Agenda

Description

It was recently announced that the Quest Store has made over $1.5 billion on sales of games and apps. With new headsets coming into the market steadily, how do VR game creators adapt to the ever-expanding VR ecosystem? New technologies that greatly affect game feel are released on a regular basis, such as hand tracking, haptics in headsets, mixed reality etc. How can creators stay ahead of the curve when designing a game that won't be released for months or years? Despite the fact that the player base expands and potential for ROI improves, there are still only a few active publishers in the VR space - who are they, and what are they looking for? Is self-publishing of VR titles sustainable?

Speakers

Celine Tricart

President, Co-Founder , Coven

Amy Allison

VR Marketing and Community , Consultant

Paul Brady

Co-Founder and President , Resolution Games

Maeva Sponbergs

CMO & Head of Publishing , Beyond Frames Entertainment AB (publ)

Michael Masukawa

VP of Business Development, Strategy and Partnerships , Atlas V

Description

With no end in sight to the labor shortages and the expected retirement of the boomer generation over the next seven years, workforce challenges are hitting organizations large and small around the globe. There aren’t enough people to fill the open jobs, and the people that are there need to be capable of doing more things - often with less time for traditional training or upskilling programs. What if you could create instant experts and transfer organizational knowledge with ease? What if you could create instant experts and save millions of dollars in training costs and make your employees more engaged and productive?

In this fireside chat inspired presentation, Michael Hinckley, Sector Manager of Manufacturing Systems Engineering at Northrop Grumman, and Scott Montgomerie, Founder & CEO of Scope AR will talk about how Northrop Grumman created instant experts on their manufacturing floor for assembling some of the world’s most advanced products. Powered by augmented reality, these instant experts accelerated process times by up to 66%, eliminated errors and are creating the next generation of shop floor enablement. Join Scott and Michael to hear real stories of how Northrup Grumman adopted AR, how it went, how it’s going and what is in the future.

Speakers

Michael Hinckley

Senior Systems Engineering Mgr (AMT) , Northrop Grumman

Scott Montgomerie

Co-founder and CEO , Scope AR

Description

Join us for an enlightening fireside chat featuring Paul Raphael, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer of the Emmy-winning Felix & Paul Studios.

In conversation with Amy Jupiter, a renowned Creative Producer, VFX Supervisor, Experience Designer, and Disney Imagineer. Paul will delve into the theme: "Lessons Learned from Pioneering Presence-Based VR Storytelling." This is an opportunity for anyone eager to learn from the masters of immersive experiences.

Over the past 10 years, Felix & Paul Studios has pushed boundaries and achieved numerous milestones in the VR industry, including the creation of the first-ever VR film, Strangers with Patrick Watson.
Gain a better understanding about the past, present, and future of VR narrative experiences from the studio that has created dozens of productions that have transported audiences to places usually reserved for a select few, such as a limo ride alongside rapper Eminem in Marshall from Detroit, a tour of the White House with the Obamas in The People’s House, and traveling and living in outer space with the award-winning Space Explorers series developed in partnership with NASA.

Their recent venture, the next-generation VR location-based experience, Space Explorers – THE INFINITE, continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in immersive storytelling for a wide audience.

Paul will share insights gleaned from these projects and discuss the creative and technical evolution the studio has undergone over the last decade with a look to the future. Guided by Amy Jupiter's expertise, the conversation will unpack the nuances of VR storytelling and its potential to transform the way we engage with narratives across touchpoints including, immersive installations and events, theme parks, and public spaces.

This talk promises to be a deep dive into the potential of VR, full of practical insights and creative inspiration. Don't miss this chance to learn from the pioneer who continues to be at the forefront of the VR storytelling revolution.

Speakers

Amy Jupiter

Founder/Chief Experience Designer , ByJove: A Collective of Perspective TM

Paul Raphael

Vice-President,Brand and Product Marketing , Félix & Paul Studios

Description

Join XR Producer Elena Piech for a hands-on session where you'll learn how to harness the power of AI tools to streamline your producing and project management processes. From automating repetitive tasks to analyzing data and prototyping, you'll discover how AI tools can help your teams save time, improve accuracy, and increase efficiency across teams. With expert guidance and interactive exercises, you'll leave this workshop with practical strategies and the confidence to apply AI to overseeing your team's 3D spatial workflows.

Speakers

Elena Piech

XR Producer , ZeroSpace

Description

Technology is evolving quickly to bring XR capabilities into mainstream culture. The content in these systems need to be anchored properly to ensure correct and accurate display for consumers. Maxar’s high-resolution digital twin of the entire Earth is built with space-based data and machine learning, providing a foundational geospatial layer on which XR content can be connected to the real world. With Maxar’s digital twin, the entertainment industry can film movies in any location on Earth from one studio or scout global locations in virtual reality;video game developers can start with real cities as their canvas for building out new levels;industrial companies can train employees and rehearse operations before deploying in-field crews;the use cases enabled by this digital twin are only limited by the imagination.

Maxar will share the art of the possible with its digital twin and, together with its customers, Sturfee, will detail how this digital twin is anchoring a new, cutting-edge visual positioning system (VPS) that will enable the deployment of autonomous systems, the creation of enterprise maps and persistent digital advertising, among other uses.

Speakers

Kevin Bullock

Director, Strategic Partnerships , Maxar

Anil Cheriyadat

Founder and CEO , Sturfee

Description

As American cities struggle to build housing, improve transit, and otherwise convince a skeptical public that change is good - and necessary! How can AR help win over their critics? This panel will bring together a startup (inCitu) and platform (Snap) engaging the public at massive scale through offering passerby a glimpse of new projects in their actual context. They’ll be joined by a city official to discuss the potential of AR to deliver services, fast-track development, and re-imagine our relationship with the built environment at large.

Speakers

Greg Lindsay

Urban Tech Fellow , Cornell Tech

Ernest Chrappah

Former Director, Dept. of Buildings , DC Goverment

Jasson Crockett

Public Policy Manager , Snap Inc. / Snapchat

Dana Chermesh-Reshef

Founder & CEO , inCitu

Description

Coming Soon!

Speakers

Chanel Summers

VP Product Development , VRstudios

William Tustin

CFO , Chicken Waffle

Bob Cooney

Author , The Being Virtual Show with Bob Cooney

Jonathan Nowak Delgado

CEO and Co-Founder , Spree Interactive

Description

Gamification is a rapidly growing trend for brands seeking to connect with their customers in more
engaging ways. By incorporating XR (Extended Reality) technologies into marketing campaigns,
companies can create captivating and interactive experiences that leave lasting impressions on
their target audiences.

In this session, Gospooky will delve into the vast potential of incorporating gamification and XR
into brand campaigns across various industries, using virtual worlds, augmented reality, and
gaming. We will present case studies that demonstrate how cutting-edge brands are already
leveraging XR to create unforgettable experiences that captivate their customers.

From virtual treasure hunts and AR-powered scavenger hunts to immersive brand activations and
gaming apps, attendees will learn how to add gamification elements to their marketing strategies.
We will discuss the advantages of different approaches and share best practices for effective
implementation.

Take-away

Participants will leave this session with a deeper understanding of the potential of gamification
and XR across various industries, as well as a roadmap for integrating immersive experiences into
their own campaigns.

Speakers

Tim van der Wiel

Founder , GoSpooky

Description

Join us as startups pitch to our panel of judges for a chance to be named AWE's "Startup to Watch" for 2023. The winner will be announced at the Auggie Awards ceremony.

Speakers

Jacob Segil

CEO , Afference

Anzen Kennedy

Co-Founder & COO , Augmented Fantasy

Annabell Vacano

Co-Founder , Atopia

Gregory Castle

Managing Partner , Anorak Ventures

Patrick Kennedy

Co-Founder & CEO , Augmented Fantasy

Paul Miller

CEO , Lemur.ai

Patrick Burton

Co-founder , Benvision

Dan Lowenthal

Founder and CEO , SparX

Maddie Callander

VP Accelerator & Portfolio , BoostVC

Amir Baradaran

Founder & CEO , ABXR Studio

Soobin Ha

Audio Designer | Team Benvision , Velan Studios

Marco DeMiroz

Co-founder & General Partner , The Venture Reality Fund

Description

Learn how to quickly create real-time cloud-connected 3D/AR/VR apps in a few simple steps. Join to see how you can build apps for the Metaverse for Android, iOs, HoloLens, MagicLeap, Unity, Unreal, and web browsers, all connected to the same cloud. In the session, we will learn how to change 3D content across all platforms simultaneously through the cloud without rebuilding the apps. We will look at why Metaverse developers are looking for new cloud solutions and why 3D-focused cloud infrastructure is needed. Participants are encouraged to either bring their laptops with Unity installed, bring their mobile devices, or can follow the live demonstration.

Speakers

Alon Grinshpoon

CEO , echo3D

Description

The XR hardware market has been dominated by consumer gaming and social media-focused companies. But the most important use cases for the growth of XR are in the enterprise, and they are achieving ROI today. Enterprise needs are different, customers not only need great hardware and solutions they also need scalability, support, services, and financing. Join Vishal Shah, GM of ThinkReality at Lenovo, as he discusses the challenges and solutions for customers scaling into the Enterprise Metaverse.

Speakers

Vishal Shah

General Manager, XR & Metaverse , Lenovo

Description

The roots of current-day VR & AR technology date back to the pioneers in military, healthcare, and gaming innovation. Those initial steps to allow humans to interact with real-world visualizations drove the development of the technology and architecture that formed the basis of what we now see in movies, games, and the many virtual scenarios in which we engage every day. Milestone movies like Ironman and Minority Report were inspired by these same early innovators, and these movies are now the inspiration for our future interactions with technology. Today, we are on the cusp of a revolution that will redefine how we communicate and interact with others in small and large ways. Data visualization, AI and real time data processing is well on its way to changing our lives. This presentation will explore how VFX artisans, technology, and programmers have influenced and are currently redesigning this future.

Speakers

Ian Dawson

CEO , Augmentive Studio

Description

Having energy utilities workers well trained and prepared for any emergency or outage helps to keep our homes safe and warm, our businesses operating and our infrastructure flowing. Preventing the outages or leaks with more effective training is even better. Learn how Local Gas Distribution Companies and Nuclear facilities are incorporating fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) training courses into their overall training programs to improve day-to-day operations, reinforce preventative measures, and enable personnel to safely experience and resolve emergency situations. Learn how VR training is being used to keep workers safe as the learn how to work more effectively and safely in the plant and in your neighborhoods.

Speakers

Scott Allen

CIO/CTO , Oberon Technologies

Description

Villa is a virtual world creation and collaboration platform in VR for enterprises and consumers who want to take meetings and productivity to the next level. The platform offers experiences that are increasingly driven by generative AI. As AI continues to permeate every aspect of our digital lives, this event aims to explore the practical applications of GenAI in XR.

Attendees can expect discussions on the efficacy of GenAI in XR, and the emerging industry opportunities and trends in the short, mid, and long term. From automating content generation and retrieval in immersive environments to the use of Avatar AI assistants and support, productivity, and creation in gaming, education, and enterprise settings, the possibilities of leveraging AI in XR are limitless. The unique nature of XR platforms, with their reliance on audio-visual interactions, presents new considerations for AI integrations.

We'll delve into challenges such as uncanniness while bridging limitations of current assistant technology like Siri. We'll explore the potential impact of GenAI interaction speed and value creation in immersive worlds where time and practicality are on a different scale, as well as the formats that users embrace. Attendees will examine how AI can deliver lasting value and an increase in user satisfaction.

