Press Release – October 2017 – The brightest minds in entertainment, art and technology converge on LA for one day only.
New mediums like augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence are pushing the boundaries of art, entertainment, gaming and performance — but immersive media isn’t always accessible. For one day only, we invite you to experience what happens at the outer limits of creativity.
The first Engadget Experience is set to bring together some of the brightest minds in technology, art and entertainment next month, and we want you to be there. The agenda is nearly complete, and we’re proud to say it’s going to be a killer show.
When we first birthed this brain baby, we didn’t know what it would look like. What we did know is we wanted to create a space for conversation between the people building new technologies like AR, VR and AI and the people leveraging those technologies to reshape the way that we tell stories. The Engadget Experience is that space.
But just talking about the amazing things people are doing with immersive media wasn’t enough. We wanted to do our part to bring those ideas to life. So we put together a $500,000 grant program and funded five immersive experiences spanning AR, VR and AI. The prizewinners had to do two things: address the theme of alternate realities and complete their projects in four months.
Your Hands Are Feet (Amelia Winger-Bearskin and Sarah Rothberg), Untrained Eyes (Glenn Kaino and Jesse Williams), Mapper’s Delight (Tahir Hemphill, David A.M. Goldberg and Nick Fox-Gieg), Dinner Party (Laura Wexler, Angel Soto, Charlotte Stoudt and Saschka Unseld) and Dance With flARmingos (Kristin Lucas, Regine Basha, Tommy Martinez, Thomas Wester and Ben Purdy) will all premiere at the Ace Hotel Theatre in downtown LA on November 14th. The artists will also appear on stage along with a series of short documentaries that follow the prizewinners as they produce their projects.
Attendees will get the chance to experience these projects firsthand and get a glimpse at the unique challenges of working in as-yet-unestablished media. In addition to the exhibition, a series of talks, panels and conversations will shed light on the future of entertainment, art, gaming, even social media. Our special guests include “the godmother of virtual reality,” Nonny de la Peña; co-founder of Oculus Story Studio and CEO of Penrose Studios Eugene Chung; and executive creative director of The Mill, Rama Allen. They’ll join thought leaders from RSA, UCLA, Technicolor and Sundance to discuss topics ranging from identity and representation in virtual worlds to VR’s still-undecided killer application.
You can get your tickets to the Engadget Experience right now at our website for the Early Adopter rate of $125. That gets you one day’s admission to be front and center at the Ace Theatre for in-depth interviews and screenings from today’s creative pioneers and experience immersive AR/VR art installations. During lunch and at our closing cocktail reception, you’ll get to expand your network and meet leading creators and technologists who are making waves in this emerging space.
Full-time and recently graduated students can apply for our reduced-rate tickets here.
Sean Earley is the Executive Editor of AR/VR Magazine & co-founder of RobotSpaceship Podcast Network. He is the Director of New Biz Development and Publishing at KEMWEB, a musician, producer & consultant. He loves guitars, VR and coffee.
