Category: VR Event

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Social VR Platform ‘High Fidelity’ to Host Festival in VR Nov. 17th, Win a Rift & Cash Prizes

High Fidelity, the social VR platform headed by Second Life creator Philip Rosedale, will host its first festival completely in virtual reality, which will feature contests, giveaways and live music shows in VR.

Dubbed ‘FUTVRE LANDS’, the festival will take place November 17th, 2018, from 12PM – 4PM PT (local starting time here).

The festival, which is being held in honor of the so-deemed VR Day, will take place in the FUTVRE LANDS domain in VR and also at High Fidelity’s VR Studio in San Francisco. Free tickets are available here via Eventbrite.

Festival Events

  • 80’s Synth-Pop Icon Thomas Dolby Performs Live
  • New Game Debut – Live DJ Hosted
  • Best Avatar Contest – Audience Voted
  • Favorite Domain Contests – Audience Voted
  • Marketplace Bazaar
  • Last Avatar Standing – Comedian Hosted
  • Raffles to Win Oculus Rifts
  • Live Theater Performance

There’s going to be both Oculus Rift giveaways, and a game show called ‘Last Avatar Standing’ where participants can earn High Fidelity Coin (HFC) cryptocurrency, an in-game currency that can be converted to US dollars. The first place prize is $1,000 (100,000 HFC) and the two runners-up will receive $500 (50,000 HFC). You can enter to participate here.

A contest for best domain will also being going on, with users getting the chance to win a $700 (70,000HFC) grand prize for the highest voted domain. Final domain submissions must be submitted no later than November 9th at 11:59 PM PT. Check out the full rules on how to participate here.

“Our goal is to make High Fidelity an Internet-scale technology that allows anyone to create and share their VR experience in real-time,” said Philip Rosedale, CEO and founder of High Fidelity. “At FUTVRE LANDS, we’ll bring more people in VR together at the same time than ever before. For VR newcomers, it’s a fun way to dive into virtual reality to see what’s possible beyond video gaming. For our community of VR creators, it’s a chance to celebrate VR’s rapid progress toward more mainstream users.”

The platform supports a staggering number of people in a single virtual space, now rated at a 500 person max occupancy. Users can access High Fidelity via HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, desktop or Google Daydream-enabled Android device. You can download it for free here.

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Oculus Connect VR Livestream Coming to Gear VR and Go, But Rifters Get Left Out

Oculus today announced it will offer an immersive livestream during the company’s annual Oculus Connect developer conference, including coverage of the opening keynote and several VR esports championships hosted during the event. Owners of the Oculus Go or Gear VR headsets can join the immersive livestream via the Oculus Venues app which is unfortunately not available to the company’s desktop-based users who own the Oculus Rift.

Continuing a trend of an awkwardly incohesive product ecosystem which does little to allow users of its mobile and desktop headsets to engage with one another, Oculus today announced a schedule of immersive livestreams that will offer some sense of virtual attendance to Oculus Connect. Through the Oculus Venues app, which is only available on Gear VR and Go, users will be able to tune in to the following events:

  • September 26th
    • 10AM PT: Oculus Connect 5 keynote
    • 12AM–5PM PT: Esports coverage begins
    • 6PM–10PM PT: Onward Grand Finals
  • September 27th
    • 10AM PT: Oculus CTO John Carmack Unscripted Keynote
    • 12PM–4PM PT: Echo Arena Grand Finals

Oculus has partnered with immersive content company Supersphere to produce the VR livestreams for Oculus Connect. Through Oculus Venues users will have a social viewing experience where they can see and talk to other users watching the broadcast simultaneously.

A screenshot from an Oculus Venues broadcast shows many users watching an event together. | Image courtesy Oculus

“For the keynotes, we’ll focus on switching live 180° cameras on the speakers, along with graphics integration. The esports tournaments will blend live cameras and multiple gaming inputs. We’ll also debut brand-new technology that creates immersive outputs from the game engines themselves, for a true 180°/360° observer view of the gameplay,” said Lucas Wilson, Supersphere’s Founder & Executive Producer. “This is the first time that viewers will be inside this rich, more immersive look at gameplay. We worked closely with the talented teams at Facebook, Oculus, and ESL to build a complete set of immersive environments that fans will love.”

From Wilson’s description, it sounds like this will be the most advanced and produced livestream to come from Oculus Connect yet. The ability to get streaming views from inside the games themselves sounds very interesting, but the irony can’t be escaped that—despite that it’s Rift games being broadcast—Rift users won’t be able to see these immersive views for themselves as Oculus Venues is not available on the Rift.

SEE ALSO
Oculus Confirms Four VR eSports Tournament Finals Coming to Oculus Connect 5

Oculus instead suggests that Rift users consider jumping inside Oculus Home where they could virtually visit with other Rift users (but not friends using Go or Gear VR) while watching the standard 2D livestream from the event. A half-hearted consolation for what is arguably the company’s most engaged userbase.

Oculus Connect 5 will be held next week in San Jose, CA on September 26th & 27th at the McEnery Convention Center.

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Update: ‘The Unspoken’ VR League Final is Back on & Coming to Oculus Connect 5

The Virtual Reality League is an ESL Gaming organization partnered with Oculus that oversees eSports tournaments for online VR multiplayer games including Echo Arena, The Unspoken, and Sprint Vector. While ESL cancelled the competition a few days ago, something that was done after competitors engaged in seven weeks of bracketed 1v1 battles, the company now says it’s reverting back to the original plan to send the top four players to compete at Oculus Connect 5 after all.

Update (July 7th, 2018): An ESL spokesperson took to Reddit, and announced the company has worked with Oculus to reinstate its plans to run ‘The Unspoken’ tournament finals at Oculus Connect 5. Here’s the relevant bits:

“While The Unspoken has seen a decline in signups, we were wrong to believe this warranted a lack of interest in the Grand Final. We’re thrilled to see the passionate community surrounding The Unspoken so eager to prove themselves in front of an audience at Oculus Connect 5—both Oculus and ESL are happy to oblige. After discussing with Oculus, we will keep the original plan: the top four players from The Unspoken will be invited to Oculus Connect 5, provided travel, and will compete for a share of the overall VR League prize pool.

We are still fine tuning the plans for Oculus Connect 5 and more information will be released in the coming weeks—stay tuned.”

The original article detailing the cancellation follows below:

Original article (July 5th, 2018): Starting back in May, VR League hopefuls began competing in The Unspoken tournaments with the promise of getting a chance to shine at OC5. For many, this represented not only the opportunity to win the bulk of a $220,000 prize pool for claiming victory at the tourney, but also get a chance to travel to San Jose, California for Oculus’ biggest event of the year, the Connect 5 developer conference.

The finals however have been cancelled mid-tournament, and won’t be appearing alongside Echo Arena’s league finals at the dev conference (see update above).

Image courtesy Insomniac Games

The official reasoning behind it, Community Manager Hung Lai (‘Gravity’) says in a the company’s Discord channel, is due to shrinking player numbers. The decision, he said yesterday, was decided “less than 48 hours ago,” and that The Unspoken is being entirely dropped from the VR League as a competitive eSport.

Image captured by Road to VR

Players invited to Oculus Connect are offered comped travel, hotel, and no entry fee to the conference—a valuable prize in and of itself for many competitors looking to rub elbows with VR devs and enthusiasts from all over the world. With two months of battles behind them, participants are rightly dismayed to find out they’ve been wasting their time, and investing their hopes in something that just doesn’t exist anymore.

Only a day after the competition started, Insomniac Games Senior Community Developer Tim Salvitti had this to say on the game’s Discord channel:

“We are excited for VR League Season Two and can’t wait to check out the action online. However, at this point in time we have no new updates planned for the game. We have been listening since the last update and certainly know some of the wish lists everyone has. We would love to see as many of you as possible playing in VR League and hope we can push to make The Unspoken one of the games Oculus brings to OC5! As always, we will continue to watch and listen, and we thank each and every one of you for playing and helping make the game what it is.”

The company also previously stated on the competition’s website that from the onset, Unspoken league competitors could “earn points to qualify for the Wold Qualifier bracket for OC5.” That statement has since been removed from the league website.

Where a list of upcoming cups once was now stands a blank sheet.

