Organised by General Assembly
2019 was a growth year for virtual and augmented reality. The presence of these breakthrough technologies began to be felt far away from the fields of gaming and entertainment, where they first became popular. However, VR/AR is still not accessible to the everyday user. Not only will a good headset cost about £500, but a high-powered computer is required to run the experience. Will the VR devices be more affordable? Will Google Glass come back to life? Are there enough VR/AR designers in the market to make VR/AR a thing? How can you become a VR/AR designer?
Our panel of experts will walk you through their exciting careers as VR/AR specialists, VR/AR 2020 trends and how one can get into a VR/AR industry.
Speakers:
Jeremy Dalton -
Head of VR/AR, PwC
David Ripert -
CEO & Co-Founder , Poplar
Nicole Stewart-Rushworth -
Immersive Lab Manager, Digital Catapult
Ben Huss-Smickler -
Founder & CEO, SkyEdge 360
Sean Rodrigo
- Immersive Artist, Continuum Immersive Studios
Bios:
David Ripert - Founder & CEO of Poplar, ex-Google & ex-Netflix
David is CEO & Co-Founder of Poplar a platform that enables 3D and AR campaigns on demand. Poplar activates a new generation of global 3D and AR creators and provides collaborative tools that make 3D and AR affordable and quick. He plays an active role in VR/AR, as Chapter President UK for the VR/AR Association, the largest trade body in the industry, with 4,200 global members.
For 6 years, David oversaw the EMEA arm of Google’s global YouTube division dedicated to working with creators, media companies and brands, identifying new and rising talent, driving innovation and building creator spaces for them to collaborate, learn and grow. He was previously VP of content at Dailymotion for 4 years in New York and Paris, after some years at Netflix in Los Angeles, where he started his career in film and TV 17 years ago.
David is a board member of Save the Children and Sadler’s Wells in London. He is a judge at the Webby Awards, a Founder's Network Member of Tech Nation and the French Tech.
Ben Huss-Smickler - Founder & CEO of SkyEdge 360
Ben is an award-winning 360 filmmaker and VR/AR, producer. He teaches Immersive Media (MA) at University College London (UCL) and his company SkyEdge 360 specialises in dynamic 360 film, supporting other agencies and studios. His work is frequently in the press, most recently a feature on BBC News for Grenfell survivors staring Les Ferdinand. Recent notable works include: 'Common Ground' a VR/360 piece which premiered at Tribeca, 'VRwithyou' an immersive branched narrative piece for the Children's Society which won the Vodaphone Techstarter Award, 360 Live streaming Massive Attack and Gretta Thurnburg to over 120,000 viewers and Producing 'Sound of Trees' with his university students which has been accepted at the OpenCity Docs Festival.
His new studio, XRHub is involved with all aspects of Immersive Media including Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Virtual Production with other notable experts in the field.
Jeremy Dalton - Head of VR/AR at PwC
Jeremy leads PwC's VR/AR team, helping clients understand, quantify, and implement the benefits of virtual reality and augmented reality technology.
He has worked with organisations across multiple industries and is a regular contributor of thought leadership in the space, giving talks all over the world, from Twitter’s headquarters in London to the SXSW technology festival in Austin, Texas. He has been featured in the media including the BBC, The Independent, The Guardian, and The Times.
As part of his mission to educate, connect and inspire, he has supported the VR/AR initiatives of the World Economic Forum and currently sits on the advisory board of ImmerseUK, a UK government-supported cross-sector network for businesses, research and educational organisations that are engaged with immersive technologies.
He also happens to be a Chartered Accountant (but prefers not to advertise that too loudly!).
Nicole Stewart-Rushworth - Immersive Lab Manager, Digital Catapult
Nicole looks after the strategy and running of the organisation's five Immersive Labs around the country. The Immersive Labs are showcase and demonstration spaces for Immersive technology, providing SMEs a place to get hands-on with equipment and host a variety of events and workshops.
She is passionate about the cross-section between creative industries and immersive technology and has a background in theatre and events. Nicole has been working in immersive at Digital Catapult for three years and as part of her work at Digital Catapult, she works on the CreativeXR programme which is a partnership between Digital Catapult and Arts Council England. CreativeXR unlocks the opportunity for the UK creative community to experiment with immersive content that will inspire future audiences, spark trends and influence practice around the world.
Sean Rodrigo
- Immersive Artist, Continuum Immersive Studios
Sean Rodrigo is a London-based Virtual Reality Artist / Technologist working with XR technology as a core creative tool to achieve engaging insightful and meaningful experiences.
Over the last 12 years Sean has worked in film television and advertising with extensive experience in technical and creative campaigns. His current work ranges from hand-painted XR installation artwork to designing prototype products in super fast timeframes – sometimes mixing technology with traditional tools such as theatre design and animation.
He recently visited MIT Media labs in the US after being accepted into the world’s biggest XR Hackathon has instructed lecturers at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia has spoken at the British Film Institute (BFI) and the Tate Exchange and is now working at University College London (UCL) as Associate Staff and UCL360 recently VR Artist in Residence School of Anthropology and currently Immersive Artist in residence at Ladbible Group.
- vr
- ar
- virtualreality
- augmentedreality
- design
- free