03:15 PM - 03:40 PM
What should the Metaverse look like? How do maximalist and minimalist approaches affect XR? Is either inherently better? Do we want technology that is minimally invasive, or do we want to live in our best fantastical art worlds? Watch best friends with wildly opposing design philosophies duke it out.
On the side of maximalism, we have Jerome Morrison, a creative technologist at Meow Wolf, known for its larger than life maximalist psychedelic art installations.
On the side of minimalism, we have Lauren Cason. Lauren is the co-founder of RefractAR and is known for her minimalist design approach in her XR work. She was previously an artist on Monument Valley 2 and a prototyper at Apple.
11:00 AM - 11:25 AM
Creativity is at the heart of the TikTok experience. To expand what’s possible on TikTok and take content creation to the next level, TikTok launched Effect House — an effect development platform that empowers effect creators to build AR experiences and effects for TikTok’s global community.
During Effect House's early beta, effects made in Effect House were used in more than 1.5 billion TikTok videos and garnered over 600 billion views globally.
Join the team at TikTok to learn about how Effect House has inspired a new wave of storytelling, fun, and entertainment across TikTok. Hear about how the team developed the robust, dynamic features that power Effect House and learn some best practices for showcasing your creativity with XR on TikTok.
11:30 AM - 12:25 PM
Join Niantic Lightship as they talk with developers and designers building truly immersive, real-world AR experiences with the new Lightship Visual Positioning System (VPS). Hear how unlocking the ability to quickly and accurately localize users enabled these developers to create new methods of game play and bring new experiences into AR that have otherwise been impossible.
12:30 PM - 12:55 PM
‘Metaverse’ technologies have promised to bring us together, but many have left us with the illusion of connection. Removing us from the familiar into uncanny and uncomfortable experiences that cannot be sustained or enjoyed by all. We need to start with places where our friends and family gather together. Tilt Five builds on everyone’s favorite pastime – game night – and sprinkles in augmented reality (AR). Blending physical presence and virtual ones, Tilt Five’s holographic gaming system allows for users to interact with each other, whether together or remotely, and of course, the holograms on their table! Jeri Ellsworth joins AWE to share how we can create meaningful social interactions by reinventing game night.
02:25 PM - 03:20 PM
Gamers explored virtual worlds long before the term Metaverse was coined.
Festival goers understand the nuances of what makes an experience incredible- why they go back year after year to make new memories that last a lifetime.
Music of each era is an indication of where our culture is going before we even realize it.
As these core pillars of culture collide in the Metaverse, we’ll hear from panelists who come from deep inside the music, gaming and the broader world of entertainment to learn how fandom is evolving, and how understanding it is key to building a successful business in the Metaverse.
03:25 PM - 03:50 PM
If you love live performances but have felt frustrated by their virtualized formats, from jury-rigged social VR to not-actually-live live events in Fortnite and various streaming platforms, this is the workshop for you. Come see a future where anyone can customize a show in real time from their browser, then host it live for potentially hundreds of people in the same virtual space.
In this session, Alex Coulombe of Agile Lens provides a sneak peek at the platform his new company Heavenue is building to make putting on a live show in the metaverse easier than ever. Be among the first to see what it looks like to import assets, set up custom characters, establish environments (including time of day and weather), and cue anything from lights to sets to costumes. How do we attain hyper realism? How do we make experiences accessible across browsers and VR headsets? Is it hard or expensive to bring a live actor's performance into a virtual space? All this and more will be answered. Join us to explore the future of live virtual performance.