Category: GDC

Posted on

The 2017 Virtual Reality Conference and Expo Schedule

The 2017 Virtual Reality Conference and Expo Schedule

2016 could be considered the official introduction of virtual reality to the world and many industries have either embraced the technology at varying levels or simply started paying attention to movements within the industry. 2017 is going to be a pivotal year for the technology’s growth and there will be many events welcoming VR as an auxiliary experience or fully focusing on the potential of the immersive tech.

We’ve put together an extensive list of events around the world that will involve virtual reality but, if we’ve missed any major ones, email tips@uploadvr.com and let us know. We plan to update this list periodically.

VR Now // February 13th

Berlin, Germany

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

ENGAGE: The LA Digital Storytelling Conference // February 15th

Culver City, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality Evolution // February 16

London, England

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Northeast Virtual Reality Conference // February 16th – February 17th

Stamford, Connecticut

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit // February 21st – February 23rd

Mandalay Bay; Las Vegas, Nevada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Augmented and Virtual Reality Conference // February 23rd

Manchester Metropolitan University Business School; Manchester, United Kingdom

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtuality // February 24th – February 26th

Paris, France

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

VRDC – Virtual Reality Developers Conference // February 27th – 28th

San Francisco, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Game Developers Conference (GDC) // February 27th – March 3rd

Moscone Center; San Francisco, California

Registration: (Exhibitor | Attendee)

Mobile World Congress // February 27th – March 2nd

Barcelona, Spain

Registration: (Exhibitor | Attendee)

Asia Amusements and Attractions Expo // March 8th – March 11th

China Import and Export Fair Complex; Guangzhou, China

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

South by Southwest (SXSW) // March 10th – March 19th

Austin, Texas

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Experiential Technology Conference & Expo (XTechExpo) // March 14th – March 15th

San Francisco, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers VR (IEEEVR) // March 18th – March 22nd

Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Laval Virtual // March 22nd – March 26th

Laval, France

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Silicon Valley VR Expo (SVVR) // March 29th – March 31st

San Jose Convention Center; San Jose, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Eurogamer Expo REZZED (EGX REZZED) // March 30th – April 1st

London, England

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

VR Arcade Conference // April 3rd – April 4th

Sunnyvale, Calfifornia

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality World Congress (VRWC) // April 11th – April 13th

Bristol, England

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality LA (VRLA) // April 14th – 15th

LA Convention Center; Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

TECHSPO at Sea // April 16th – April 23rd

Orlando, Florida (Cruise)

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Tribeca Film Festival // April 19th – April 30th

New York, New York

Registration: (Exhibitor | Attendee)

Virtual Reality Show // April 20th – April 22nd

Business Design Centre; London, England

Registration: Exhibit | Attendee

National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) // April 22nd – April 27th

Las Vegas Convention Center; Las Vegas, Nevada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Vision VR/AR Summit  // May 1st – May 2nd

Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

FMX // May 2nd – May 5th

Stuttgart, Germany

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Consumer VR (CVR) // May 5th – May 7th

Vancouver Convention Center; Vancouver, Canada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Unite Tokyo // May 8th – 9th

Tokyo, Japan

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

TECHSPO New York / /May 8th – May 9th

New York, New York

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Unite Beijing // May 11th – 13th

Beijing, China

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

4th ARVR Innovate Conference  // May 11th

Dublin, Ireland

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

World VR Forum // May 11th – May 14th

Crans-Montana, Switzerland

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Unite Seoul // May 15th – 17th

Seoul, South Korea

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

VRWorld // May 16th – May 17th

Olympia, London

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

TECHSPO Toronto // May 18th – May 19th

Toronto, Canada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

International Conference on Virtual Reality (IVCR) // May 19th – May 22nd

Hong Kong, China

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

VR Cluster via Broadcast Asia // May 23rd – May 25th

Singapore

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

LDV Vision Summit // May 24th – May 25th

New York, New York

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Augmented World Expo (AWE) // May 31st – June 2nd

Santa Clara, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Augmented World Expo USA // June 1st-2nd

Santa Clara, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee [Available January 31st]

Consumer Electronics Show Asia (CES Asia) // June 7th – June 9th

Shanghai, China

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

InfoComm // June 10th – June 16th

Orlando, Florida

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) // June 13th – 14th

Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

VR & AR World // June 13th – June 15th

London, England

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

TECHSPO LA // June 14th – June 15th

Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation // June 19th – 22nd

Montreal, Canada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

VRToronto (VRTOC2017) // June 24th – June 26th

Toronto, Canada

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Sensors // June 27th – June 29th

San Jose, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Unite Amsterdam // June 27th – June 29th

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

Virtual Reality Summit – Seoul // June 28th – June 30th

Seoul, South Korea

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

SIGGRAPH // July 20th – August 3rd

Los Angeles, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Sidewalk Film Festival // August 24th – August 28th

