VRTO at DGP Labs at U of T

November 14th, 2017 Meetup – SideFX, Samsung VR and JanusVR’s Vesta

Events, ,

100 VRTO members and some curious University of Toronto students assembled for VRTO’s latest meetup at the Bahen Centre for Information Technology in downtown Toronto. Keram opened the evening and gave out a special $150 discount code for the HumanEyes Vuze camera and announced that submissions to FIVARS 2018 were now open.

He then welcomed to the podium Adam Lipper – head of Music and VR for Samsung Canada who described where Samsung VR has been and where it is going. One of the distinctions is that Samsung VR is no longer exclusively tied to Gear VR but is also a website, like YouTube, in its own right that can be accessed from any device. He also hinted that the platform will soon be offering heatmaps for better understanding of useage of content, among other significant updates.

He then unveiled a new partnership between FIVARS and Samsung VR that will showcase past selectees from the festival and offer another way for audiences to discover content that may otherwise be lost in the clamor for attention.

After a brief recess, VRTO invited to the stage Dr.s Karan Singh and James McCrae, co-founders of JanusVR and its free and hosted offshoot Vesta. An hour long workshop demonstrating the various ways to create, modify and write content for the immersive web platform followed.

Then SideFX rep Robert Magee took the floor to demonstrate how the powerful Houdini engine can be used to procedurally generate objects, environments, characters and effects for Virtual Reality applications, ensuring integrity, consistency and enormous flexibility. This was capped by sharing the free trial option or the annual Indie license for only $199 along with many resources for learning how to use this powerful node based architecture with APIs to hook into your favorite IDE or workflow.

The proceedings were followed with a social at a nearby pub where many fascinating conversations continued the night. Thanks to all who were able to attend or spread the word.

VRTO 2017 – Report, Images, Metrics and Videos

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“The next insanely great thing may not come out of Stanford, it may come out of Toronto.”
~ Forbes

“Unlike Any Conference You’ve Ever Attended”
~ VRScout

VRTO 2017 was listed as Canada’s largest Virtual & Augmented Reality conference and expo by CP24, CityTV, 1010 Newstalk, Sirius XM.

Wow what a year it was! VRTO – administered by Constant Change Media Group and Keram Malicki-Sanchez, Jessy Blaze, Chrissy Aitchison and additional support from Candace Steinberg, Josh Miles Joudrie and Michael Duhacek partnered with the incredible crew at Ryerson University’s FCAD at Rogers Communications Centre (thank you Marie Crosta, Prachi Khandekar and Shawn Haswell) to pull together a virtually impractical and experimental conference. By all measures it seemed to work. Such approaches would not be possible without the good faith and support of community sponsors who included:

  • Faculty of Communication and Design (FCAD) at Ryerson University
  • Canadian Film Center/OMERS Ventures
  • Wemersive
  • Homido
  • Subpac
  • Igloo
  • AMD
  • Vuze
  • TADS Inc.
  • Mocha
  • MetaVRse
  • Pufferfish
  • Torus Media Labs/Canvas 360 Pro
  • Pandor Productions
  • Somato Cherry
  • Captive Camera
  • Sennheiser
  • Redlab
  • Freeman
  • Primacy / GivLuv
  • Promena
  • AWE Company / GeoGram
  • Mobile Capital Network
  • Combo Bravo
  • Malicki Sanchez Law
  • Made Good

and of course our many media and community partners. Thank you to the incredible speakers, panelist and presenters for your ideas, time and efforts. Thank you to our family who helped out in every respect. Thank you to the selfless and generous volunteers! Thanks to our publicity team at ClutchPR. Sincerely – thank you! Your support cannot be undervalued and is essential to these approaches!

By the numbers:

  • Total Speakers 100
  • Total Exhibitors 65
  • Total Attendees 800
  • 34+ Articles in Mainstream Media
  • 157M Online readership
  • 1.91M Est. Coverage Views
  • 2.44M Est. Coverage (Broadcast)
  • 4.27M (Web & Broadcast)

Featured coverage from Forbes, UploadVR, VRScout, CP24, CityTV, Newstalk 1010, SiriusXM, BetaKit, VRFocus, Dorkshelf, Hindustan Times (1) (2), MobileSyrup (1) (2) (3), IT Business, The Digital Circuit, Trendy Techie, Brockstar Gaming, Category 5

Now please enjoy a catalog of images from the event that ideally helps to sample the spectrum of minds and identities that contribute to an experience such as this.
Images (credit: Jaime Espinoza, Captive Camera):

VRTO 2017 Photo Gallery

Video:

 

 

Please watch talks, coverage and miscellaneous video from the VRTO 2017 conference at VRTO’s Official YouTube Channel. Sincerely, thank you for watching!

*this article is a work in progress and will continue to be updated with links, reports and media assets. Please bookmark it and share.

