Lost Frame Ventures

Will Taubenheim

Will Taubenheim

Founder & Technical Lead, Lost Frame Ventures

AI Engineer · Fractional CTO · Keynote Speaker

NASA LunaRecycling WinnerNASA Phase 2Epic Games MegaGrantMeta Presence Platform GrantNAWCTSD & SERDPNAVSEA AIRASAFGSC AIMS-Cert Down-SelectThe Ventures Miami Finalist

2x

NASA Awards

20+

Shipped Projects

248K

Word AI Report

3M+

Players Reached

About

Will Taubenheim (William Taubenheim) is the founder of Lost Frame Ventures, an AI engineering company that builds mission-critical systems for NASA, the Department of Defense, and enterprise clients across healthcare, real estate, automotive, and document intelligence.

He has won two NASA awards, received the Epic Games MegaGrant and Meta Presence Platform Grant, led Escape the Backrooms to 130K+ positive reviews and millions of players, and published a 248,000-word State of AI research report. He works as a fractional CTO for operators who need architecture, hands-on engineering, and delivery in one role.

Will co-founded RareOS (The Ventures Miami finalist), partners with Google on Gemini integrations, and keynotes on AI strategy, autonomous systems, and AI geopolitics. He is a contractor and founder on defense programs, not a NASA, DoD, or Meta employee.

Career timeline

Milestones across space, defense, games, XR, and enterprise AI. Sourced from Lost Frame delivery history, willtaubenheim.com, and public award records.

2026

Upcoming keynotes: Brookfield Chamber and IRGA Nashville

Will Taubenheim is scheduled to keynote the Greater Brookfield Chamber of Commerce AI workshop (June 30, 2026) and the International Reprographic Association annual AI conference in Nashville (October 15–16, 2026).

  • Brookfield, WI: half-day Chamber workshop for business owners (keynote, breakouts, panel, Q&A)
  • IRGA Nashville: morning keynote + workshops; 83% of members ranked AI their top learning priority
Press coverage →

2026

State of AI report, NASA Phase 2, AFGSC down-select

Will Taubenheim published the 248,000-word State of AI 2026 intelligence briefing, won a second NASA award for Lunar Recycle Phase 2, and led the AIMS-Cert architecture down-selected by Air Force Global Strike Command.

  • State of AI 2026: 200+ sources, 35+ visualizations, executive briefing at lostframe.ai/research
  • NASA Lunar Recycle Phase 2 award extending the LunaRecycling digital twin
  • Terasynth AIMS-Cert down-select for additive manufacturing flight certification
  • Enterprise delivery including FFO AI document intelligence platform
  • Continued co-founder role at RareOS (real-estate AI operating system)
Press coverage →

2025

NASA LunaRecycling Challenge winner

Will Taubenheim led the winning team in NASA's LunaRecycling Challenge, selected from more than 1,200 global submissions for lunar waste recycling and in-situ manufacturing feedstock.

  • Digital twin for pyrolysis and material recovery in lunar operating constraints
  • First of two NASA awards; Phase 2 followed in 2026
  • Foundation for later Air Force additive manufacturing digital-thread work (AIMS-Cert)
Press coverage →

2025

NAVSEA AIRAS and SERDP wildfire awards

Lost Frame Ventures stacked two major U.S. military AI awards: ballistic missile defense for Navy destroyers and autonomous wildfire suppression.

  • AIRAS / NAVSEA: AI-integrated ballistic missile defense for destroyer platforms
  • ARFAS: NAWCTSD and SERDP autonomous wildfire suppression with ground vehicles and edge AI
  • Naval Airwarfare CASCON fire-detection training software (NAWCTSD awardee)
Press coverage →

2025

RareOS, RevolvAI, AquaLeads, Google Gemini

Will Taubenheim expanded venture and enterprise AI footprint while deepening the Google Gemini partnership for client delivery.

  • Co-founded RareOS; The Ventures Miami finalist ($462B buy/sell/trade TAM)
  • RevolvAI: real-estate AI MVP in two weeks, commercial-ready in two months
  • AquaLeads: satellite imagery + scraping for pool-service lead generation
  • Google Gemini team partnership for production integrations
  • MedSpa clinical intelligence and AVFX ShowSketch enterprise deliveries
Press coverage →

2025

Entrepreneurs' Organization DC keynote

Will Taubenheim keynoted EO DC on AI strategy, implementation velocity, and geopolitical risk for operator audiences.

Press coverage →

2024

Meta NYC hackathon, FoodLens XR, I/ITSEC, Vision Pro

A year of rapid MR prototypes, defense simulation visibility, and first-mover engine work on Apple Vision Pro.

  • 2nd place, utility app category, Meta NYC Hackathon on Quest mixed reality
  • Solo-built FoodLens XR: custom Vulkan camera plugin and Quest 3 kitchen assistant in one week
  • Solo horror release on Steam with 94% positive reviews
  • First to run Unreal Engine 5.4 natively on Apple Vision Pro (documented for developers)
  • Presented at I/ITSEC on defense simulation and training technology
  • Expanded Lost Frame enterprise AI across healthcare, real estate, and document intelligence
Press coverage →

2024

I/ITSEC defense simulation presenter

Presented training and simulation technology at I/ITSEC to the defense modeling and simulation community.

Press coverage →

2023

Escape the Backrooms technical lead

Will Taubenheim led engineering on Escape the Backrooms, a co-op horror phenomenon with 130K+ positive Steam reviews and millions of unique players.

  • Contracted via Lost Frame to Fancy Games as technical lead
  • A24 Backrooms feature film universe scheduled 2026
  • Validated netcode and live-ops discipline at viral scale
Press coverage →

2023

Epic Games MegaGrant

Will Taubenheim received an Epic Games MegaGrant funding Unreal Engine multiplayer innovation with millions of users reached across related titles.

Press coverage →

2023

ReArmor VR with UCF RESTORES

Built AI-powered VR exposure therapy with UCF RESTORES, publicly positioned at 200% improvement over traditional PTSD treatment.

Press coverage →

2023

Meta SF Hackathon and Luxe Casino VR

Competed in Meta's San Francisco hackathon and advanced Luxe Casino stereoscopic VR on UE5 toward the Meta Presence Platform Grant.

Press coverage →

2022

Meta Presence Platform Grant and Quest 3 consulting

Lost Frame graduated from indie XR experiments to an official Meta partner relationship.

  • Awarded Meta Presence Platform Grant for stereoscopic presence on Quest-class hardware
  • Flown to Meta HQ to consult on Quest 3 development
  • Expanded Lost Frame Development into defense-adjacent simulation and enterprise AI
Press coverage →

2020–2021

Early Steam titles and VR systems

Published early games on Steam and built custom VR interaction systems that later informed Luxe Casino and Meta grant work.

  • First commercial titles on Steam through Lost Frame Development
  • Prototype VR pipelines and Unreal Engine tooling for immersive products

2018

Founded Lost Frame Development

Will Taubenheim founded Lost Frame Development (now Lost Frame Ventures), combining game shipping discipline with AI and simulation engineering.

  • Started as a game and VR studio; evolved into NASA, DoD, and enterprise AI delivery
  • Operating brand today: Lost Frame Ventures (lostframe.ai)

Flagship research

Will authored the 2026 State of AI intelligence briefing published by Lost Frame Ventures.

Read The Foundations Are Cracking →

Latest news

Official press coverage and announcements about Will Taubenheim.

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