Cancer survivor. Serial entrepreneur. The man who bought a business at a yard sale and brought augmented reality to Jacksonville Beach.
Roger Baldwin spent 50 years in North Georgia. For 20 of those years he ran Xenogenesis RADAR Imaging — a company that used ground-penetrating radar to inspect high-rise structures across the Southeast. He built it from nothing, became the first person in the Southeast to offer the service, and eventually sold it after two decades. Then he retired.
Retirement lasted about two years before it got boring.
"I began to look at other businesses to own that were different from my own," Roger says. "And I saw an escape room for sale in Key West."
So he and his fiancée packed up and moved to Key West. The escape room deal fell through. They stayed for a year anyway, then decided to relocate again — this time to Jacksonville, where Roger planned to restart his radar imaging business in a market that had nobody doing it locally.
They were settling into Jacksonville Beach when his fiancée decided they needed more furniture. Yard sales. The fifth one they hit, the people running it were standing under a tent that said Mind Bender Escape Rooms.
"I almost bought an escape room," Roger told them. They said, "Funny you should say that — we're selling one." Suddenly Roger had bought the most expensive item ever at a yard sale.
That was 2023. Roger purchased Mind Bender Escape Rooms at 1500 Beach Blvd Suite 212 in Jacksonville Beach — a venue that had been a local institution since 2015 — and got to work.
The path from Key West to Jacksonville wasn't just about geography. During the Key West chapter, Roger was diagnosed with cancer. Radiation. Chemotherapy. The full weight of it.
"I'd give that one star — would not recommend," he says. "But I survived, and it taught me to appreciate the things in life more."
That experience is woven into everything about how Mind Bender AR operates. The reason Roger pushes hard to make this a great place to visit is simple: he loves meeting new people and helping them find a little joy. When you walk through a holographic world at Mind Bender AR and your face lights up — that moment is the point. That's what Roger is building toward every day he shows up.
Running an escape room is nothing like running a radar imaging company. Roger is the first to admit the learning curve was steep — and that he made his share of mistakes along the way, particularly around advertising and websites. But those struggles made him genuinely proficient in both, and he now applies those skills across multiple businesses.
In early 2026, Roger partnered with Verse Immersive — the leading provider of location-based augmented reality experiences in the United States — to bring Jacksonville's first and only Verse Immersive installation to Mind Bender AR. Powered by Snap Spectacles AR glasses, guests now walk through fully holographic worlds alongside the escape rooms.
It's the kind of thing he hinted at in his Voyage Jacksonville interview: "We are planning on adding an all new non-escape room activity in 2026. This activity will be the first of its kind in the area and we are really looking forward to opening it."
He wasn't wrong.
Roger has always operated in unusual spaces — first as the only person doing RADAR imaging in the Southeast, now as the only operator running Verse Immersive AR in Northeast Florida. Finding mentors in those spaces isn't easy.
"My business in Georgia — I was the first person in the southeast to ever do it, so I had no roadmap," he says. "And it still turned out great."
"The best and most unusual mentor I have found to date has to be Claude AI. Claude AI has done more to help grow this business than anyone else in my life." — Roger Baldwin, Voyage Jacksonville Magazine
That quote — published in Voyage Jacksonville Magazine in December 2025 — says something real about how Roger approaches business. He uses every tool available, learns from every mistake, and keeps moving forward regardless of whether there's a roadmap.
Three successful businesses. One very expensive yard sale. And a holographic elephant waiting for you at 1500 Beach Blvd.
Mind Bender AR is open seven days a week starting at 1PM. The AR experience runs approximately 25 minutes and is appropriate for ages 7 and up. The escape rooms run 60 minutes and are appropriate for all ages. Every session is 100% private — your group never plays with strangers.
Roger is there most days Monday through Thursday running the operation solo. On weekends you'll find his full team. Either way, you're welcome to say hello.
Reach Roger directly at roger@mindbenderar.com or call (904) 853-6192.
Jacksonville's only Verse Immersive AR experience. Four private escape rooms. One address. Come see what Roger built.