About Craig Merry
Deaf AI engineer, accessibility advocate, and builder of safety tech.
By day I support Northern California Power Agency, modernizing Microsoft 365 and SharePoint so municipal utilities can ship work safely. Nights and weekends I explore AI prototypes as a hobby, focusing on wildfire responders, cyclists, enterprise teams, and deaf/HoH communities. Every experiment pairs computer vision and ML with human-centered research so it delivers in real environments.
Focus
Where I spend my time
Researching with operators, designing systems with measurable ROI, and turning prototypes into tools that teams can trust.
Building the operating system for physical AI—one brain, many shells.
- ContinuonAI home robotics stack
- RCAN protocol for robot communication
- Raspberry Pi & edge deployments
Spatial computing that works for everyone, built by a deaf developer.
- ContinuonXR spatial interfaces
- LiveCaptionsXR real-time captions
- Android XR development
Infrastructure for autonomous coding and AI-assisted development.
- Civqo codebase visualization
- Ralph Loop integration
- Context recovery systems
Journey
How I got here
I have led enterprise rollouts, founded a safety startup, and now focus on AI systems work that blends prototypes with field deployment.
2022 – Present
Systems Engineer · Northern California Power Agency
Lead SharePoint, Microsoft 365, and automation initiatives that keep member utilities collaborating securely while modernizing legacy workflows.
2025 – Present
ContinuonAI & ContinuonXR
2,652 commits across 76 projects in 2025. Building embodied AI for home robotics (ContinuonAI) and spatial computing interfaces (ContinuonXR). One brain, many shells—under $600 in parts.
Ongoing (nights & weekends)
Independent AI Projects & Advocacy
Build AI agents, accessibility tools, and robotics prototypes. Latest: Civqo (AI codebase visualization), LiveCaptionsXR, and the RCAN robotics protocol.
2018 – 2022
Application Administrator Lead · California Earthquake Authority
Led Microsoft 365 migrations, automation, and developer experience for mission-critical collaboration platforms.
2014 – 2016
Founder & Product Lead · Beacon Safety Co.
Built LiDAR and robotics prototypes, launched community safety apps, and won Startup Weekend Sacramento (hardware).
Earlier
SharePoint & Ops Roles · Apple, Sutter Health, State of CA
Shipped portals, BI dashboards, and automation that shortened manual processes from weeks to hours.
Speaking & Advocacy
Sharing work and lifting others
Whether it is a user group demo, an accessibility workshop, or a policy meeting, I try to demystify AI and make sure deaf/HoH voices are part of the design brief.
Speaking + Workshops
- AI + computer vision meetups
- Microsoft 365 community events
- Accessibility-first design sessions
Community Advocacy
- Mentor deaf/HoH technologists
- Review accessibility guidelines and policies
- Contribute to open-source accessibility tooling
Why camera systems, edge AI, and accessibility considerations belong in the same conversation.
This talk covers the architectural choices behind Dronevade, how to design spatial captions, and why inclusive research accelerates adoption.
Values
Beyond technology
Life outside work keeps me grounded and informs how I design. These are a few of the things that shape my perspective.
Cycling & Safe Streets
Created BicycleRadar after too many close calls. Still spend weekends testing prototypes on local rides.
Builder Mindset
From Arduino experiments to full-stack demos, rapid prototyping has been my native language since childhood.
Community
Active inside the deaf/HoH community, advocating for visible interpreters, caption budgets, and inclusive hiring.
Let’s build something accessible together.
I partner best with teams who value clear documentation, fast iteration, and inclusive design. Tell me about your goals and we can draft a plan.