Bay Area: Join us at XD Immersive in October

Among the sub-topics and fields in the XR universe, user experience (UX) and design are critical. And the timing is right to examine product strategies, given XR's early phases of establishing best practices.

With that backdrop, the XD Immersive conference is coming to SF October 25-26, to focus on UX design, and management. It will zero in on a range of business cases in XR. To do that, it has assembled A-list speakers from Google, Samsung, Microsoft, IBM, frog design & Meta.

VRARA SF has partnered with XD Immersive, which means lots of things -- most of all a 35 percent discount for members (contact us to get code). Join us in October in San Francisco. More about the event, speaker list and other details can be seen here.

Join VRARA SF at XD Immersive (May 3-4)

VRARA members, contact us for a discount code to attend

VRARA SF has partnered with the XD Immersive conference, taking place in San Francisco May 3-4. That means lots of things but most of all it means that VRARA members get a deep discount (35%) on early bird tickets (contact us for discount code).

XD Immersive is part of a new event series from UX Strat. Focused on UX design, and management, it will zero in on a range of business cases in the XR world. And to do that, it has assembled A-list speakers from Google, Samsung, Microsoft, IBM, frog design, Meta, Intel, Beast, Immersion, and many more.

Join us on May 3-4 in the ultra-modern bespoke venue on Market Street. More about the event can be seen here, and we hope to see you there. 

VRARA members, contact us for a discount code to attend.

Bay Area: Join Us at Venture Summit West

Register Here for Early Bird (50% off). VRARA Members, Contact Us for Additional Discount.

The VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter has partnered with the Venture Summit West, March 13-14 in Santa Clara, Ca.. That means discounts for VRARA members, among other things (contact us for code). 

More from the conference organizers:

The 6th annual Venture Summit West, presented by youngStartup Ventures, is the premier industry gathering connecting venture capitalists, corporate VCs, angel investors, technology transfer professionals, senior executives of early stage and emerging growth companies, university researchers, incubators and premier service providers.

Whether you are an investor seeking access to new early stage deals, or a CEO or Founder of a new venture looking for funding, visibility and growth, Venture Summit West is one event you won’t want to miss.

Register now 50% reduced early bird rates. VRARA members, contact us for additional discount.

Bay Area: Come Learn ARkit (1/20 - 1/21)

Find out more details and register here. VRARA members, contact us for member pricing. 

Augmented Reality is here and will change the world - come build the future! If you played Pokémon Go, you’ve seen Augmented Reality, but there is so much more. With mobile platforms now supporting Augmented Reality (e.g. Apples ARkit, Google’s ARCore) and AR content platforms rising, this is the time to learn about AR and how to use it.

If you want to use AR technology, but are not sure how, this is your opportunity – we want to enable you to dive in and develop in AR so that you can use AR for your company and yourself, regardless of skill level or background. Come spend the weekend with us learning how to build Augmented Reality apps.

This 2-Day Weekend Workshop includes:

1. Developing a fully working Augmented Reality app (using ARKit & Unity) in a weekend Quality training in AR from leading developers with extensive teaching experience
2. Help on how to take this new knowledge forward so you can develop on your own
3. An understanding of the AR/VR/MR landscape and how it is developing
4. A new network of people who share your passions

Find out more details and register here. VRARA members, contact us for member pricing. 

Bay Area: Join us at AR AppShow (1/23)

VRARA members, contact us for a discount code 

VRARA SF has partnered with next month's Augmented Reality AppShow. Join us 1/23 for an evening of networking and live demos of ARkit and ARCore apps that are in development. That will give us all a sneak peek at the AR innovation in the pipeline.

The conference organizers are also looking for apps to showcase, in case you're working on one. Apply here and contact us for discount code to attend. We hope to see you there.

More from the event organizers:

On November 10th, 2009, 10 mobile apps including Dropbox were showcased at the first ever AppShow at the flagship Apple Store in downtown San Francisco.  Since then over 170 iPhone, iPad, and Android apps have presented or launched at 18 AppShows, in 4 cities.  Many of these apps have gone on to become household names like Uber and Waze which both launched at the SF AppShow.   

With Apple's launch of ARKit and Google's launch of ARCore, app developers around the world have started a whole new innovation cycle to show the public what can be done with this amazing new augmented reality technology on mobile phones.  Since ARKit's launch in September, apps using this platform have already been installed 3 Million times.  More than ever these apps need to be seen live, in order for their full utility to be understood.  Join us for 10 rapid fire augmented reality app demos in an hour, by the people who created them.  Learn more about AR technology and how it could be applied to your business.

If you're building a great app or know of one, apply to present at http://appshow.com/apply  We are also looking for sponsors and anyone interested in helping out with the event.

The AppShow is the premier App event -- We discover and break the hottest apps.

Past presenters have been featured in the New York Times, BBC, CNN, and the iTunes App Store home page after appearing in the SF AppShow!

- Cocktails, appetizers, and networking. 6:00pm - 7 pm.

- Join the live studio audience for the SF AppShow broadcast.  Our host will check out hot apps, interview their developers and take your questions from the stage. Show starts at 7pm.

See newsworthy new apps, get insight from app developers, find unrecognized app gems. Space is limited, seats available on a first come basis.

Register and get more information here

Bay Area: Join us in December at VRX 2017

Contact us for a discount code. Super early bird ends Friday

In VRARA's continued partnerships throughout the event world, the latest is VRX 2017. Taking place 12/7 & 12/8 in San Francisco it features heavy-hitter speakers from HTC to Audi. 

With a theme grounded in VR's business growth and cultural immersion, it promises lots of concrete learnings, not to mention networking with industry influencers. 

VRARA SF is proud to be a media partner, meaning we'll not only be there but members can receive a 15% discount code to attend. Contact us if interested. We hope to see you there.

More from the event organizers:

Now in its 3rd year, VRX has established itself as the world’s premier gathering of senior-level virtual reality business leaders. Previous speakers include a global who's-who of those pioneering the way in VR, with CEO’s and senior decision makers making waves in gaming, film, enterprise, broadcasting, healthcare, education and more. Expect more of the same this year, with more to be announced.

Bay Area: Join us in December at VRX 2017

In VRARA's continued partnerships throughout the event world, the latest is VRX 2017. Taking place 12/7 & 12/8 in San Francisco it features heavy-hitter speakers from HTC to Audi. 

With a theme grounded in VR's business growth and cultural immersion, it promises lots of concrete learnings, not to mention networking with industry influencers. 

VRARA SF is proud to be a media partner, meaning we'll not only be there but members can receive a 15% discount code to attend. Contact us if interested. We hope to see you there.

More from the event organizers:

Now in its 3rd year, VRX has established itself as the world’s premier gathering of senior-level virtual reality business leaders. Previous speakers include a global who's-who of those pioneering the way in VR, with CEO’s and senior decision makers making waves in gaming, film, enterprise, broadcasting, healthcare, education and more. Expect more of the same this year, with more to be announced.

Bay Area: Come Talk About Social VR Development

Among VR's many areas of development, social will arguably unlock the most value and network effect. In fact, the catalyst for the current wave of VR activity was Facebook's 2014 Oculus acquisition.

To that end, VRARA SF Chapter is partnering with ARVR MunchnLearn on its next event, coming up on Wednesday in Palo Alto: Social in VR: developer, marketer and platform perspectives.

The event is sure to draw an influential crowd of developers and enthusiasts in Social VR. See the link above for speakers and logistical details, and reach out to us with any questions.  

Engaging VR/AR Pioneers on the Future of Food

VRARA SF participated in the LAUNCH Food forum in Marin Ca this week, organized by VRARA Sydney member Davar Ardalan. It focused on the role of immersive storytelling to achieve the organization's goals. The following piece was written by Ardalan, originally appearing in Huffington Post.

Update 4/05: Commentary has been added from VRARA SF Chapter Co-President Emily Olman.

Engaging VR/AR Pioneers on the Future of Food

by Davar Ardalan

We’re reporting this week from the LAUNCH Food Forum in San Francisco. We’re here meeting our food innovators from around the world who are committed to helping create a healthier world through innovation. From Fiji to San Francisco, innovator Tash Tan of S1T2 has travelled around the world to do on the ground research for the LAUNCH Legends project on the possibilities of using immersive storytelling technologies with the goal of restoring pride in traditional eating in the Pacific. This has included an explorative trip that saw Tash travel with LAUNCH innovator Chef Robert Oliver and Legends Project Manager Allan Soutaris, across the north coast of the island of Viti Levu to areas most afflicted by a devastating cyclone, then down to the capital Suva before visiting a surrounding island, Beqa.

“Just as stories are shared through time,” Tash says, “the traditional recipes and culture of healthy and organic eating are passed down through each generation in the most magical of ways. My fear is that this culture is now under threat because the traditions of the people are being replaced with new-found values in foods that are highly-processed and rich in salt or sugar.”

At a LAUNCH Legends roundtable this week in the Bay Area, Tash recounted his investigative journey to Fiji, where he learned about the history and culture behind Fijian storytelling traditions. Tash shared his experiences with leading experts in immersive storytelling and food and nutrition, from sharing legends and folklore around the kava bowl to reading the pages of treasured books.

