Public dossier section · @ben
side quests
This is @ben's profile revision 1. The original date and editorial confidence below are attributed to its publisher, not independent verification.
Original credited author: Hraness
AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.
Back to the full profile · Markdown version · Original document
Published text
midjourney: side quests
the pursuits around the lab — leap motion, a print magazine, niji, patchwork, midjourney tv, the hardware program, and the union square scanner.
- 2010–2021 — leap motion (holz, handed-off): leap motion — holz and buckwald's twelve-year hand-tracking company: the ~$80 controller, orion vr tracking, the open-source project north star headset, two collapsed apple acquisitions, then the ~$30m sale to ultrahaptics (ultraleap) in 2019. holz stayed cto until ~august 2021. 'the right product at the wrong time' — and the spatial-computing agenda midjourney inherited. (sources: ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition, ~$30m sale, the apple acquisition talks, we're already profitable, 2d→3d strategic read)
- 2020– — society for science (holz, continuing): society for science — holz joined the national leadership council in 2020 and is now a board of trustees member; midjourney sponsors regeneron isef's 'technology enhances the arts' award, and holz attended isef 2025. he is a 2006 isef alum — the circle closed. (sources: unc/nasa/max planck, isef alum interview, holz at isef 2025)
- 2023-03– — midjourney magazine (company, continuing): midjourney magazine — a $4/mo print zine of top-rated community images plus interviews, announced the same day as v5. holz: 'we thought it would be fun, and the community agreed, so we did it.' an ai lab shipping ink on paper. (sources: magazine $4/mo, holz fun quote)
- 2022-11– — niji・journey × spellbrush (company, active): niji・journey — the anime/2d model line and ios/android app co-built with spellbrush, the sf/tokyo yc-w18 studio behind waifu labs and arrowmancer (~30 people; cory li, ruwen liu, haitao mao). closed beta november 2022; niji 5, niji 6, niji v7 followed. the collaboration's terms are undisclosed. (sources: niji journey closed beta, yc w18, cory li, ruwen liu, haitao mao, niji v7, niji = spellbrush collaboration mechanics, spellbrush×midjourney mobile app)
- 2024-05– — rooms (company, continuing): rooms — private collaborative web spaces (for members past 100 images) mirrored to discord channels. the community's first home on midjourney's own property, a year before the web opened to everyone. (sources: rooms for ≥100-image members)
- 2024-12– — patchwork (kreminski, active): patchwork — the storytelling lab's multiplayer infinite canvas for worldbuilding, mixing llms and image models; research preview december 2024 under max kreminski. the world-model agenda's first public artifact. (sources: patchwork launch, max kreminski, storytelling lab)
- 2025-07– — midjourney tv (company, active): midjourney tv — a 24/7 stream of top community-made videos at midjourney.tv and on youtube, plus personalized feeds. the v1 video model's built-in programming. (sources: midjourney tv + personalized feeds, video options + moodboards)
- 2024–2026 — the 'orb' hardware program (abbas, continuing): the hardware program — abbas hired december 2023; 'we're officially getting into hardware' august 2024; office-hours reporting described 3d data capture and a project nicknamed 'orb.' what it produced was not a consumer device but the medical scanner — whether 'orb' survived as a separate track is unconfirmed. (sources: ahmad abbas hire, officially getting into hardware aug 28, hardware team launch, office-hours 3d/enterable images)
- 2026-06– — midjourney medical and the scanner (company, active): midjourney medical — the 'secret hardware project' revealed june 17, 2026: the midjourney scanner, a water-immersion full-body ultrasound-ct on 40 butterfly network modules (~½mm tissue detail, one-minute scan goal), plus a 24/7 spa at 300 grant ave, union square — 23,000 sq ft, four floors, ten-year lease, opening target end-2027. butterfly's sec filing pegs the supply agreement at $74m over five years. roadmap claims — 50,000+ scanners by ~2031, 'avoid 30% of all deaths' — are company goals, not results. (sources: midjourney medical announcement, butterfly network partner, 23k sqft, 4 floors, 10-yr lease, jll, 300 grant, scanner details)
- 2024– — the holodeck / the sims (company, continuing): the holodeck — office-hours reporting describes a 3d world project (~60fps camera-motion rendering, separate from the video model) and the long-game 'sims' vision: 'the final creative medium,' where there's 'no hard distinction between creators and players.' unshipped as of september 2026. (sources: office-hours 3d/enterable images, world simulation office-hours quotes, sims/final-medium verbatim quotes)
- 2023-05 — the china episode (company, ended): midjourney china — the murky episode: a wechat post from a nanjing joint venture announced a qq-based beta and was deleted; april office-hours notes had mentioned qq expansion and channel admins reportedly confirmed a closed beta. whether an official qq beta persisted was never resolved in reporting. (sources: midjourney china qq episode, office-hours notes on qq)
- 2022– — the recap writers (community, active): the recap ecosystem — no official office-hours transcripts exist, so the record lives in community writeups: nick st. pierre's relays, imagine weekly, 'enthusiastically midjourney,' and the linkedin/medium recap circuit. 'miss journey' — the recurring default female face in early models — is the community's own coinage. (sources: office-hours recap, good enough quote re: sora, banu güler cdo, notes 2022-09-07 office-hours recording, an engine for the imagination)
- 2021– — the moderator corps (community, continuing): the volunteer moderator corps — ~40 guides and moderators listed by handle on the 2022 about page, keeping order in what became the largest server discord ever hosted (~21m members). discord had to engineer past its own 1m-member cap to hold it. (sources: the 2022 about page (cached), 1m-member cap breach, ~21m largest server)
AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.