Speakers

Kurt Scheuringer

Principal Prototyping Architect for Spatial Computing technologies , Amazon Web Services

Ofer Baharav

CEO , Villa

Description

Experts in WebAR discuss successful marketing and interactive use cases with some of the top brands/IPs.
Adam Sidwell: Founder at Future House Studios
Joe Gabriel: Developer Relations Lead at Niantic
Jason Steinberg: Managing Partner at Pretty Big Monster
Sharon Seitz: Head of Product at Trigger Global

Speakers

Lani Bertino

VP of Production , Trigger XR

Joe Gabriel

Developer Relations Lead , Niantic

Adam Sidwell

Head of Studio , Future House Studios

Jason Steinberg

Managing Partner and Co-Founder , Pretty Big Monster

Description

Join NVIDIA and Varjo as we unveil the next giant leap in immersive computing.

Real-time ray tracing is the holy grail of 3D visualization, as it allows engineers, designers and creators to experience in high-fidelity 3D scenes and objects while seeing every reflection, shadow, and light as they would in real life. Before now, rendering true-to-life mixed reality scenes with real-time ray tracing has not been possible due to the graphically demanding compute requirements.

In this talk, for the first time, NVIDIA and Varjo will demonstrate real-time ray tracing capabilities in human-eye resolution mixed reality, with never-before-seen visual quality, due to combined technological breakthroughs from both companies. With NVIDIA’s Omniverse, the leading platform for 3D collaboration and workflows, and Varjo XR-3, the most immersive XR headset on the planet, users can unlock real-time ray tracing for mixed reality environments due to the combination of a powerful multi-GPU setup and Varjo’s photorealistic visual fidelity.

In a joint presentation, NVIDIA and Varjo will dive deep into the technical achievement and how this new level of mixed reality visualization can unlock unprecedented value for industrial metaverse users across design, engineering, entertainment, and virtual collaboration.

Speakers

Marcus Olsson

Director of Partnerships , Varjo Technologies

Shawn Collins-Lopez

Immersive Lab Engineer / Visualization Specialist , General Motors

Max Bickley

Sr Product Designer, Omniverse , NVIDIA

Description

Daniel Suarez's seminal AR thriller, Daemon, anticipated the rise of cryptocurrencies, bot-powered social media manipulation, autonomous vehicles, and much more. Across seven high-tech and sci-fi novels he's earned a reputation for anticipating what's next. Join host Tish Shute as she and Daniel discuss his latest visionary space-tech novel, Critical Mass, and the pivotal role augmented and virtual reality technologies will play in accelerating human progress in deep space -- and why that matters to everyone on Earth.

Speakers

Daniel Suarez

Author

Tish Shute

Co-Founder , AWE

Description

It's never too early to start building a strong community through active engagement with your potential customers or players. In this session, Eric Masher and Todd Jackson offer practical advice on how to create and sustain a successful VR community.

Speakers

Eric Masher

COO , Impact Reality / Flat2VR Studios

Todd Jackson

Content Creator / Podcaster , Q2C-VR Gamer

Description

In this presentation, we introduce the innovative PinTILT™ structure, which combines the best of traditional waveguides and birdbath structures, incorporating both pupil expansion and pupil forming functionalities.

Speakers

Jeong Hun HA

CTO , LetinAR

Description

Tilt Five, the winner of last year's AWE Auggie Award in gaming, is also the ideal device for collaborating with colleagues on a '3D problem' in the workplace. In fact, the same factors that make Tilt Five such an award-winning platform for entertainment are what make the system an indispensable tool for companies. Find out how Tilt Five delivers the only augmented reality solution that checks all the boxes: collaborative, comfortable, adaptable, affordable and easy to use. Hear what other companies have discovered by embracing the Tilt Five system for enterprise needs.

Speakers

Hans ten Cate

Chief Operating Officer , Tilt Five