Your guide to everything Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality at SXSW 2015

Friday, March 13th:

2:30-3:15pm – The Casual VR Scene

Panel – Learn how mobile and casual virtual reality is paving the way to mass consumer adoption.

Palmer Events Center
Geek Stage
900 Barton Springs Rd

5:00-6:00pm – Suspension of Disbelief in Virtual Reality

Panel – How current and developing advancements in virtual reality software and hardware will both simulate our senses and suspend our disbelief to make the virtual become real. Panelists will also touch on the moral and ethical implications of an immersive virtual world.

Hyatt Regency Austin
Zilker Ballroom 4
208 Barton Springs Rd

5:30-6:15pm – Explore the Future of Virtual Reality with Oculus

Panel – Discuss the Oculus Rift, the Gear VR, and the future of virtual reality (VR) with members of the Oculus team, including Palmer Luckey and Nate Mitchell. They’ll give a short talk on the last year at Oculus, the state of VR across the industry, and the developments we’re most excited about. Afterward, we’ll open up to questions from the audience and Twitter.

Palmer Events Center
Geek Stage
900 Barton Springs Rd

Saturday, March 14th:

12:30-1:30pm – Trailblazers in VR Domain

Panel – A conversation moderated by producer Amit Breuer with trailblazers sharing their discoveries and challenges in producing and engaging audiences in VR.

Austin Convention Center
Room 18ABCD
Austin Convention Center

2:00-5:00pm – Rothenberg Ventures Founder Frenzy

Event – Join the good folks over at Rothenberg Ventures for an open bar, DJ’s, a frenzy of founders and a special surprise.

Speakeasy
412 Congress Ave

2:00-6:00pm – GearVR Development Workshop

Workshop – In this workshop you will learn how to develop a Gear VR app using the Oculus SDK and Unity. (We will not cover NDK or Unreal development.) Using Unity, you will create the basic components required of a Gear VR app. You will also learn about Oculus recommendations and requirements, how to optimize your project to run on mobile and some best practices including how to design for user comfort. By the end of the workshop, you will have created a simple 360 degree image viewer that runs in the Gear VR.

Capital Factory
701 Brazos Street

3:30-4:30pm – A Guide to Live Action 360 VR Filmmaking

Panel – A complete workflow of the experts beginning to end 360º filmmaking process and tips for working with talent.

InterContinental Stephen F. Austin
Capital Ballroom B
701 Congress Ave

5:00-6:00pm – Cinema VFX & Immersive VR: Virtual Worlds Converge

Panel – Join veteran Visual Effects Supervisor & 2nd Unit Director James Madigan (‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’, ‘Iron Man 2’) and virtual reality innovators Cory Strassburger & Ikrima Elhassan (Kite & Lightning – ‘Insurgent: Shatter Reality’, ‘Senza Peso’) for a discussion about the constantly-evolving, and rapidly converging, realms of feature film visual effects and virtual reality experiences.

Austin Convention Center
Room 18ABCD
Austin Convention Center

5:00-6:00pm – The Future of Porn is 3D Virtual Reality

Panel – This session will examine the near to mid-term future of online adult entertainment, including the impact that Virtual Reality technology will have on the industry, as well as the growing influence of the female audience, and how competition from social media and the ongoing loss of revenue from piracy fits into the picture.

Hyatt Regency Austin
Texas Ballroom 4-7
208 Barton Springs Rd

5:00-6:00pm – A New Authenticity in a Holographic World

Panel – From a background in building beautiful digital spaces and bringing holograms to life, Sandy Fleischer, Managing Partner of digital agency Pound & Grain and Peter Martin, CEO of VALIS Studios, will host a core conversation about how the unreal world only enhances experiences for people. Themes that will be discussed include: The art of creating authentic holograms, the latest development in the world of recreated performances, the experience that holograms can give audiences, the emotional reaction Peter’s work has received, how this medium is changing the possibilities for the entertainment and content industries, what the future holds for holograms and what impact this medium is having on perceptions of reality.

JW Marriott
Room 210
110 E 2nd St

Sunday, March 15th:

9:30-10:30am – Story Telling with the New Screens

Panel – Learn how will 3D printers, virtual reality, augmented reality, smart objects and smart cities are inventing the future of storytelling.

Austin Convention Center
Room 12AB
Austin Convention Center

11:00-12:00pm – Cinematic Virtual Reality: Immersive Storytelling

Panel – Panelists will discuss their experiences mixing spectacle and story while trailblazing the new medium of virtual reality in their films “The Mission”, “Kaiju Fury!” and “Black Mass.”

Austin Convention Center
Austin Suite
Austin Convention Center

12:30-1:30pm – The Oculus Effect: How VR Will Change TV and Retail

Event – In this Meet Up, they will offer hands-on demonstrations of the latest technology from Oculus Rift and Intel, and share examples of work in broadcast and digital that hints at a possible future for immersive environments on the screen in your living room to the physical retail showroom. Presented by Saatchi & Saatchi LA.