Last year’s Unspoken finals winner ‘Charizard’ told us a little more about how he feels after having the rug pulled out from under him:

“I think that it’s important to understand that players who are passionate about this game are going to be upset about it being cancelled. That’s not the core of the issue though. ESL has held a 7 week tournament on the assumption that this prize was going to be paid out. Players have spent time and money preparing for this, and ESL has gained attention and marketing by holding this on the assumption of those prizes being followed through. So yes, none of the passionate players of this game want to see it go, but beyond that, they have been lied to in what they can expect by investing in this game on a competitive level. It’s beyond just disappointing, it’s downright criminal.”

While The Unspoken playerbase is dwarfed in comparison to other traditional eSports, at the end of the day what matters most is the players, many of whom invested countless hours in learning how to play the game at a professional level. With real prize money on the line, it’s clear ESL hasn’t done right by its community (see update above).

We’ve reached out to ESL for a statement, but haven’t received any word yet regarding a more detailed reason behind this. We’ll make sure to update as new information comes out.

A special thanks goes out to Shaun Lane for pointing us in the right direction.

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VRLA’s John Root on AR, Privacy, & eSports in VR

john-root John Root co-founded VRLA with Cosmo Scharf in 2014, and it has organically grown into a thriving VR event with over 10,000 attendees at the Los Angeles Convention Center. VRLA is a non-profit where funding from sponsors helps to support about half of their exhibitors within the event’s Indie Zone, which helps them feature a lot of innovative independent VR experiments and start-ups. VRLA is happening this year on May 4th and 5th. I had a chance to walk the showroom floor of VRLA 2017 with Root where he took me on a guided tour through the history of VRLA, his thoughts on AR, using VR for film production, the future of privacy in AR/VR, as well as why he is interested in seeing where eSports in VR is headed.

LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST

Here’s the full press release for VRLA 2018 (Road to VR readers can save 15% on passes, details here):

Announcing VRLA 2018 Keynotes & Expo Highlights

The Biggest Immersive Tech Event of the Year Returns May 4-5, Exploring “A New Reality.”

Los Angeles, CA (April 12, 2018) – Experience next generation immersive technologies and explore “A New Reality” at VRLA, the leading virtual and augmented reality expo, May 4-5 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Industry-leading companies sponsoring this year’s expo include Intel, Dell, Qualcomm, VIVEPORT, Microsoft, Neurogaming and OptiTrack, as well as a full lineup of innovative companies shaping the future of immersive tech. Passes are available now and start at just $30, and for the first time ever attendees can register in VR via the official Payscout VRLA Registration 2018 app.

Saturday’s keynote will feature a live performance by Light Balance, the captivating dance group from “America’s Got Talent.” Equipped with custom-designed suits that integrate a complex light system with unique wireless controllers, Light Balance blends expert synchronization of music, neon lighting and choreography with breathtaking performances. The Saturday keynote lineup also includes:

  • Walt Disney Imagineering SVP Jon Snoddy
  • A world premiere from Skydance, with Chris Hewish, EVP Games & Interactive and Pablo Leon-Luna, VR Developer
  • Special announcements from Intel, with Kumar Kaushik, GM, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality
  • YouTube star Vsauce3 (aka Jake Roper)
  • A special announcement from Ricoh
  • VR/AR expert and futurist Charlie Fink

VR and AR professionals who purchase the 2-day industry-focused Pro Pass will gain access to Friday’s keynote in the Dell Theater, featuring a mesmerizing performance by Digital Deception, aka Doug McKenzie and Ryan Oakes – an illusionary duo that combines interactive magic with technology for an unforgettable live spectacle. Friday keynote speakers include:

  • Cliff Plumer, CEO, The VOID
  • Rikard Steiber, President Viveport and SVP of Virtual Reality, HTC Vive
  • Gary Radburn, Director, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Dell
  • Hugo Swart, Senior Director of XR Product Management, Qualcomm
  • Katie Kelly, Head of Engagement, AltspaceVR / Microsoft

In addition to Friday’s keynotes, attendees who purchase the Pro Pass will benefit from access to the full expo, shorter demo lines and an exclusive lineup of professional and developer programming – including “VR Valuation: What Drives ROI,” “Artificial Minds in Artificial Spaces,” “Can VR Be Decentralized Using Blockchain?” and “Discovering New Worlds: Using VR/AR/MR for Space Exploration,” a session with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Saturday sessions feature industry experts from companies including Facebook, Glitched, VIVEPORT, The Third Floor, Vulcan, Kilograph, Framestore, VIBEHub, Walt Disney Animation, TheWaveVR, Chaos Group, Light Sail VR, Sunnyboy Entertainment, OTOY and more.