Digital Hollywood Spring 2017 Panel Feat VRTO Director (Video)

VRTO Founder recently participated in a panel about VR at Digital Hollywood in Los Angeles.

Here is the playback of the livestream that also featured friends of the VRTO community

Innovating in VR-AR-Immersive Production – The Amazing Journey of Imagination, Gear and Innovation

  • Daniel Kenyon, Founder/CEO, Furious M
  • Keram Malicki Sanchez, Executive Director, VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo (Toronto), Director, FIVARS
  • Louis Cacciuttolo, CEO, VRrOOm
  • Marco Rosado, Creative Director, ModeSelect
  • Jake Sally, Director of Development, Two Bit Circus VR
  • Ryan Moore, CEO, Experience 360°
  • Larry Rosenthal, President, Creative Director, CubeVR, Moderator

Keram Malicki Sanchez, Executive Director, VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo (Toronto), Director, FIVARS: Founded VRTO May, 2015. He is the editor-in-chief of IndieGameReviewer.com since 2008 and founder of FIVARS – the Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories. A graduate of UCLA’s certification programs in Cinematography, Producing and Digital Media, respectively, Malicki-Sanchez is also an alumnus of Werner Herzog’s Rogue Film School – Los Angeles chapter. He has been to speak about the intersection of technology and the arts at NXNE, Cinegear Expo (Los Angeles), the Toronto Star and NAB (Vegas). He is also the founder of Transportive Technology – a virtual reality production company and Constant Change Media Group – a 360 media company and disruptive media consultation firm.

Louis Cacciuttolo founded VRrOOm in September 2016; VRrOOm is an online and offline media network curating and publishing VR/AR/MR content targeting the mass market, including a distribution and production platform of 360 VR content. Published in English, French and Chinese, the news centre www.vrroom.buzz aims to become the world’s #1 Media Network about VR, and a global leader in online, offline and social VR platforms dedicated to the future alternate realities lifestyle. Louis previously worked for THX as the Executive President of International Business Development and Global Branding of THX. A few years earlier, he also acted as Managing Director and CEO for various major advertisement companies in Asia and Greater China (including Saatchi & Saatchi X and Ogilvy Action). Very active in the fields of brand communication strategy and creative development, his concepts and ideas have appeared in various TV commercials for Luxury, Automotive, Technology and FMCG brands. In 2011, Louis Cacciuttolo wrote, directed and produced his first feature film “Cinder”, which has been since part of different international film festivals official selection in 2014 and 2015, such as Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, Washington RIFE, Sydney Auburn Underground Film Festival, Rome CinemAvvenire, and London Filmmaker Festival. The movie has received 2 awards. Louis Cacciuttolo graduated from Paris Dauphine University. He also studied music (piano and harmony) in Versailles and Perpignan Music Conservatories; he composes electronic music in his free time. In addition, he speaks Chinese, English and French fluently, as well as some German and Italian.

Marco Rosado, Creative Director / Mode Select: Hailing from San Juan, PR, Marco has produced media in Los Angeles for the past 12 years, working with studios ranging from Disney to the Viacom Group. Now as part of Mode Select in Santa Monica, his work with CG animation tilts towards video game media and educational VR experiences. He seeks new ways to engage audiences with narratives through VR, calling it the most compelling challenge for storytellers today.

Jake Sally, Director of Development, Two Bit Circus VR: Jake began work at WME-IMG in the Motion Picture Literature Department, where he learned how to transition indie-darling writers and directors into commercial Hollywood. After years refining his knowledge of narrative storytelling, Jake transitioned to Hasbro Studios. While at Hasbro, Jake’s career became focused on activating Hasbro’s massive portfolio of IP, ranging from TRANSFORMERS to G.I. JOE, across TV, film, toys, digital and licensing. Spotting the rise of commercially available virtual reality in 2014, he brought his knowledge of brands and storytelling to Two Bit Circus. Now at Two Bit Circus, he manages creative development for original narrative projects and is part of the creative team executing commercial work for clients ranging from Google to Fox.

Daniel Kenyon, Founder/CEO, Furious M: As founder and CEO of Furious M, Daniel Kenyon leads a team of innovative new talent and industry veterans harnessing technology to revolutionize creative impact and commercial success in transmedia entertainment. With over 25 years experience in executive management, award winning product and business development, Daniel has a history of developing as well as bringing to market winning solutions for the media, entertainment and communications industries. As VP at Automated Media Processing Solutions, Daniel spearheaded go-to-market for a global video management and delivery solution. As Industry Director for Media & Entertainment at Oracle, he initiated several strategic directives including the multi-billion dollar industry portfolio targeting media & entertainment and communications. As VP of Communications Industry Strategy and VP CRM Industry Strategy at PeopleSoft, he directed development and release of the award winning CRM for Communications, initiated strategic acquisitions and partnerships including IBM, valued at over $1Billion. Daniel was Product Evangelist for Vantive and co-founder and VP at SBI, Inc. Daniel holds a Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley.