The Augmented World Expo (AWE), one of the largest conferences dedicated to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), will be opening its doors for the eighth year later this month. For 2017 over 300 speakers have been lined up for keynotes and discussion panels on the future of AR and VR consumer and enterprise tech.
Keynotes will be given by “Shots of Awe” filmmaker, philosopher and futurist Jason Silva, “The Fourth Transformation” author and Transformative Group partner Robert Scoble, and game designer, author and Carnegie Mellon scholar Jesse Schell.
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Sessions will cover a wide range of topics including manufacturing, training, transportation, retail, healthcare, aerospace, media, entertainment, marketing and advertising and more, from speakers including:
- Jim Heppelmann, President & CEO, PTC
- Rikard Steiber – President Viveport & SVP Virtual Reality, HTC Vive
- Achin Bhowmik – Vice President & General Manager, Perceptual Computing Group, Intel
- Zvi Greenstein – General Manager, Nvidia
- Gaia Dempsey – Co-founder & VP, DAQRI
- Ralph Osterhout – CEO, Osterhout Design Group
- Tony Parisi – Global Head of VR/AR, Unity Technologies
- Mounir Zok – Director of Technology & Innovation, United States Olympic Committee
- Jerri Ellsworth – Co-founder, castAR
- Tim Leland – VP Product Management, Qualcomm
- Jay Wright, President & General Manager, Vuforia, PTC
- Rachel Sibley – VP Product, Leap Motion
- Edward Tang – Co-founder & CTO, Avegant
- Meron Gribetz – Founder & CEO, Meta
- Max Cecchini – VP Digital Innovation, Luxottica
- Ana Serrano – Chief Digital Officer, Canadian Film Centre
- Tish Shute – Director AR/VR, Corporate Technology Strategy, Huawei
- Fabio Santini – Chief Product Officer, Shazam
- Kyle Nel – Executive Director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, Lowe’s Home Improvement
- John C.C. Fan – CEO & Chairman of the Board, Kopin Corporation
- Richard Lucquet – Head of AR/VR Product & Strategy, Verizon
- Gary Radburn – Director of VR/AR, Dell
- Tom Furness – Founder, Virtual Worlds Society
- Ruth Bram – Producer, Oculus/Facebook
- Steven Feiner – Professor, Columbia University
Alongside the conferences 200 exhibitors will be showcasing the latest in VR and AR technology. Companies will include: Basemark, Daqri, Epson, Intel, InstaVR, Kodak, Meta, Microsoft, Schell Games, Sixense, Sony, Ultrahapics and many more.
“Together, iconic technology companies, Fortune 500 brands and pure platform startups are building groundbreaking experiences and business models using augmented and virtual reality, at a pace we’ve never seen before,” said Ori Inbar, founder and executive producer of AWE. “We are excited to have AWE back in Silicon Valley this year for what we expect to be our biggest and most inclusive event yet. AWE has become the premier deal-making marketplace for the AR+VR industry, where Fortune 500 companies find business solutions, strategic partnerships are forged, funds raised, talent hired, and new startups are born.”
The Auggie Awards will also be taking place – nominations opened in March – with winners selected across ten categories.
AWE 2017 runs from 31st May to 2nd June, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, California. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) continues its steady growth across the globe, and AWE is building strength in Europe with attendees expected to exceed 1,500. With over 100 speakers and exhibitors planned, additional highlights revealed thus far include startups like AGCO Corporation, cognitiveVR, Fringefy, gestigon, Heavy Projects, Holo-Light, IGNYTE, INS Insider Navigation Systems, Innovation.Rocks, Interglass, Joinpad, LC-Tec, Massless, Optinvent, Proceedix, RE’FLEKT, Super Ventures, THX, Ubimax, UpSkill, ViewAR, Vuframe and more.