From location-based entertainment, motion simulators and VR arcades, to next-gen haptics, 360-degree cameras and the hottest product launches across virtual and augmented reality, this year’s expo will feature something for everyone to explore.

In collaboration with LACMA, the breathtaking centerpiece of this year’s show floor will be Mezo, a 20-foot tall futuristic temple equipped with synchronized LED panels, lasers and spatial music. The interactive art installation will evoke an alternate future where ancient Mesoamerican societies have become technologically advanced, taking attendees on a visually and sonically stunning journey through destruction, creation and rebirth.

For horror fanatics, Red Frog Digital’s Zombie Holomaze will offer a terrifying AR experience for attendees to explore while wearing a Microsoft HoloLens. Mega Particle will debut its cross-platform Virtual Poker Table, with live play culminating in a tournament with award-winning poker champion Phil Hellmuth. For zen and psychedelic experiences, attendees won’t want to miss the Visual Reality Zone, featuring mind-bending immersive digital art installations. Additional expo highlights include Xtrematic’s extreme sports simulator, bHaptics’ full-body haptic suit, Bioflight’s VR medical training simulations and Phasespace’s large-scale motion capture system.

For industry professionals, students and attendees looking to cultivate their skills in VR and AR development, Circuit Stream – the official workshop partner of VRLA 2018 – will offer a variety of cutting-edge educational sessions designed to teach Unity development for platforms like Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality, ARKit, ARCore and Microsoft HoloLens. Attendees can sign up for Circuit Stream’s workshops when they register for VRLA. The “Girls Make VR” workshop is also returning to this year’s expo, offering teenage girls 13-18 the opportunity to learn and create with the latest technology behind today’s most popular VR experiences.

For more information on VRLA 2018 and to purchase passes, visit: http://virtualrealityla.com/

 

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VRLA 2018 Returns to Los Angeles May 4th & 5th – Save 15%

VRLA 2018 returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center May 4-5, featuring hundreds of immersive tech demos, educational session, presentations and groundbreaking product launches from the most innovative technology companies shaping our world today.

From immersive full-room installations, motion simulators and VR arcades, to next-gen haptics, 360-cameras and the hottest product launches across VR/AR/XR, this year’s expo will feature the next generation of transformative technologies and something for everyone to explore. Exhibitors, speakers & sponsors for this year’s event include Intel, Qualcomm, Dell, VIVEPORT, Technicolor, Secret Location, Phasespace, Prosper VR, Beyond ONE, Walt Disney Animation, The Third Floor, Framestore, The Mill, Chaos Group and more!

VRLA 2018

“Excitement for VR and AR has never been solely about immersive headsets. It’s rooted in a deeper desire to better understand ourselves and reality itself, aligned with a new generation of technologies capable of raising the collective consciousness,” said Cosmo Scharf, Co-founder of VRLA. “With this year’s theme, ‘A New Reality,’ we’re expanding the expo’s scope beyond VR and AR to explore new ways emergent technology improves our lives in and out of the headset. New verticals include AI, internet of things, robotics, blockchain, 3D printing, alternative energy, cryptocurrency, biotech, and more.”

Image courtesy VRLA

Additionally, attendees can look forward to next-gen haptics, VR arcades, 360-cameras, motion simulators, 3D scanners, and the latest in CG and VFX technology across the show floor.

“We’re thrilled to offer attendees even more ways to taste the future and open a conversation about how technology can help us manifest the reality we deserve,” said Scharf.

After nearly four years, VRLA has grown exponentially from a 100-person meetup group in 2014 to one of the year’s most important AR and VR gatherings. One of our favorite moments from VRLA 2017 last year was Justin Roiland’s keynote, featuring his signature offbeat humor as applied to VR.

Road to VR readers can save 15% on passes to VRLA 2018 using code Road_VRLA at registration.

Road to VR is a proud media sponsor of VRLA 2018.