Canonical page: https://hraness.com/midjourney/side-quests
Original source occurrences
- hardware team launch · the-decoder.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-ci-decoder-orb · Other public citations of this URL
hardware team launch; "slow game engine"; 60fps worlds
- ahmad abbas hire · the-decoder.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-ci-decoder-orb-hire · Other public citations of this URL
ahmad abbas hire; 3d-data-capture focus; jan 2024 discord mentions; "will make the orb"
- 1m-member cap breach · discord · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-discord-case-study · Other public citations of this URL
1m-member cap breach; 7m servers installed app; mega-server engineering
- sims/final-medium verbatim quotes · levelup.gitconnected.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-ci-levelup-sims · Other public citations of this URL
"sims"/final-medium verbatim quotes
- ~21m largest server · blog.pnly.io · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-pnly-discord · Other public citations of this URL
~21m largest server; guide/moderator structure; 200 newbie channels
- 2d→3d strategic read · press.farm · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-pressfarm-3d · Other public citations of this URL
2d→3d strategic read; leap motion context
- niji = spellbrush collaboration mechanics · tokenizedhq.com · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-ci-tokenized-niji · Other public citations of this URL
niji = spellbrush collaboration mechanics
- office-hours 3d/enterable images · tomsguide.com · 2024 (year) · original ID: src-ci-tomsguide-holodeck · Other public citations of this URL
office-hours 3d/enterable images; v7/video timelines
- notes 2022-09-07 office-hours recording · antoinebuteau.com · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-antoinebuteau-holz · Other public citations of this URL
notes 2022-09-07 office-hours recording
- the apple acquisition talks · business insider · 2018-10-31 (day) · original ID: src-hp-bi-apple-leap-2018 · Other public citations of this URL
apple talks 2013 + spring 2018; $30–50m; "the devil"
- banu güler cdo · medium · 2026-08-12 (day) · original ID: src-hp-enthusiastically-officehours-20260812 · Other public citations of this URL
banu güler cdo; duncan wilson web lead
- magazine $4/mo · forbes · 2023-03-15 (day) · original ID: src-hp-forbes-magazine-2023 · Other public citations of this URL
magazine $4/mo
- niji journey closed beta · gigazine.net · 2022-11-15 (day) · original ID: src-hp-gigazine-niji-2022 · Other public citations of this URL
niji journey closed beta; spellbrush
- holz fun quote · gizmodo.com · 2023-03-15 (day) · original ID: src-hp-gizmodo-magazine-2023 · Other public citations of this URL
holz "fun" quote
- office-hours recap · imagine-weekly.com · 2024-10-24 (day) · original ID: src-hp-imagineweekly-officehours-20241023 · Other public citations of this URL
office-hours recap
- good enough quote re: sora · linkedin · 2024-03-27 (day) · original ID: src-hp-linkedin-sykes-officehours-20240327 · Other public citations of this URL
"good enough" quote re: sora
- the 2022 about page (cached) · honeycomb.eurom.pt · 2022 (year) · original ID: src-hp-midjourney-about-cache · Other public citations of this URL
11 staff, advisors, mods list (3rd-party cache)
- midjourney medical announcement · midjourney.com · 2026-06-17 (day) · original ID: src-hp-midjourney-medical-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
spa 2027; 50k scanners by 2031; fda path
- midjourney tv + personalized feeds · updates.midjourney.com · 2025-07-30 (day) · original ID: src-hp-mjupdates-mjtv-2025 · Other public citations of this URL
midjourney tv + personalized feeds
- niji v7 · updates.midjourney.com · 2026-01-09 (day) · original ID: src-hp-mjupdates-nijiv7-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
niji v7
- patchwork launch · updates.midjourney.com · 2024-12-11 (day) · original ID: src-hp-mjupdates-patchwork-2024 · Other public citations of this URL
patchwork launch
- rooms for ≥100-image members · updates.midjourney.com · 2024-05-24 (day) · original ID: src-hp-mjupdates-rooms-2024 · Other public citations of this URL
rooms for ≥100-image members
- video options + moodboards · updates.midjourney.com · 2025-08-13 (day) · original ID: src-hp-mjupdates-video-opts-2025 · Other public citations of this URL
video options + moodboards
- holz at isef 2025 · youtube · 2025-06-01 (day) · original ID: src-hp-nathanma-isef-2025 · Other public citations of this URL
holz at isef 2025