Birmingham, Alabama

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

 

Driving Simulation Conference (DSC) // September 6th – September 8th

Paris, France

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) // September 15th – September 17th

Toronto, Canada

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

TECHSPO Singapore // September 20th – September 21st

Singapore

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Eurogamer Expo (EGX) // September 21st – September 24th

Birmingham, England

Registration: Exhibitor | Ticket Not Yet Available

 

International Conference and Expo on Computer Graphics & Animation (CGA) // September 25th – September 26th

Berlin, Germany

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Unite Singapore // September

Singapore

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

Unite Austin // October 3rd – 5th

Austin, Texas

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

Virtual Reality Summit – Tokyo // October 3rd – October 6th

Tokyo, Japan

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

 

Unite Melbourne // October 22th – 23rd

Melbourne, Australia

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

VR Days // October 26th – October 28th

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality Strategy Conference (VRS) // October 2017

San Francisco, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality Software & Technology (VRST) // November 8th – November 10th

Gothenburg, Sweden

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

 

Architecture Boston Expo (ABX) // November 8th – November 10th

Boston, Massachusetts

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

SIGGRAPH Asia // November 27th – 30th

Bangkok, Thailand

Registration: Exhibitor | Tickets Not Yet Available

Virtual Reality Expo (VRX) // December 7th – December 8th

San Francisco, California

Registration: Exhibitor | Attendee

Virtual Reality Summit – San Diego // December 2017

San Diego, California

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

 

VREvolution // TBD Fall

New York, New York

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

PlayStation Experience // TBD Fall

Location TBD

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

Unite India // TBD

Location TBD

Registration: Information Not Yet Available

Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

HTC Vive Overtakes VR/AR Outlook In GDC State of the Industry Survey

HTC Vive Overtakes VR/AR Outlook In GDC State of the Industry Survey

The Game Developer Conference is an annual gathering of professional devs as they share their various work-in-progress projects, attend networking functions, speak on and observe in-depth panel discussions, and absorb a wealth of knowledge and inspiration across the multi-day event. 2016 was the true birth of the virtual reality industry, so outlook was all over the place depending on who you spoke with and it makes sense that the perspective of GDC attendees would be valued. Each year, attendees take part in a lengthy survey that serves as the foundation for the conference’s State of the Industry document — this year’s results proved very interesting.

One key thing that’s notable is that the most popular platform has shifted in a big way. In the 2016 State of the Industry report, Oculus Rift dominated conversations over all other headsets largely in part because a significant amount had tried the device (77% for Rift) over Google Cardboard (46%), Gear VR (31%), PlayStation VR (21%), and well over the HTC Vive (19%). In addition, 19% of developers said they were working on an Oculus Rift game while all the others were under 10%. 44% of those surveyed said they weren’t interested in developing for the VR or AR platforms at all.

Source: GDC 2017 State of the Industry Report

Considering there were so few VR experiences for the majority of 2016, this year’s State of the Industry report has much more VR data in general. As far as which platform developers were currently developing for in 2017, there was only a one point difference among the top two with Vive at 24%, Rift at 23%, and Gear VR and PS VR tied at 13%.

The most telling shift, though, is found in the answers for which platform the game developers will be working on next: 40% of the respondents are choosing HTC Vive next with 37% on Rift and 25% on PS VR. New entries like castAR, HoloLens, and Google Daydream were added to the survey as well but Vive, PS VR, Gear VR, and Oculus Rift were ahead of the pack most of the time.

A large part of HTC Vive’s boost could be the release of the Oculus Touch controllers much later into 2016, causing developers to embrace the more robust experience the Vive offered early in the year. Devs have many more experiences to pull from on the Vive when it comes to the VR controller integration, but Touch availability will potentially shift the conversation again. It’s not unreasonable to say that 2018’s survey will be a better indicator of which platform is preferred given the added time and experience.

GDC 2017 takes place in San Francisco February 27th – March 3rd (Expo takes placed March 1st -3rd) and you can register for the event right here.

Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

‘SUPERHOT VR’, ‘Pokemon Go’ And More In New VR/AR Category At Game Developers Choice Awards

‘SUPERHOT VR’, ‘Pokemon Go’ And More In New VR/AR Category At Game Developers Choice Awards

A lot of awards ceremonies we’ve seen over the past year have had pretty uninspired recognition of VR content, seemingly only knowledgeable of the big PlayStation VR titles. It’s refreshing, then, to look at the nominees for the Best VR/AR Game at the upcoming Game Developers Choice Awards.

The awards, hosted by Double Fine’s Tim Schafer, are set to take place on Wednesday, March 1st at the 2017 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Nominees were announced this week however, and it’s the first year that VR and AR games are getting a nod.