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VRX 2017 Hosts Top VR/AR Companies in San Francisco This Week – Road to VR Readers Save 15%

With the latest amazing innovations in VR/AR, VRX 2017 next week in San Francisco is the place to be to hear from those leading the charge.

Bringing together the brightest minds from across the globe to dive deep into the key challenges and opportunities arising in both the consumer and enterprise markets, VRX is purpose built to drive the business of VR and immersive tech. The event takes place at the San Francisco Marriot Marquis this week on December 7th and 8th.

Speakers from leading companies including Oculus, Intel, Ford, HTC, Paramount, Google, Epic Games, Walmart, Qualcomm and many more, will be present at the event. Check out all the latest VRX details here.

Here are just a few reasons to consider attending VRX 2017:

  • VRX is the most senior-level VR/AR event on the planet: Meet with the top executives from working in immersive tech from across the world. Understand where the money’s going, who’s leading the charge, what the latest tech advances are and which content and applications are getting best traction
  • An agenda covering the whole VR/AR ecosystem: Bringing together the real pioneers in consumer entertainment, enterprise and immersive tech this is the only event to unite leaders from across industry and across the world with companies like Ford, Gensler, Nestle, Oculus, Wayfair, Intel, Nickelodeon, Framestore, Samsung, Paramount, Google, Sony Pictures, Survios, HTC Vive and Walmart all sending high level executives to speak
  • Hundreds of senior VR/AR execs in attendance, 80+ expert speakers, the latest tech and content on show! Meet with the brightest minds from across immersive tech. Try out the latest tech, experience the latest new content and uncover a world of best-practice and strategies guaranteed to give you a real competitive edge going into 2018 and beyond

Road to VR readers can use code ROAD4870 to get 15% off any pass when you get your tickets to VRX 2017 here. Not attending? Keep your eyes on Road to VR for coverage from the event.

Road to VR is a proud media sponsor of VRX 2017

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Houston’s ITC Expo to Showcase Business-focused VR/AR Solutions, November 6th–7th

The Immersive Technology Conference (ITC), soon to be hosted at the University of Houston on November 6th & 7th, is an event built around a paradox. Its focus—VR and AR in business and industry—is both decades old and still in its infancy. Inexpensive, high-quality consumer VR headsets are rapidly consigning the room-sized CAVEs and expensive, custom headsets of decades past to the dustbin of history, and with them, the assumed limits of what VR and AR can accomplish.

Image courtesy ITC and Jason Chang: JTC Pictures

Houston, Texas, a hub for industries ranging from Medicine to Oil & Gas to Aerospace, has been ground-zero for many of the conversations reimagining the scope of what VR and AR can accomplish.

“At every HoustonVR meetup, two or three attendees would pull us aside to ask how they could take advantage of Rifts or Vives or Hololenses in their industries,” recalls William Golden, executive director of the ITC. “Oil & Gas, Architecture, Education, Medicine, Aerospace—they were all looking for new ways to take advantage of immersive technology. It became obvious that these conversations needed to happen on a larger scale, with content providers and hardware designers in the same room as industry planners and decision-makers. That’s how ITC was born.”

The first ITC, held in 2016, featured 21 speakers and 13 exhibitors, including engineers from NASA, programmers from Microsoft, and doctors from the Memorial Hermann Medical System. The conference’s speakers represented knowledge of applied VR and AR spanning 9 industries, and it drew attendees from 7 countries.

Image courtesy ITC and Jason Chang: JTC Pictures

This year’s ITC includes an additional focus: “The number of VR and AR startups in Texas looking for funding made connecting them with investors a priority for us as well,” Golden says. “So we’re bringing in Tipatat Chennavasin of The Virtual Reality Fund as a keynote speaker; we’re hosting a panel of investors to discuss the challenges and opportunities for VR and AR startups; and we’re facilitating one-on-one meetings between investors and startups attending the conference.”

While last year’s conference drew C-level Executives and VIPs from a range of industries, it attracted attendees from beyond the boardroom as well. “People working at every level of these industries have attended to learn, and they often learn the most from other industries. The cross-pollination has been amazing to watch,” Golden noted. “And professors and students are doing a lot of the best research in VR and AR, so we have academic pricing to attract them to the conversation as well.”

