John Seong

John is the CEO and the technical founder of Orchestr Aerospace Inc, interested in quantum technologies and GPS-free navigation in aviation.

John Seong

John (Wonmo) Seong

Founder | Engineer | Pilot in training

Los Angeles metro area

John Seong at Apple Park during WWDC23Sunset from the cockpit during flight training

Apple WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge winner

Invited to Apple Park, Cupertino

US O-1A visa | UK Global Talent visa

He started by drawing what nobody can see: electron clouds, orbitals and density maps, so that a student could look at quantum mechanics instead of just reading about it. One of those density maps ended up on the cover of a Nobel laureate’s biography. Today he builds computers that ride in the cockpit and look out of the window.

Now | since September 2025

Orchestr Aerospace

John founded Orchestr Aerospace in September 2025 and runs it as CEO and technical founder. The company builds dual-use avionics, for civilian and defence aviation, from offices in Irvine, California, and Montréal.

“An AI computer that works in the cockpit.”

The thread from his physics work is direct. A density map is a computer showing a person what it knows about a scene they cannot see. A cockpit computer does the same with traffic, terrain and weather. Orchestr’s research goes one step further: working out where the aircraft is from what its cameras see, so navigation keeps working when GPS is jammed or spoofed.

Software

Jeb’s Horizon EFB on the RNAV approach into Aspen: the 3D map over the Rockies beside DeepVision synthetic vision

Jeb’s Horizon EFB

An electronic flight bag for iOS, Android and Mac with DeepVision synthetic vision: moving map, approach charts, weather, flight planning and live traffic.

Jeb’s AI answering from the POH

Jeb’s AI

A copilot you can talk to, trained on your own aircraft’s handbook. It answers from the documents it was given; the pilot in command stays responsible.

Hardware

DeepVision EVS Mk. 1

Thermal traffic and obstacle awareness: spots other aircraft and obstacles day or night, with laser ranging.

CA$6,999 est. retail | Estimated Q3–Q4 2027

Flight Computer Mk. 1

The artificial horizon, terrain map and on-device POH copilot in one handheld unit: an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano with a stereo camera pair and software-defined radio.

CA$1,299 est. retail | Estimated Q2 2027

…like artificial intelligence, but the

▶ FULL VIDEO

DeepBCI Mk. 1

A 16-channel EEG board that reads the pilot’s intent and moves the FMS cursor, hands on the controls.

CA$649 est. retail | Estimated Q2 2027

DeepSDR Mk. 1

Wideband software-defined radio, 1 MHz to 6 GHz, receive and transmit.

CA$499 est. retail | Estimated Q2 2027

Piper Astrid on the ramp

Piper Astrid

The company aircraft, flown as a sensor platform and a testbed for ADS-B and computer-vision traffic detection.

Where it is going

The long-term plan is autonomous flight in general aviation, and eventually a high-altitude spaceplane that flies above the Kármán line.

The story so far

From orbitals to airframes

One line, six stations. Each stop taught him something the next one needed.

  1. 2022

    Making quantum mechanics visible

    In 2022 he entered the Breakthrough Junior Challenge with “Schrödinger’s Equation & DFT in 90 Seconds”, a 90-second explainer of the Schrödinger equation and density functional theory. The same year he started ElectronVisualized, a web app that runs real DFT calculations and draws the resulting electron density and molecular orbitals in 3D. It later grew iOS, macOS and visionOS versions.

    Loading the 3D model

    Benzene, C₆H₆: electron density from a DFT calculation, exported from ElectronVisualized.
  2. June 2023

    WWDC23 in Cupertino

    His Swift Student Challenge app playground turned the Heisenberg uncertainty principle into something you could play with, and it won. MobileSyrup named him one of six Canadian winners. Apple invited him to Apple Park for WWDC23, where he met engineers from the Vision Pro team, iJustine and MKBHD, then wrote it all up on Medium and YouTube. The playground grew into Atomizer AR, an augmented-reality atom and orbital viewer.

    With iJustine at Apple Park, WWDC23
    Atomizer AR rendering iron and sodium electron configurations
  3. Seoul

    Research at Seoul National University

    A summer research internship at Seoul National University turned side projects into tools. He built electronvisual.org, brought Atomizer AR up to industry standard, and developed LCBC Dock, now MolDock, which pulls fragmented protein–ligand docking tools into one app on the App Store and Google Play. His DFT density map of the hydrogen molecule went on to become the cover art of Sir David Clary’s biography of Walter Kohn.

  4. 2024

    Machines that read people

    The questions moved from atoms to people. OpticALLY 3D Scan builds a 3D model of a head from nothing but an iPhone’s TrueDepth camera. He wired an OpenBCI brain–computer interface into a flight simulator and flew with it; the clip drew 156 reactions on LinkedIn. Around the same time he started flight training.

