James Nakagawa

Watchwith, the leader in related content syndication, unlocks value across the entertainment industry by transforming how people experience film and television. The Watchwith Platform™ gives content owners and app developers a way to realize new value by creating an engaging layer of time-based related content events around film, television programming and advertising. The Watchwith Platform also provides syndication of the related content experience to smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, game consoles, OTT set-top boxes, managed network set-top boxes and Blu-ray™ discs. Powered by the Related Content Database™, Watchwith enables content owners to create new licensable related content properties that will generate profits across media far into the future. Motorola Mobility, Inc., and Sony Network Entertainment are strategic investors in the company. Watchwith is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit watchwith.com.

Managed all of my father's affairs while he was in a long term care facility until his passing. After his passing, cleaned up and sold his small farm and associated assets. Managed and closed his estate.

Provided primary home care for elderly father while continuing to work full-time for THX.

Co-developed THX Media Director technology that uses metadata associated with audio and video content to simplify the operation of feature-rich home audio and video equipment (HDTVs, surround sound systems, media players, etc.). Currently, the burden is squarely on the user to figure out how to use this equipment and choose the appropriate mode and settings for the content being played (movies, music, games, etc.). Many users simply do not bother and just leave the equipment in the same mode. Media Director aims to simplify the operation of the equipment so that the user can enjoy any content, as it was intended, without constant adjustment. Developed the Media Director technology from an idea into a working proof-of-concept. Authored, co-authored, or otherwise helped create and write the various specification documents defining: -the metadata describing the audio and video content, -the file formats for associating the metadata with content on DVD-Video, on Blu-ray Disc, and in downloaded files, -the DVD-Video and Blu-ray Disc player requirements, -the audio & video playback device requirements, -the transport of the metadata over HDMI, -and the test methodology for ensuring compatibility with HDMI. Coordinated and worked with internal resources and two external partner companies to develop a Media Director proof-of-concept system consisting of a DVD-Video player, A/V receiver, and video processor. Coordinated and worked on the creation of the demo content and presentation used to demonstrate the technology. Received very positive feedback from content creators, consumer electronics manufacturers, and press on the proof-of-concept. Designed the structure and the "look & feel" of the Media Director documents to facilitate the organizing and presenting of the various specifications. Performed final editing of all revisions to ensure consistency of the content and style across all documents. Maintained a specification versioning system and revision histories.

Provided expertise in the capturing, organizing, and leveraging of complex technical knowledge. Paid special attention to the capturing of tacit knowledge–know-how, rules-of-thumb, "tips & tricks," and other unstated knowledge–that is developed over time through experience. Developed three licensing manuals for Dolby Laboratories for each of the three tiers of the Dolby Integrated Codec licensing program detailing the audio architectures necessary to integrate Dolby audio technologies with high-performance audio hardware on Intel-based PC motherboards. Developed two licensing manuals for Dolby Laboratories detailing the design specifications and performance standards that apply when using Dolby Pro Logic II in OEM and aftermarket in-car entertainment applications. In each case, the process involved starting with pieces of information gathered from various scattered sources, organizing and structuring this information, and gathering or developing additional content to create a comprehensive design reference manual.

Provided primary home care for elderly parents during a terminal illness.

Explored opportunities to license MLP Lossless for applications beyond DVD-Audio for which the technology was originally designed. Explored pricing strategies and marketing opportunities to promote adoption of Dolby technologies for in-car entertainment applications. Met with existing licensees to present new Dolby technologies, gather information about product plans, and discuss market directions. Met with potential licensees to promote Dolby technologies, explain the licensing relationship, and raise awareness of the value of the Dolby brand.

Coordinated the development of the MLP Lossless and Dolby Headphone licensing programs. MLP Lossless is a lossless audio coding technology initially used in DVD-Audio to efficiently deliver high quality multichannel audio that is bit-for-bit identical to the master source. Dolby Headphone is an audio technology that delivers the experience of listening to a multichannel surround speaker system over any ordinary set of headphones. Worked with internal intellectual property group to ensure protection of know-how and prepare necessary licensing agreements. Was the designated contact for our patent counsel for any questions regarding MLP Lossless, liaising with the inventors to answer the more complex questions. Coordinated with other internal groups to ensure that resources were allocated to support the licensing of these new technologies. Worked with external partners Meridian Audio and Lake Technology to bring know-how in-house and to develop the MLP Lossless and Dolby Headphone development kits (source code, functional requirements, performance standards, test procedures & materials, and other product design information). Participated in extensive listening tests during the development of Dolby Headphone to fine tune the final "flavor" of the technology to be licensed. Promoted these new technologies to potential licensees, consumers, and the press. Designed, set up, and delivered several demonstrations of Dolby Headphone at various trade shows and press events. Rewrote and expanded the Dolby Digital Consumer Decoder section of the Dolby Licensee Information Manual, used by licensees to design chips and products, from an 80+ page design guide into a comprehensive 300+ page design reference manual, incorporating a great deal of know-how developed during the course of providing technical support to licensees. Experimented with the design and use of the company intranet to gather and share knowledge (before wikis and other collaboration software became common).

Helped establish the Dolby Digital Consumer Decoder licensing program. Dolby Digital is the audio coding technology initially used by HDTV and DVD-Video to deliver multichannel surround sound audio. Worked with R&D to turn internal documents and know-how into chip and product development kits. Developed functional requirements, performance standards, user interface guidelines, test procedures, and test signals for developing and testing Dolby Digital decoder chips and end-user products such as DVD players, A/V receivers, HDTVs, set-top boxes, etc. Introduced and explained the Dolby Digital licensing program to potential licensees and helped many through the process of becoming a licensee. Maintained relationship with licensees by becoming the main point of contact for everything from discussing product plans and providing technical support to product testing and double checking the accuracy of royalty statements. Tested chips and end-user products to ensure compliance with functional requirements and performance standards. Evaluated overall usability and performance of products to ensure that a positive experience was associated with the use of the technology. Checked associated materials such as datasheets, owner's manuals, and marketing materials to ensure that the technology was presented and described properly and to verify proper trademark usage. Helped encode the audio for the first two LaserDiscs to feature Dolby Digital soundtracks—Clear & Present Danger and True Lies—for the launch of the Dolby Digital format in the consumer world.

Provided technical support and strategic applications support for the sales staff and field applications engineers (FAEs) in Japan for the DSP56000 and DSP56100 families of Motorola DSPs. Was the liaison between Japanese customers (via the local sales staff and FAEs) and the DSP group in the US for the more complex issues. Promoted the first all-digital Dolby Pro Logic Surround processing solution on the DSP56004 to Japanese consumer electronics manufacturers.

Trained for assignment in Japan by working in the DSP Applications Group. Learned the operation and programming of the DSP56000 and DSP56100 families of Motorola DSPs. Helped verify that the descriptions of the operational specifications that were being written for the 56000 family reference manual were correct and accurate. Answered calls to the "DSP Helpline" from customers using Motorola DSPs which usually involved highly technical questions from programming of the DSPs to hardware requirements such as clocking of the chip and interfacing with external memory, microcontrollers, and I/O devices.

Participated in two projects led by Dr. Keith Teague in the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology. Worked on simulating a 9600 bps digital modem meeting the V.29 specification in C source code for eventual implementation on a DSP platform based on 3 AT&T WE DSP32C floating point processors under a contract from the National Security Agency. Worked on implementing the Improved Multi-Band Excitation (IMBE) speech coding algorithm on a Tiger 30 (TI TMS320C30 based) DSP platform after helping to develop a simulation in C source code under a contract from DSP Software Engineering.