The Immersive Technology Conference runs from November 6th-7th at the University of Houston, in Houston, Texas. Exhibitors include industry-focused VR/AR companies like ITI VR, which has developed a detailed VR crane operator training simulation; Core Simulations, which is using immersive technology and gamification to improve physical and occupational therapy; and Level Up Camp, an innovation camp where young minds get hands on learning with web, app, and VR/AR technologies.

Road to VR is a proud media partner of the 2017 Immersive Technology Conference.

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Greenlight’s VRS 2017 Conference Reflects VR’s Rapid Changes & Growing Impact

The second annual Virtual Reality Strategy Conference hosted by Greenlight Insights takes place October 24th through the 26th with new focus-areas reflecting the VR and AR industry’s lightning fast changes and growing worldwide impact across industries. The event features over 80 speakers, 400+ expected attendees, state of the art VR/AR technology demos, and innovation tours at leading Silicon Valley companies. The conference takes place in the heart of San Francisco at the Hilton Financial District Hotel.

Greenlight Insights, the leader in virtual and augmented reality market research and analysis, will be leveraging its VR/AR market intelligence to introduce new focus-areas for the conference, including location-based virtual reality entertainment, artificial intelligence & VR, and the latest Android & iOS smartphone-based AR tech. Save up to $300 with Early Bird registration, available now.

VR Strategy Conference 2017
Save an additional $100 using code RTOVR100 when registering

“VRS is unique among VR events in that it is developed through the course of our ongoing research leadership,” says Clifton Dawson, Founder & CEO of Greenlight Insights. “Our team and partners spend months researching, convening industry leaders, and curating a full program designed to tackle present and future challenges, from new platform adoption to content and channel unit economics to emerging opportunities.”

In addition to several new tracks at VRS 2017, the conference will feature a Solution Showcase & Expo. New to this year’s conference, the exhibition portion of VRS 2017 is where analysts, media, partners, and attendees connect to uncover the latest VR/AR technologies from top companies. Expo participants include VRgineers, Ultrahaptics, Retinad, VividWorks, Trick3D, Go Touch VR, CognitiveVR, and more.

SEE ALSO
Hands-on: Go Touch VR's Haptic Feedback is So Simple You'll Wonder Why You Didn't Think of it First

New VR Arcade Summit Informs Effective Location-Based VR Strategy

One of the biggest developments at VRS is the co-located VR Arcade Summit 2017, dedicated to VR arcades, theaters, theme parks, and other out-of-home venues. The event will take place on October 26th and run alongside VRS 2017. The event is being co-produced by Virtual World Arcade, organizers of the annual VR Arcade Conference.

VR Arcade Summit 2017

The launch of the VR Arcade Summit 2017 reflects the emergence of virtual reality for location-based entertainment, education, and out-of-home leisure use. Greenlight Insights has forecast that location-based virtual reality, including hardware, software, and services, will soon surpass $1 billion. A deep dive into VR’s various sectors is available in the 2017 VR Industry Report, co-authored by Greenlight Insights and Road to VR.

Already, content owners are experimenting with technologies, venue strategies, and business models to capture unprecedented levels of interest from consumers in trying virtual reality games, film, and interactive art. Disney, The VOID, IMAX, HTC and other industry leaders are playing an important role in driving the proliferation of location-based virtual reality venues around the globe.

SEE ALSO
The VOID is Bringing a New Star Wars VR Experience to Two Disney Locations This Holiday

“We’re entering a period where every virtual reality content owner should be developing specific strategies and partners to capitalize on the rapid growth of location-based VR globally,” said Alexis Macklin, Analyst & VRS Program Chair. “At VR Arcade Summit 2017, we will provide attendees with critical knowledge that will help them put distinct tactics to work in their content and operational strategies.”

At VR Arcade Summit 2017, attendees will learn about current and future trends in the location-based virtual reality industry and take home actionable insights through industry-specific sessions across four tracks including content development, distribution, technology, and business strategy. In addition, they will have the opportunity to hear from Greenlight Insights analysts and industry leaders through exclusive keynotes.