    Sunset from the cockpit during flight training
  5. 2025

    Reach, then Orchestr

    From August to December 2025 he worked as a software engineer at Reach, building a TrueDepth face-scanning app with the company’s CEO, Drew Shepard. In September he founded Orchestr Aerospace. By December he was at UCLA, telling the Global Entrepreneurship Society why he wants to replace the autopilot with vision-based AI.

    With his flight instructor at John Wayne Airport
  6. 2026

    In the air

    Orchestr’s apps reached the App Store and Google Play, the company aircraft Piper Astrid started carrying cameras, and the team reported from Kennedy Space Center for the Artemis II launch. In October 2026 Orchestr introduced Jeb’s AI to its pilot audience.

  7. Next

    Autonomous flight in general aviation, then above the Kármán line.

Collaboration | Sir David Clary FRS

A density map on the cover of Walter Kohn’s story

John collaborated with the Oxford chemist Sir David Clary FRS on his biography of Walter Kohn, the physicist behind density functional theory.

Cover of Walter Kohn: From Kindertransport and Internment to DFT and the Nobel Prize, by David C. Clary

Walter Kohn: From Kindertransport and Internment to DFT and the Nobel Prize

David C. Clary | World Scientific | 2024

John’s part

The front cover is built on an electron density map of the hydrogen molecule that John calculated with density functional theory, the theory Kohn created. The book’s preface credits it:

Adapted from an electron density map for the hydrogen molecule calculated with Density Functional Theory (courtesy of John Wonmo Seong)

Preface, World Scientific

The book

Walter Kohn left Vienna as a boy on the Kindertransport, was interned as an “enemy alien” in Britain and Canada, and went on to develop density functional theory, the method that lets chemists compute the electronic structure of molecules and materials. It earned him the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with John Pople. Clary’s book follows that whole arc, from refugee to laureate.

The author

Sir David Clary FRS is a theoretical chemist and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He was President of Magdalen College, Oxford, from 2005 to 2020, and the first Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, from 2009 to 2013.

Activity

Posted along the way

Orchestr’s company posts and John’s own, newest first. Each one opens right here, or on LinkedIn.

New today

At Orchestr, we find novel ways to make general aviation flying safer and even more fun.
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.October 25, 2026

“At Orchestr, we find novel ways to make general aviation flying safer and even more fun.”

Orchestr presents Jeb’s AI to its pilot audience. Jeb’s AI is a copilot you talk to, trained on your aircraft’s own handbook, and you can try it now at orchaero.com.

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From Orchestr Aerospace

Meet Flight Computer 1, a vision-based approach to flight radars for general aviation and beyond.
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.August 18, 2026

“Meet Flight Computer 1, a vision-based approach to flight radars for general aviation and beyond.”

Flight Computer 1: traffic, weather and terrain detection by camera, as a low-cost alternative to TCAS that does not depend on ADS-B.

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Making Autonomous Flying Possible in GA and beyond.
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.August 5, 2026 | 5 reactions

“Making Autonomous Flying Possible in GA and beyond.”

The autonomous flying stack in the cockpit, and the longer goal: a high-altitude spaceplane that reaches above the Kármán line, 100 km up.

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Say Hello to our company aircraft, Piper Astrid.
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.July 12, 2026

“Say Hello to our company aircraft, Piper Astrid.”

Nine photos of the company aircraft, the testbed for sensor readings behind Orch Avionic 1 and 2 and their ADS-B and computer-vision traffic alerts.

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Check out Jeb’s 3D Flight Bag, new state of the art EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) app
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.July 12, 2026

“Check out Jeb’s 3D Flight Bag, new state of the art EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) app”

Jeb’s 3D Flight Bag arrives on the App Store and Google Play, for general aviation and commercial pilots.

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Modernising General Aviation. Orch Avionic 1 team’s Jebediah Flight Bag app.
John SeongMay 18, 2026

“Modernising General Aviation. Orch Avionic 1 team’s Jebediah Flight Bag app.”

A video of the Jebediah Flight Bag app built by the Orch Avionic 1 team, running weather radar on a tablet.

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Artemis II Launch Reaction, reporting from Kennedy Space Center
Orchestr Aerospace Inc.April 2, 2026

“Artemis II Launch Reaction, reporting from Kennedy Space Center”

John at Kennedy Space Center for the Artemis II launch, reporting for Orchestr.

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From John

Scan 3D only using an iPhone
John SeongNovember 24, 2024 | 42 reactions

“Scan 3D only using an iPhone”

OpticALLY 3D Scan in action: a full 3D head model from an iPhone’s TrueDepth camera.

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Introducing Flight Simulator + Brain Computer Interface
John SeongNovember 13, 2024 | 156 reactions

“Introducing Flight Simulator + Brain Computer Interface”

A flight simulator controlled through a brain–computer interface, built on the open-source OpenBCI platform.