JW Marriott
Room 501
110 E 2nd St

2:00-3:00pm – DocLab Presents: New Frontiers for VR and Interactive NonFiction

Panel – IDFA DocLab curator Caspar Sonnen showcases the most thought-provoking projects, trends and challenges for Virtual Reality and Interactive Non-Fiction Storytelling. Guest speakers include VR pioneer Robert Overweg (Triple IT), exploring the narrative potential (and risks) of falsified virtual memories. First of two sessions as part of the annual IDFA DocLab Showcase at SXSW.

Austin Convention Center
Austin Suite
Austin Convention Center

3:30-4:30pm – DocLab Showcase: How to Play with VR, Physical Spaces and Ink

Event/Panel – IDFA DocLab invites you to come and explore how physical media and experiences can inform the future of immersive media like VR. Expect a very interactive session featuring audience participation, immersive drawings by Dutch visual artist Jan Rothuizen and the amazing digital duo May Abdalla and Amy Rose of We Are Anagram from Bristol (UK). Prepare to be playful and explore the physical boundaries between humans and digital technology live on stage.

Austin Convention Center
Austin Suite
Austin Convention Center

3:30-4:30pm – HoloGramma: How Tech Can Bring Back Our Departed

Panel – In this session, learn from experts in the areas of virtual reality, social data, and memory about what the future may hold for the deceased.

JW Marriott
Room 208
110 E 2nd St

Monday, March 16th:

11:00-12:00pm – Crashing Oculus Rift and Hacking New VR Experiences

Panel – Over the course of an hour, we will take you through our journey and we will leave you with 5 big things to consider when creating immersive interactive experiences. This session is focused on the realities of producing VR. The session is suited to those interested in entering the VR space, managing VR teams or anyone interested in moving from hobby VR to professional production. We’ll cover the business side, creative side, and an intro to the technology and code.

Hyatt Regency Austin
Zilker Ballroom 3
208 Barton Springs Rd

12:45-1:00pm – Want to Lose Weight? Hang Out with Your Avatar

Panel – This talk will cover how virtual reality and avatars are being used as tools to understand human behavior and thought. It will then explore how our experiences in virtual reality can shape our real-world behavior, from motivating us to save more money to encouraging us to exercise more.

Austin Convention Center
Ballroom C
Austin Convention Center

3:30-4:30pm – Virtual Reality: Video Reinvented

Panel – This 60-minute panel will bring together perspectives on virtual reality from the worlds of sports, entertainment, gear, production and distribution. Join the conversation and demo some of the latest immersive VR experiences.

Austin Convention Center
Next Stage
Austin Convention Center

3:30-4:30 – Virtual Reality Journalism

Panel – Highlighting the multiple immersive journalism projects built by de la Peña and exploring the virtual reality journalism projects of the Tow Center, Vice News and the Secret Location, this panel will bring together leading technologists, academics, and journalists at the cutting edge of this new field to ask whether virtual reality can effect how users empathize with and better understand international events.

Hyatt Regency Austin
Zilker Ballroom 1
208 Barton Springs Rd

5:00-6:00pm – Evolving 3D Production into Immersive Technologies

Panel – From 3D production to virtual reality, this panel addresses how virtual products, environments, and their enabling technologies will create radical shifts in media production and delivery.

Austin Convention Center
Room 12AB
Austin Convention Center

5:00-10pm – Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Experiential Mixer at Vuka

Event – Experience the latest virtual reality and augmented reality technology and network with the industries leaders. VIP networking and demo sessions will begin at 5pm. GET TICKETS HERE.

Vuka Austin
411 W Monroe St
Austin, TX 78704

Tuesday, March 17th:

11:00am-12:00pm – Mixed Reality Habits: The New Wired Frontier

Panel – What happens when the world as we know it combines with virtual reality, streams of content, personal data, sensors, cameras and implantable or wearable devices?

JW Marriott
Room 211-212
110 E 2nd St

5:00-6:00pm – Virtual Reality: Build Healthier Social Brains

Panel – Cognitive neuroscientists, therapists and game developers at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas have created a virtual reality platform to help individuals on the autism spectrum achieve social and economic independence. Currently part of a research collaboration between the Center for BrainHealth and Yale University, the scientifically proven brain enhancing therapy is a fun, high-tech game with state-of-the-art graphics, real-time face tracking and personalized avatars that may also have implications for combatting bullying in schools. BrainHealth’s Founder and Chief Director, Sandi Chapman, and Creative Director, Carl Lutz, discuss the neuroscience and technology behind the game and how virtual reality can lead to positive real world outcomes.

Hyatt Regency Austin
Zilker Ballroom 4
208 Barton Springs Rd

Ongoing Events:

Reel FX VR @ SXSW 3/13 – 3/15

Event: For those of you attending SXSW this weekend, 2015 Golden Globe nominated studio, Reel FX will be hosting a series of private VR meetups. We’d like you to experience some of our latest VR work in a more relaxed environment with drinks and food. We are located near the Alamo Draft House in Barton Springs/Zilker neighborhood.