- officially getting into hardware aug 28 · petapixel.com · 2024-08-29 (day) · original ID: src-hp-petapixel-hardware-2024 · Other public citations of this URL
"officially getting into hardware" aug 28; >$200m rev; <100 people
- spellbrush×midjourney mobile app · product hunt · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-producthunt-niji · Other public citations of this URL
spellbrush×midjourney mobile app
- 23k sqft, 4 floors, 10-yr lease, jll · therealdeal.com · 2026-06-22 (day) · original ID: src-hp-realdeal-300grant-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
23k sqft, 4 floors, 10-yr lease, jll
- we're already profitable · theregister.com · 2022-08-01 (day) · original ID: src-hp-register-holz-2022 · Other public citations of this URL
"already profitable"; clip-guided diffusion; crowson
- butterfly network partner · theregister.com · 2026-06-18 (day) · original ID: src-hp-register-medical-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
butterfly network partner; $74m/5yr; fuct/usct
- office-hours notes on qq · scmp.com · 2023-05-18 (day) · original ID: src-hp-scmp-mjchina-2023 · Other public citations of this URL
office-hours notes on qq; pengyuhui jv
- 300 grant · sfstandard.com · 2026-06-19 (day) · original ID: src-hp-sfstandard-medical-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
300 grant; bryan johnson; ~30k livestream viewers
- unc/nasa/max planck · societyforscience.org · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-societyforscience-bio · Other public citations of this URL
unc/nasa/max planck; nlc 2020
- isef alum interview · societyforscience.org · 2025 (year) · original ID: src-hp-societyforscience-holz · Other public citations of this URL
isef alum interview; teca; trustee
- midjourney china qq episode · techcrunch · 2023-05-16 (day) · original ID: src-hp-techcrunch-mjchina-2023 · Other public citations of this URL
"midjourney china" qq episode
- max kreminski, storytelling lab · tomsguide.com · 2024-12-12 (day) · original ID: src-hp-tomsguide-patchwork-2024 · Other public citations of this URL
max kreminski, storytelling lab
- world simulation office-hours quotes · tomsguide.com · 2024-03 (month) · original ID: src-hp-tomsguide-worldsim-2024 · Other public citations of this URL
"world simulation" office-hours quotes
- an engine for the imagination · the verge · 2022-08-02 (day) · original ID: src-hp-verge-holz-2022 · Other public citations of this URL
canonical holz interview; all verbatim quotes
- scanner details · the verge · 2026-06 (month) · original ID: src-hp-verge-medical-2026 · Other public citations of this URL
scanner details; ~12 scanned; holz quotes
- ~$30m sale · the verge · 2019-05-30 (day) · original ID: src-hp-verge-ultraleap-2019 · Other public citations of this URL
~$30m sale; $306m peak; buckwald exits
- ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition · wikipedia · 2026-09 (month) · original ID: src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion · Other public citations of this URL
ocuspec history, rounds, acquisition
- yc w18 · ycombinator.com · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-yc-spellbrush · Other public citations of this URL
yc w18; sf/tokyo; founders
- cory li, ruwen liu, haitao mao · yespress.io · undated (unknown) · original ID: src-hp-yespress-spellbrush · Other public citations of this URL
cory li, ruwen liu, haitao mao; ~30 people
Structured research records
leap motion · midjourney-quests · 2010–2021 (approximate)
Original location · source-67e1b6dce011ec14f0ce · source-ec85517a434454c12db8 · source-4408680d9e4961418a93 · source-bd937c24baf0d558d608 · source-c72f8d2e15889655d76d
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2010–2021", "detail": "leap motion — holz and buckwald's twelve-year hand-tracking company: the ~$80 controller, orion vr tracking, the open-source project north star headset, two collapsed apple acquisitions, then the ~$30m sale to ultrahaptics (ultraleap) in 2019. holz stayed cto until ~august 2021. 'the right product at the wrong time' — and the spatial-computing agenda midjourney inherited.", "id": "qst-leap-motion", "owner": "holz", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-wikipedia-leapmotion", "src-hp-verge-ultraleap-2019", "src-hp-bi-apple-leap-2018", "src-hp-register-holz-2022", "src-ci-pressfarm-3d" ], "status": "handed-off", "title": "leap motion", "url": "https://www.ultraleap.com" }society for science · midjourney-quests · 2020– (approximate)
Original location · source-01e9a84df9bf0a1ae776 · source-9d90ae86297d297c0006 · source-e4c1f27dde8a943b9c16