Road to VR is a proud media sponsor of VRS 2017

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Where to Find VR at PAX West 2017

The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will be back in its hometown of Seattle this September 1st through 4th and Road to VR has again done the heavy lifting of sorting out all the VR things to see at this year’s convention:

Exhibitor Exhibit Platforms Location
Alienware (TBD) Oculus #1115
Anshar Studios Detached Oculus, Vive #6003
Archiact VR (TBD) (TBD) Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Bethesda Softworks Doom, Skyrim, Fallout 4 Oculus, PSVR, Vive #1102
BigBox VR Smashbox Arena Oculus, PSVR, Vive Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Cyan Inc Obduction Oculus, PSVR, Vive #857
Dell (TBD) Windows Mixed Reality #1125
Drifter Entertainment Gunheart Oculus, Vive Grand Hyatt
Emerald Beast Sellsword VR Oculus, Vive Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Fantom Fathom Perch Oculus, Vive Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Gattai Games Stifled Oculus, OSVR, PSVR, Vive #862
Gene Games (TBD) (TBD) Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Kite and Lightning Bebylon Battle Royale Oculus, Vive Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Hardlight VR Hardlight VR Suit PC Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Oasis Games Light Tracer PSVR #6808
Oculus (Multiple games) Oculus Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
PlayStation (TBD) PSVR #100, #103, #109, #203, #209
Polyarc Moss PSVR #203 (Sony Booth)
Secret Location Blasters of the Universe Oculus, Vive #844
Smidgen Softworks How May I Haunt You Oculus 3rd Floor Annex
Spontaneous Quirk Aden’s Musical Playground Oculus Westin Hotel, 4th Floor
Square Enix Monster of the Deep: Final Fantasy XV PSVR Sheraton Hotel, Aspen Room
Survios Raw Data, Sprint Vector Oculus, Vive #1125 (Dell Gaming Booth, Raw Data), #625 (Intel Booth, Sprint Vector)
Surprise Attack Games Blind Oculus, OSVR, PSVR, Vive #6312
Think On Labs Ship It Oculus, Vive #7317
TN Games PhantomSense PC Westin Hotel, 4th Floor

In addition to the expo halls, PAX West will again have a VR freeplay area along with multiple tournaments throughout the 4-day event. There will also be many VR-themed panels and developer discussions (including one moderated by Road to VR).

Cell reception can be spotty in the packed Washington State Convention Center, so attendees may want to download the official PAX West 2017 guidebook (and a copy of this article) ahead of time.

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Applications Now Open for Oculus Connect 4 Developer Conference

Oculus’ annual developer conference is back—Connect 4 will be hosted on October 11th and 12th in San Jose, California at the McEnery Convention Center.

Applications to register for the event are now open with regular passes starting at $400, though applications completed by August 21st (according to the FAQ) will receive ‘early bird’ pricing at $300. Developers and students/academics can get further discounted passes priced at $200 and $100 respectively. Check out the official Oculus Connect 4 website to apply for registration.

Though the conference schedule has not been posted in full, Oculus says you can expect the following:

OC4 attendees will get an inside look at what’s new across the VR industry and what we’re building next, including exclusive, never-before-seen VR demos. You’ll hear directly from Oculus hardware, software, and product engineering teams—including everyone’s favorite unscripted keynote and live VR app reviews from John Carmack.

We’re bringing together creators from across the worlds of gaming, interactive entertainment, film, art, and education for more than 30 sessions, from lectures and lightning talks to panels across four content tracks:

  • Design: What’s possible when you can defy physics? Tackle everything from cross-platform co-op and single-player campaign modes to narrative design, social, storytelling techniques, sound, roomscale, and beyond.
  • Develop: Dig into the latest Oculus PC and Mobile SDKs with a series of technical deep dives, how-tos, and roadmap reviews. Come for practical problem solving, best practices, workflows, and more.
  • Distribute: Whether you’re building a brand or leveraging known IP, learn how to fund your projects, find partners, and expand your reach while growing the VR content ecosystem.
  • Future: From optics and haptics to AI and emerging applications, speculate on VR’s third wave with research and thought leadership at the bleeding edge.

In addition to sessions held at the event, we’ll be looking forward to a check-in from Oculus’ Chief Scientist, Michael Abrash, who has yet to disappoint with a fascinating look at the future of immersive technology; we’d highly suggest checking out his last two presentations:

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