The category has a surprisingly strong list of nominees. The one nomination we would have bet money on being there is Enhance Games’ Rez Infinite [Review: 8/10], the PS VR launch game that brought the beloved music-based shooter into the virtual realm. It’s also unsurprising to see Owlchemy Labs’ Job Simulator [Review: 8/10] up for the award. Both titles are popular among the VR community and the nominations are deserved, as far as we’re concerned.

More interesting nods on the VR side include Superhot VR [Review: 9/10], the recently-released (but absolutely excellent) Oculus Touch FPS that just about everyone seems to love. Northway Games’ excellent Fantastic Contraption [Review: 8/10] is also on the list, meaning non-PS VR games are getting a good amount of attention at this ceremony.

If we were to guess a winner, though, it would more than likely be the one AR game on the list: Pokemon Go. Niantic’s worldwide phenomenon wasn’t just one of the biggest reality-altering games of 2016, it was one of the biggest games full stop, getting people that never play videogames back into the lovable world of pocketable monsters and sending them off into the big wild world to explore and catch ’em all.

There’s also a solid list of honorable mentions for the category, including Thumper, Superhypercube, Batman: Arkham VR, Space Pirate Trainer, and The Lab. Drool’s Thumper [Review: 9/10] in particular has done well for itself; it’s also nominated in best audio, and best debut categories, while it gets more honorable mentions in innovation and visual art. Pokemon Go is also up for several more awards including best mobile/handheld and the innovation award. Between that and the recent Pokemon Sun/Moon, we think Pikachu has a good chance of walking away with an award in March.

You can see the full list of nominees at the Game Developers Choice Awards in the press release and more information about the event on the official website.

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Posted on

5 Talks You Won’t Want to Miss at VRDC This Week

5 Talks You Won’t Want to Miss at VRDC This Week

October insanity might be over, but there’s no rest for the VR industry this week. The inaugural Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC) is kicking off tomorrow at the Park Central Hotel in San Francisco. The two-day event is essentially a mini-GDC, focused exclusively on VR headsets and related technologies.

We’re going to be at the show and will have plenty to report on, but in the meantime there’s a busy schedule of talks and workshops for you to study. There’s too much going on for any one person to see everything, so we’ve gone through and highlighted the five don’t miss talks that are sure to be filled with juicy news and insights for anyone attending.

Making Daydream Real – Building for Google’s New VR platform

When?: November 2nd, 3:30pm
Where?: Standford, Level 3
Who?: Nathan Martz, Product Manager, Google
What?: We’re just days away from Google Daydream delivering a brand new ecosystem to what will hopefully one day be millions of smartphone owners. Get in on the ground floor with this talk from Martz, who will tell you how to get to grips with the new platform including working with Google VR SDKs for Android, Unity, and Unreal.

Applications of Eye Tracking in Virtual Reality

When?: November 3rd, 10:15am
Where?: Franciscan Ballroom, Level 3
Who?: Tom Sengelaub, Manger Solution Delivery, SMI
What?: Eye-tracking is a hot topic in VR right now, as it’s essential to the future of the technology. We need it for foveated rendering and realistic avatars, but there are more uses beyond that. SMI has been working with the tech for a while now, and will be discussing some of these applications in this session. It’s the only one at VRDC to specifically focus on eye-tracking, so make sure not to miss out if you’re interested in the future of VR.

Smartphone AR, Tango, and You

When?: November 3rd, 10:15am
Where?: Standford, Level 3
Who?: Jason Finder, Software Engineer, Google
What?: Google Tango had an info blowout today with the launch of its first compatible smartphone, the Lenovo Phab Pro 2. Here, you’ll learn to make your own apps for the 3D scanning device, which may one day be delivering some important innovations in the VR space. This is an important area to come to understand as mobile VR grows in popularity.

Beyond Games: VR as the Next Mass Medium

When?: November 3rd, 1:45pm
Where?: Standford, Level 3
Who?: Rikard Steiber, SVP of Virtual Reality at HTC Vive and President of Viveport, HTC, Thor Gunnarsson, Co-founder, Solfar, and Chip Sineni, Director, Phosphor Games
What?: As with most other VR headsets, the HTC Vive is primarily considered as a gaming peripheral right now, but the rise of experiential pieces is quickly changing that perception. Here, HTC’s President of Viveport, the company’s non-gaming app store, discusses the future of these types of experiences with Thor Gunnarsson of Solfar, the developer of EVEREST VR. They’re also joined by Chip Sineni of Phosphor Games, the creator of one of Vive’s best games, The Brookhaven Experiment.

Hand Tracked Controls: Design and Implementation for Serious VR

When?: November 3rd, 2:30pm
Where?: Metropolitan III, Level 2
Who?: Matt Newport, CTO, Osso VR
What?: Just as with eye-tracking, hand-tracking is an important part of VR’s future, though the role that it will play is yet to really be determined. With so many issues facing the tech right now, we’ll need some big breakthroughs before implementation can be seriously considered. Still, in this session you can get an idea of some of the uses cases for the tech.