewPhoenix North America Chinese Channel2019
- Exacting Fantasy: Architecture — PublicationTsinghua University Press2019
09Languages
- Mandarin Chinesenative
- Englishfluent
- Jin Chinesenative
10The Stack & Skills
01
Creative Direction, Project Management, Computational Design
02
Procedural 3D Modeling, Animation & Rendering
RhinocerosGrasshopperZBrushCinema 4DHoudiniRedshiftOctane
03
Interactive Design & Code
Unreal EngineTouchDesignerUnityProcessing
04
Filmmaking, Compositing and Editing
After EffectsPremiere ProDaVinci ResolveBlackmagic Cinema CamerasSony Alpha Series Cameras
05
Digital Publishing
IllustratorIndesignPhotoshopLightroom
Clients & Collaborators
Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/ArchitectureBosieBurberryChris LeeDodgeMercedes-BenzMiss GritMithridate / London Fashion WeekNOWNESSNYLONPolestar CarsRe-TROSSCI-Arc Robot LabTesta & WeiserVictor MaWallpaper MagazineWhatWorld Club