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Introducing Atomizer AR. Your Swiss Army Knife in Chemistry.
John SeongJuly 30, 2023

“Introducing Atomizer AR. Your Swiss Army Knife in Chemistry.”

The App Store launch of Atomizer AR, including sketch-to-IUPAC name conversion.

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Bioinformatics Demo – ElectronVisualized
John SeongJuly 30, 2023

“Bioinformatics Demo – ElectronVisualized”

A bioinformatics demo of ElectronVisualized, from atomic orbitals to protein–ligand docking.

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Previously unreleased promo video for Electronify, an atomic and molecular orbital viewer
John SeongJune 13, 2023

“Previously unreleased promo video for Electronify, an atomic and molecular orbital viewer”

A promo for Electronify, the orbital viewer he also submitted to the Swift Student Challenge.

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I might have to make a question list when I’m interviewing Apple’s top engineers
John SeongMay 12, 2023

“I might have to make a question list when I’m interviewing Apple’s top engineers”

The countdown to WWDC23, and a question list for Apple’s engineers.

View on LinkedIn

Press and recognition

In the news, and on camera

Coverage of the WWDC23 win, his own write-ups from Cupertino, and the videos that explain the work.

Projects

Things he built along the way

Science tools, computer vision, a brain–computer interface, two social apps and a short film.

Loading the 3D model

Gadolinium, 4f⁷: the outer f-orbital, modelled with spherical harmonics in Atomizer AR.

2022 – 2025 | Web | iOS | macOS | visionOS | DFT

ElectronVisualized and Atomizer AR

A 3D atomic and molecular orbital visualizer. ElectronVisualized computes electron density with density functional theory and renders it in the browser; Atomizer AR, his WWDC23 Swift Student Challenge project, puts atoms and orbitals in augmented reality on iPhone and Vision Pro.

A head scan captured with an iPhone’s TrueDepth camera.

2024 – 2025 | iOS | TrueDepth | C++

OpticALLY 3D Scan

“Scan 3D only using an iPhone.” A Swift and C++ app that turns the TrueDepth camera’s point clouds into a measured 3D head model: pose estimation, ICP registration and meshing, exported as OBJ. US patent pending (63/727,879).

Flying a simulator with an OpenBCI headset

2024 | OpenBCI | EEG | Flight sim

Flight Simulator + Brain–Computer Interface

A flight simulator flown through an OpenBCI brain–computer interface. Orchestr’s DeepBCI takes the same idea into the cockpit: a neural band that drives the cockpit display’s cursor without the pilot’s hand leaving the controls.

iOS | Android | AutoDock Vina

LCBC Dock, now MolDock

Protein–ligand docking is spread across many separate tools. MolDock brings them into a single mobile app, on the App Store and Google Play.

The HAVIT website

Social video | Habits

HAVIT

A habit tracker that works like a social video app: you keep a habit by posting it.

AR | VR | Short video

Redoo Hub

A short-video platform for AR and VR headsets, built with William Zhang and Bryan Zhao. John joined as co-founder in June 2023.

Making of Debugging Reality

2021 – 2022 | Short film | VFX | Original score

Debugging Reality

A short film with a visual-effects black hole and an original score, both his own.

Also on the App Store

Electronify, an electron orbital explorer. Orch-OR Visualizer, an interactive model of the Penrose–Hameroff theory of consciousness. Orch A320 Guide for Apple Vision Pro. 1st Principle Graph Calculator. BlackHole, a real-time relativistic ray marcher.

Talks

Show your work

Global Entrepreneurship Society at UCLA | December 2025

John spoke to UCLA’s Global Entrepreneurship Society about building Orchestr. The talk covered four ideas.

01

Brain–computer interfaces for avionics

Letting a pilot work the cockpit displays without taking a hand off the controls.

02

Replacing the autopilot with vision-based AI

Aircraft that understand the scene outside, not only the numbers from their instruments.

03

Show your work

Ship in public, post the demos, and let the work make the case.

04

Choose a niche

“I hate competition; I want to dominate.”

the Global Entrepreneurship Society at UCLA had the pleasure of hosting John Seong
Global Entrepreneurship Society at UCLADecember 19, 2025 | 10 reactions

“the Global Entrepreneurship Society at UCLA had the pleasure of hosting John Seong”

GES at UCLA on hosting John: BCI for next-generation avionics, and replacing the autopilot with vision-based AI.

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Recommendation

“John exhibits great excellent communication skills, and works with the team to achieve desired goal. John is proactive in all that he does, and makes sure that and obstacles that can be foreseen, are avoided.”
Brendan Lieu | Actuarial Science, University of Toronto
October 5, 2021 | worked with John on the same team

Contact

Say hello

For Orchestr, pilots, investors or press, LinkedIn and email both reach him.