Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/612975
n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 c g w 3 1 work with Ed in creating VR Village as early as 2015, and of course, I couldn't refuse! How did you get involved? Marc had a feeling that VR would be a huge focus for 2015, and he ensured that Ed and I were supported with a strong team for the show. I had been organizing VR- and immersive-themed events since 2011 in the form of meetups, classes, large conferences, and festivals, originally because I wanted there to be a place for those working in immersive realities to connect and be inspired. There was a shortage of events and opportunities to try out VR in pub- lic, so I worked closely with Canadian, American, and international organizations to problem-solve this issue. SIGGRAPH was the most natural place to put my energy, so in 2015 I refocused most of my efforts into SIGGRAPH. It has been a fantastic journey with this organization. Why was the timing right to introduce VR Village at SIGGRAPH? SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver had a lot of what we call Birds of Feather VR events. Events in this program can be proposed and organized by anyone, with SIGGRAPH as the host. There was an unprecedented volume of VR themes in the program, and attendees were filling every inch of the room! It was clear that attendees need- ed more VR events, and with the VR community showing potential in doubling in size in 2015, I knew we had to create some exciting opportunities to fill this need. A big reveal of several VR technologies and products happened in early 2015 that went on to be game changers: the ability for the Samsung Gear VR to be completely wireless allowed for what we call 'nomadic' VR experiences to occur, where people can walk around a physical space in virtual environments. Also in 2015, SteamVR launched, along with Valve and HTC Vive. This system has now landed in the hands of many talented developers. Sony has demonstrated that console VR is ready with Project Morpheus, and Oculus continues to turn out tech and fantastic content. Because of the accessibility of new hardware and soware, people are now making a vast quantity of VR. Did you have a difficult time finding participants? Finding participants to contribute to VR Village with their content was absolutely no problem for us. We utilized key meetup organi- zations such as SVVR, UploadVR, and VRLA to conduct reconnais- sance on emerging content creators who would like to participate. Ed curated Fulldome content with IMERSA from a variety of pro- grams. We utilized the Immersive Realities AR/VR contest, which is part of the SIGGRAPH Real-Time Live program, to curate content. I focused my energy on bringing in as much international content as possible. We had more participants than space, so we utilized a rotating schedule where content changed daily. This meant that by not demonstrating each day for several days in a row, we didn't exhaust contributors, and attendees saw something new every day. How many VR participants were there? VR Village had 74 independent presenters registered, which included 51 sit-down/stand-up head-mounted display (HMD) experiences, six of which were wirelessly untethered using the Nomadic Arena and one using an automobile [the Ford application]. There were 26 full-dome pieces with nearly four hours of content, including four Art reels and one SciVis reel. In addition, there were four panelists in VR Village Talks with a moderator, and nine presentations in the dome on 'the making of' immersive content. For you, which applications stood out? Personally for me, the standouts were the experiences that took collaboration and embodiment to a new previously unseen level. Before 2015, it was incredibly difficult to create 'nomadic' VR where participants could not only move physically in VR, but also be together in the same space. We had several contributors, notably the 'Real Virtuality' experience by Artanim Interactive, 'Holojam' by Dr. Ken Perlin and his students at NYU, 'C.a.p.e' by CREW_ EricJoris, 'Can You Walk the Walk' with Create Advertising Agency and Play- Station's Magic Lab, 'Mighty Morphenaut' by PlayStation's Magic Lab, 'Project Syria' by Emblematic Group's Nonny de la Pena, and so many more. The consideration of embodiment in the application of VR for practical and entertainment use is so key, and it was really prominent in VR Village. SIGGRAPH ATTENDEES EXPLORE VR, AR, AND IMMERSIVE ENVI- RONMENTS POWERING REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS IN HEALTH, EDUCATION, GAMING, AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN.