Bringing BC VR/AR to the Global Tech Community
Last month the VRARA Vancouver, along with four local companies, headed down south to Austin, Texas, for the annual South by Southwest conference (SXSW) to showcase BC’s VR/AR industry an international audience of business and tech leaders.
With the support of British Columbia Trade and Investment, the VRARA secured an exclusive booth space at prominent technology incubator Capital Factory. From March 9 - 13, Finger Food Studios, Motive.io, Archiact, and Momentus demoed their products and shared insights with attendees.
Representatives from each of the attending companies also took center stage on March 12 to lead a panel conversation about the rise of BC’s VR/AR industry. The panel drew an engaged crow of over 200 people and demonstrated why Vancouver is one of the top VR/AR hubs in the world.
SXSW is internationally renowned for shining a light on innovation and sparking conversation about the future of the creative industries, from art and music, to tech. The conference routinely attracts some of the most creative and inspired thinkers in the industry and this year featured tech leaders Elon Musk, Melinda Gates, and Nonny de la Peña as keynote speakers.
During SXSW, Capital Factory becomes the hub for all things tech and was the ideal locale for the BC VRAR delegation to meet and mingle with creators, investors, and business leaders from around the world.
VR/AR is rapidly making its way into the mainstream and the value of immersive tech is being noticed by industries as varied as healthcare, education, and enterprise solutions. We’ve reached an exciting moment in VR/AR development and the timing couldn’t have been better for BC to join the global tech community at SXSW and assert itself as a top destination for VR/AR investment, opportunity, and development.
It was an all-around awesome experience and you can be sure we'll be back!