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2020–", "detail": "society for science — holz joined the national leadership council in 2020 and is now a board of trustees member; midjourney sponsors regeneron isef's 'technology enhances the arts' award, and holz attended isef 2025. he is a 2006 isef alum — the circle closed.", "id": "qst-society-for-science", "owner": "holz", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-societyforscience-bio", "src-hp-societyforscience-holz", "src-hp-nathanma-isef-2025" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "society for science", "url": null }midjourney magazine · midjourney-quests · 2023-03– (approximate)
Original location · source-51f12dc857fadc5fb856 · source-5fd0888ca058536b963f
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2023-03–", "detail": "midjourney magazine — a $4/mo print zine of top-rated community images plus interviews, announced the same day as v5. holz: 'we thought it would be fun, and the community agreed, so we did it.' an ai lab shipping ink on paper.", "id": "qst-magazine", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-forbes-magazine-2023", "src-hp-gizmodo-magazine-2023" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "midjourney magazine", "url": null }niji・journey × spellbrush · midjourney-quests · 2022-11– (approximate)
Original location · source-9e1d4770c5f7e26eb1d4 · source-c8509298d77460908158 · source-e3485fcd15d5199d01c3 · source-b621ee2a87f1882c730f · source-72fdfd4422b5a51a945e · source-e9c131fc0e986d86ab64
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2022-11–", "detail": "niji・journey — the anime/2d model line and ios/android app co-built with spellbrush, the sf/tokyo yc-w18 studio behind waifu labs and arrowmancer (~30 people; cory li, ruwen liu, haitao mao). closed beta november 2022; niji 5, niji 6, niji v7 followed. the collaboration's terms are undisclosed.", "id": "qst-niji", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-gigazine-niji-2022", "src-hp-yc-spellbrush", "src-hp-yespress-spellbrush", "src-hp-mjupdates-nijiv7-2026", "src-ci-tokenized-niji", "src-hp-producthunt-niji" ], "status": "active", "title": "niji・journey × spellbrush", "url": "https://nijijourney.com" }rooms · midjourney-quests · 2024-05– (approximate)
Original location · source-517a0b1c0112233c3f06
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2024-05–", "detail": "rooms — private collaborative web spaces (for members past 100 images) mirrored to discord channels. the community's first home on midjourney's own property, a year before the web opened to everyone.", "id": "qst-rooms", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-mjupdates-rooms-2024" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "rooms", "url": null }patchwork · midjourney-quests · 2024-12– (approximate)
Original location · source-7167c398d0d3915efa69 · source-f67b83932342d755d823
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2024-12–", "detail": "patchwork — the storytelling lab's multiplayer infinite canvas for worldbuilding, mixing llms and image models; research preview december 2024 under max kreminski. the world-model agenda's first public artifact.", "id": "qst-patchwork", "owner": "kreminski", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-mjupdates-patchwork-2024", "src-hp-tomsguide-patchwork-2024" ], "status": "active", "title": "patchwork", "url": "https://patchwork.midjourney.com" }midjourney tv · midjourney-quests · 2025-07– (approximate)
Original location · source-2b6b9c32b39049cb13c1 · source-b5c6cf33c707255a2d1f
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2025-07–", "detail": "midjourney tv — a 24/7 stream of top community-made videos at midjourney.tv and on youtube, plus personalized feeds. the v1 video model's built-in programming.", "id": "qst-mjtv", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-mjupdates-mjtv-2025", "src-hp-mjupdates-video-opts-2025" ], "status": "active", "title": "midjourney tv", "url": "https://midjourney.tv" }the 'orb' hardware program · midjourney-quests · 2024–2026 (approximate)
Original location · source-e690b90f13aafed566a0 · source-109d45acdd8fe4ae8c3e · source-005840c935e027691a48 · source-f93c2a7d8a66abdec0ea
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2024–2026", "detail": "the hardware program — abbas hired december 2023; 'we're officially getting into hardware' august 2024; office-hours reporting described 3d data capture and a project nicknamed 'orb.' what it produced was not a consumer device but the medical scanner — whether 'orb' survived as a separate track is unconfirmed.", "id": "qst-orb", "owner": "abbas", "sourceIds": [ "src-ci-decoder-orb-hire", "src-hp-petapixel-hardware-2024", "src-ci-decoder-orb", "src-ci-tomsguide-holodeck" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "the 'orb' hardware program", "url": null }midjourney medical and the scanner · midjourney-quests · 2026-06– (approximate)