The focus of the roundtable was to engage guests’ collective insights and knowledge, get feedback, and explore opportunities for collaborative partnerships that could benefit the goal at hand— to make an impact on nutritional outcomes within targeted sites in the Pacific using immersive storytelling and emerging technologies. 

“The roundtable participants came from a diverse range of backgrounds, from nutrition to virtual reality and journalism, which created a fertile environment for creative problem solving around the nutrition challenges we’re looking to tackle with our toolkit of emerging technologies,” said Ben Kreimer, technical advisor for LAUNCH Legends.

LAUNCH Legends roundtable included VR pioneers in the Bay Area, DFAT’s innovationXchange, co-President of the VR/AR Association in San Francisco, and experts in food systems and movement building as well as LAUNCH and SecondMuse team members. 

“What surprised me was to learn that the challenges in the food system are similar to the challenges within the storytelling space,” says Stuart Gill, partner at SecondMuse and LAUNCH. “One of the VR producers today reminded us that the food business and emerging technologies are primarily focused on entertainment as opposed to meeting our basic human needs, like eating and telling compelling human stories,” Gill added.

Through a curated presentation and discussion format, we posed questions about the creative challenge ahead to effectively source learnings from the participants as they apply to this challenge. 

“We learned something powerful today from our engagement with Tash Tan, and that is that the story always comes first and the technology second,” says Jeff Hamaoui, Executive Director of LAUNCH.

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Additional Commentary by VRARA SF Chapter Co-president Emily Olman:

The LAUNCH Legends Roundtable in Sausalito brought together leading VR pioneers including Barry Pousman and Daniel Burwen of JauntVR. Participants were informed of progress on the project from one of the LAUNCH Legends Finalist Tash Tan, and further explored how VR/AR can be implemented for the most lasting, behavior-changing impact within the target population. 

The global strength of the VR/AR Association was evident, as Davar Ardalan (D.C. Chapter Member and Sydney Chapter Advisory Board Member), Emily Olman (SF Chapter Co-President), and Tash Tan (Sydney Chapter Member) were all in attendance. The VRARA SF Chapter hopes to collaborate with Ardalan and Tan later this year for a follow-up event.

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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SF: Come Experience the Intersection of VR and Art

For discounted passes, contact us

What does the intersection of VR and art look like? Come find out at Upload's Art + VR event this Friday night. VRARA SF has partnered for discounted attendance for members.

Art & VR brings the bay area tech and art communities together at Upload SF. Designers, artists and techies converge to explore this new medium to the creative industries.

There will be original artwork for sale alongside live VR demos, not to mention that this is the first black tie event in the event's series.  Find out more and register here. 

Come See Us at SVVR Next Week

For discounted passes, contact us

SVVR is one of the VR industry's biggest trade shows, and its flagship spring event is coming up next week (March 29-31) in San Jose. This comes at a time when VR excitement is cresting.

VRARA SF has aligned with SVVR as a media partner That means discounts for members among other things. Contact us for discount codes or to let us know you'll be there.

We'll be in full force: covering the show, taking the pulse of the industry and meeting with top leaders. Speakers include include Tony Parisi, Michael Yang and lots more  you can see here.  

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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VR/AR = Superpowers: Join Us at AWE

For discounted passes, contact us

In the VR/AR conference calendar, the red-letter day that I look forward to most is AWE. That stems from an affinity for AR, and the opportunity to see all its biggest players under one roof. 

This year's show will be May 31 - June 2 in Santa Clara. It will feature 200+ speakers, 200+ exhibitors 5,000+ attendees -- everything from C-level to developers and creative agencies.

VRARA SF will be there, so let us know if you want to meet. We're also an official media partner, meaning deeply discounted passes (45%) for VRARA members. Shout if interested. 

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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Come See us at VRLA

For discounted passes, contact us

VRLA is one of the VR industry's biggest trade shows, and its flagship spring event is coming up fast (April 14-15).

VRARA has aligned with VRLA as a media partner -- both the global organization and the San Francisco chapter. That means discounts for members among other things.

VRARA will also host an afterparty on the first night of the show. It will take place at UploadVR's new LA space, and feature industry leaders, tech demos, food and music.

Contact us for info on VRLA, discount codes or to let us know you'll be there. We'll be in full force: covering the show, taking the pulse of the industry and meeting with top leaders.

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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SF VRARA: Talking About VR... While In VR

There's a saying internally at Google: "We like to eat our own dogfood." Used to describe the corporate culture of using its own devices -- for both solidarity and beta testing -- we invoked the term this week to "walk the walk" with VR.

At Wednesday's ARVR MunchnLearn in Palo Alto we presented data and insights on the VR sector...live in VR. This essentially involved me presenting 2D slides just like any other presentation, but in front of a green screen.

The on-site audience saw just that. But the remote live audience got to see slides that animated and filled the parameters of the 360 viewscape. This involved some software and optical wizardry, care of 3D production company Spinor.

Though rudimentary, admitted MunchnLearn founder Mohammad Musa, the format will evolve to be more "native" to VR. In other words it won't use rectangular slides -- a vestige of 2D media -- but immersive 3D graphics that sync with presentations.

In the meantime it remains a step forward, and brings an additional layer of fun and immersion to an otherwise 2D presentation. Look for more presentations like this from ARVR MunchnLearn, including our involvement.

The entire presentation can be seen below. View it in a comatible browser to pan with your mouse or finger. Or preferably, use any VR headset that has the YouTube app, including mobile VR (YouTube cardboard mode).

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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SF VRARA: VR/AR's State of the Union (video)

What's the current snapshot of VR and AR; and where do the biggest near-term opportunities lie? VRARA SF tackled these questions in a guest speaking slot at ARVR MunchnLearn.

Though we're excited for a VR future where headsets are the ubiquitous hardware standard, alternative formats will bridge that gap and scale more effectively to mainstream audiences.

With roughly 17 million VR headsets sold to date, The sector's momentum is clear but it pales in comparison to current ubiquitous hardware: $2.6 billion global smartphones.

That points to a nearer-term opportunity for mobile VR (Daydream, GearVR, etc.). It also points to temporal VR experiences that don't require upfront hardware purchases, such as VRCades.

The same goes for AR: We're not technologically (nor culturally) there yet for smart glasses ubiquity. So mobile is showing the way for a nearer-term scalable opportunity for AR.

The full presentation from this week's appearance is replicated below (slides and voiceover). Stay tuned for the on-site presentation video, including a 360-degree version. 

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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Come See VRARA SF at Chief Learning Officer Week

For discounted passes, contact us

VRARA San Francisco has partnered with CLO Week which will focus on emerging technologies such as VR/AR. Come see us or let us know if you'll be there. For discounted passes, contact us. 

Chief Learning Officer Week: Silicon Valley will focus on powerful new tools and capabilities to help you transform your learning organization to align with your organization’s core needs and core values, to strike the balance between best practices and next practices that will engage today’s dynamic workforce.

In the age of digital disruption and new learning expectations, discover new ways to keep pace with the speed of organizational change and competitive needs:

• reinforcing a culture of innovation
• clearly aligning with business goals
• exploring emerging models in leadership development
• mentoring millennials in the workforce
• integrating new learning channels
• proving/improving the impact of L&D

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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Bay Area: Come See Us Speak at ARVR Munch'nLearn

For discounted tickets, contact us 

Where are VR and AR headed from a business and investing perspective? This is a question I'm often asked, and spend a lot of time researching.  

The fun and games of VR/AR are just that... lots of fun to experience and discuss. But the business case is equally important, and have become a core focus of VRARA SF. 

We'll get to stretch our analytical legs on that topic with a presentation to a business and investing-focused crowd next Wednesday at ARVR Munch'nLearn in Palo Alto.

And just to make sure we're eating our own dog food when it comes to VR, the entire presentation will be presented live in VR for remote viewers.

That includes head tracked 360 video in stereoscopic, including the main speaker a/v feed (read: me in front of a green screen), and immersive slides that surround the viewscape.

We'll have that video available on-demand for 360 viewing in youtube and other channels if you miss the live event or broadcast. And If you are there, come say hi.  

Find out more here. 

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For discounted tickets, contact us 

Come See VRARA SF at XTech 2017

For discounted passes, contact us

What does the combination of digital technology and neuroscience look like? This is the question that  XTech 2017 seeks to answer, including speakers like Jon Favreau and Adam Gazzaley.  VRARA San Francisco has partnered with the conference (contact us for a discount).

XTech products, platforms, and services are impacting $100B+ industries including health, wellness, learning, training, sports and entertainment, creating massive new growth opportunities.

XTech is made possible because of the emergence of new digital technologies, including: digital reality systems - virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mix reality (MR), artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms, advanced robotics, and a wide variety of new sensor technologies. XTech companies are fusing these digital technologies with evolving neuroscience principals to achieve improvements in human performance in fundamentally new ways.

At XTech 2017, we will explore how XTech is creating entirely new markets such as digital therapeutics, validated neurowellness, accelerated learning and experiential entertainment.  We are bringing together the leading entrepreneurs, investors and companies in all these new markets to show their XTech and share their journey on the road to success.

We hope to see you there. 

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Learn more about the VR/AR Association, San Francisco Chapter here. 

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