With some six weeks to go until VR Connects San Francisco on 27th to 28th June, it's content focus time.
The schedule, focused on Day 2 of the conference, packs in 30+ mighty sessions tighter than tourists on a San Francisco cable car to deliver an agenda that covers all core aspects of the VR, AR, and MR scene.
Since we have more keynotes than a Steinway Baby Grand, let's kick off with five of the big hitters:
- But everything has a beginning and in this case proceedings open with a 'Superstar Session' from Unity Technologies that will adopt a holistic perspective to discuss what follows 'the year of VR'. Unity terms it the 'industry stage of VR', and will delve into what this means for both the creators and consumers of the technology.
- Which is cool high-level stuff, but what about drilling down into the current market? That's where IDG Consulting's Yoshio Osaki comes in. His 'Decoding VR – The Most Hyped and Least Understood Emerging Market' keynote aims to walk the audience through the major trends in VR gaming, with insights into key players, monetisation trends, industry best practices, comparative analysis between Asia VR versus Western VR, and even throw in IDG’s outlook for VR gaming’s future for good measure.
- With the market overview taken care of, it's time to focus on the key element: content. And who better to lead the approach than HTC's Rikard Steiber, whose keynote will cram in a discussion on the role of the Viveport app store, the latest on the company's Arcade programme, and why it believes Vive Tracker represents a 'game changer' moment for the sector.
- If technical breakthroughs are your thing, you'll want to listen to Aruna Inversin from Digital Domain 3.0. In a keynote that promises to closely examine the behind-the-scenes aspects of his company's NBA VR app, Aruna will discuss how the partnership with NBA and Google enabled the creation of software that brings basketball fans face-to-face close to their sporting icons in a way not even previously accessible to those who can afford the exorbitant court-side seats.
- Which leads us neatly to 'I'm Ready For My Close-Up'. Industry Veteran Noah Falstein – until very recently Google's Chief Game Designer – wraps up our quintet with a fascinating keynote on the neuroscientific aspects of VR. He'll tackle why Virtual Reality experiences feel fundamentally different from previous technologies, will delve into those insights, and what it may mean for storytelling and gameplay in VR, both with existing and emerging technologies.
As mentioned, these are five standout sessions from an agenda bursting at the virtual seams with more than 30 talks – all worthy of delegates' time, we'd humbly suggest. You'll be able to judge for yourself, as the full content for VRC San Francisco will go live later this week.
If we've convinced you already, though, know that Mid Term tickets are still available.