Original location · source-684604f40761cc1649ad · source-c2257617238d72914b19 · source-ab11dbe778f88e74a05e · source-f7a7b4a28ef72bd463d0 · source-2922998fa9d348867072
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2026-06–", "detail": "midjourney medical — the 'secret hardware project' revealed june 17, 2026: the midjourney scanner, a water-immersion full-body ultrasound-ct on 40 butterfly network modules (~½mm tissue detail, one-minute scan goal), plus a 24/7 spa at 300 grant ave, union square — 23,000 sq ft, four floors, ten-year lease, opening target end-2027. butterfly's sec filing pegs the supply agreement at $74m over five years. roadmap claims — 50,000+ scanners by ~2031, 'avoid 30% of all deaths' — are company goals, not results.", "id": "qst-medical", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-midjourney-medical-2026", "src-hp-register-medical-2026", "src-hp-realdeal-300grant-2026", "src-hp-sfstandard-medical-2026", "src-hp-verge-medical-2026" ], "status": "active", "title": "midjourney medical and the scanner", "url": "https://www.midjourney.com/medical" }the holodeck / the sims · midjourney-quests · 2024– (approximate)
Original location · source-f93c2a7d8a66abdec0ea · source-f5cb338ea0961ba4cad2 · source-b0b35d91cbb8c5be03d6
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2024–", "detail": "the holodeck — office-hours reporting describes a 3d world project (~60fps camera-motion rendering, separate from the video model) and the long-game 'sims' vision: 'the final creative medium,' where there's 'no hard distinction between creators and players.' unshipped as of september 2026.", "id": "qst-holodeck", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-ci-tomsguide-holodeck", "src-hp-tomsguide-worldsim-2024", "src-ci-levelup-sims" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "the holodeck / the sims", "url": null }the china episode · midjourney-quests · 2023-05 (month)
Original location · source-ce5409e486b6e45e834a · source-5d359c34ebd0a9654d55
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2023-05", "detail": "midjourney china — the murky episode: a wechat post from a nanjing joint venture announced a qq-based beta and was deleted; april office-hours notes had mentioned qq expansion and channel admins reportedly confirmed a closed beta. whether an official qq beta persisted was never resolved in reporting.", "id": "qst-china-qq", "owner": "company", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-techcrunch-mjchina-2023", "src-hp-scmp-mjchina-2023" ], "status": "ended", "title": "the china episode", "url": null }the recap writers · midjourney-quests · 2022– (approximate)
Original location · source-0e8babd43adf800a1f26 · source-2bd226a33b060857b21d · source-aad7807b6e03aea47c94 · source-705aa2a053ebe6c85c29 · source-89e8efcbd620bc35fb5e
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2022–", "detail": "the recap ecosystem — no official office-hours transcripts exist, so the record lives in community writeups: nick st. pierre's relays, imagine weekly, 'enthusiastically midjourney,' and the linkedin/medium recap circuit. 'miss journey' — the recurring default female face in early models — is the community's own coinage.", "id": "qst-recaps", "owner": "community", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-imagineweekly-officehours-20241023", "src-hp-linkedin-sykes-officehours-20240327", "src-hp-enthusiastically-officehours-20260812", "src-hp-antoinebuteau-holz", "src-hp-verge-holz-2022" ], "status": "active", "title": "the recap writers", "url": null }the moderator corps · midjourney-quests · 2021– (approximate)
Original location · source-c59d0c43df2d8576b06b · source-bfef80c61446b3f77c0a · source-8f2a417c0220ba649812
Original structured fields
{ "dates": "2021–", "detail": "the volunteer moderator corps — ~40 guides and moderators listed by handle on the 2022 about page, keeping order in what became the largest server discord ever hosted (~21m members). discord had to engineer past its own 1m-member cap to hold it.", "id": "qst-mods", "owner": "community", "sourceIds": [ "src-hp-midjourney-about-cache", "src-ci-discord-case-study", "src-ci-pnly-discord" ], "status": "continuing", "title": "the moderator corps", "url": null }