Sam Watts, Director of Immersive Technology at Make Real, is one of 50 world-class VR, AR and MR speakers appearing at XR Connects London on the 22nd and 23rd January. To hear him speak in person, book your ticket now!
Q: What do you do?
A: When I’m in the studio, I work with the teams to ensure that our 4D approach (Discover / Design / Develop / Deploy) results in high quality projects and products for our existing or new clients and partners.
When out of the studio, I’m educating anyone who is interested about immersive technologies, the current strengths, weaknesses and benefits, where they’re going in both the short and long term, and how this fits into disrupting and improving the way we live, learn and work.
Q: What makes you most excited for VR, AR and MR?
A: The realms of the possible with a whole new medium to play with – whether it be for gaming or training or experiential content, there is a real opportunity to ensure it pushes humankind forward in a positive manner without barriers to entry for content creation by anyone.
Q: What are your thoughts on the way the industry has grown in the last 12 months?
A: This year has seen the bandwagon tree shaken somewhat to remove some of the bad fruit, allowing viable studios to emerge and strengthen their position, whilst a gamut of creation tools have emerged that brings the power of immersive technology to a wider creative userbase.
There’s still some large scale financial investments being made but we must be wary of the overhype around VR being tacked onto AR now and repeating the same over-expectation followed by perceived under-achieving negative articles and feeling. This could be the last year of tethered VR hardware releases.
Q: What major trends do you predict for VR, AR and MR in the next 12 months?
A: Cables be gone! Wireless adapters will become commonplace, freeing up movement and showing what is truly possible by unrestricting users within the virtual worlds. Inside-out tracking will become more commonplace, reducing clutter and out-of-home experiential content will be king for consumers.
Q: Which part of XR Connects London are you most looking forward to and why?
A: From a purely self-promotional aspect, showcasing Loco Dojo on PC VR with an aim to get PS VR port funding, pitching our next game in the XR Big Indie Pitch and doing my talk.
From an attendee perspective, it’s great to hear from talented individuals working at the forefront of the technology and meeting peers to discuss current thoughts, pain points and future excitement.
Don’t miss your chance to hear Watts share his insights on how to operate successfully and survive as a profitable studio in the emerging immersive technology content creation sector making serious fun. His XR Connects London session is at 15:40 on Tuesday, 23rd January. Book your ticket now!
About The Speaker
Sam Watts has a BSc in Multimedia Computing and 15+ years experience of working within the learning and games industries, for companies such as NCsoft and Zynga. He’s been on a three-year journey of discovery to explore and understand the possibilities of immersive technology and applications for the real world in terms of learning and having serious fun.
About XR Connects London
More than 500 XR delegates will gather at The Brewery on the 22nd and 23rd January for XR Connects London. Over the two days of the event, there will be 50 expert speakers addressing the key issues for the VR, AR and MR industry, from global trends and new tech to monetisation. Tickets are selling fast, so don’t miss out – get yours now!
