Towards Stronger Human Connections in AR/VR

Speaker(s):
[MODERATOR] Karan Singh
Co-Founder of janusVR
Brian Cabral
Director of Engineering at Facebook
Mark Billinghurst
Director of Empathic Computing Laboratory, University of South Australia
Philip Rosedale (Virtual Speaker)
Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of High Fidelity, Inc.
Sophie Ansel
VR Film Director, Storyteller and Producer

Summary: We live in times where technology increasingly connects humans digitally while isolating us physically. Augmented and Virtual Reality however, have the potential to blur the distinction between our digital and physical reality. This panel will address issues related to interpersonal connections between humans in AR/VR. More specifically, the panel will discuss the creation and exploration of shared immersive experiences, and the technological mechanisms for the establishment of identity, trust, empathy and collaboration in such AR/VR spaces.

This panel will feature a mixed reality setup with one panelist speaking remotely in VR. The audience is welcome to attend the panel through High Fidelity by connecting to the domain hifi://SiggraphAsia , or by live-stream at https://www.youtube.com/user/HighFidelityio

Speaker(s) Bio:
[MODERATOR]Karan Singh, Co-Founder of janusVR
Karan Singh is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Toronto. He co-directs a globally reputed graphics and HCI lab, DGP, has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, and has supervised over 40 MS/PhD theses. His research interests lie in interactive graphics, spanning art and visual perception, geometric design and fabrication, character animation and anatomy, and interaction techniques for mobile, Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR). He has been a technical lead for the Oscar award winning software Maya and was the R&D Director for the 2004 Oscar winning animated short Ryan. He has co-founded multiple companies including Arcestra (architectural design), MeshMixer (acquired by Autodesk in 2011) and JanusVR.

Brian Cabral, Director of Engineering at Facebook
Brian Cabral is Director of engineering at Facebook specializing in computational photography, computer vision, and computer graphics. He is the holder of numerous patents (filed and issued) and lead the Surround 360 VR camera team. He has published a number of diverse papers in the area of computer graphics and imaging including the pioneering Line Integral Convolution algorithm.

Mark Billinghurst, Director of Empathic Computing Laboratory, University of South Australia
Mark Billinghurst is Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of South Australia in Adelaide, Australia. He earned a PhD in 2002 from the University of Washington and researches innovative computer interfaces that explore how virtual and real worlds can be merged, publishing over 300 papers in topics such as wearable computing, Augmented Reality and mobile interfaces. Prior to joining the University of South Australia he was Director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury and he has previously worked at British Telecom, Nokia, Google and the MIT Media Laboratory. His MagicBook project, was winner of the 2001 Discover award for best entertainment application, and he received the 2013 IEEE VR Technical Achievement Award for contributions to research and commercialization in Augmented Reality. In 2013 he was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Philip Rosedale (Virtual Speaker), Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of High Fidelity, Inc.
Philip Rosedale is CEO and co-founder of High Fidelity, Inc., a company devoted to exploring the future of next-generation shared virtual reality. Prior to High Fidelity, Rosedale created the virtual civilization Second Life, populated by one million active users generating US$700M in annual transaction volumes. In addition to numerous technology inventions (including the video conferencing product called FreeVue, acquired by RealNetworks in 1996 where Rosedale later served as CTO), Rosedale has also worked on experiments in distributed work and computing.

Sophie Ansel, VR Film Director, Storyteller and Producer
Sophie Ansel is a french storyteller. She was one of the 10 filmmakers selected by Oculus in 2016 to create a VR film for the VRFORGOOD Program. She has been living years in South East Asia and worked as a filmmaker and TV journalist - directing pieces in Burma, Cambodia and Indonesia. She was also a field producer, photographer and cameraman for award winning film Chasing Coral. Her main objectives over the last few years has been to tell the stories of inspiring voiceless people like the Rohingyas, the refugees or Genocide survivors in Cambodia or beings and earthlings like Corals and Ocean creatures. She has explored all type of format to relay messages and stories of today: graphic novels, films, books, photography, radio and press reporting and VR film directing. In 2014, she joined few expeditions with Seaview 360 and The Ocean Agency and has since then produced several VR projects, for clients like The Nature conservancy, Greenpeace, NOAA, US Fish and WIldlife, Great Barrier Foundation, etc. Her numerous projects has led her to collaborate with various worldwide talents and experts. Her main objective is to create poetic and inspirational art pieces to give emotional "tools" to viewer to develop empathy and a mindset to act for change.Her most recent work as VR Film Director "Out of the Blue" was launched at the Oculus house during sundance 2017 as part of the VR FOR GOOD program. It was premiered at SXSW and selected by Kaleidoscope Showcase Vol II and Earth X film Festival in Dalls. It was a runners up of the social impact award at Vr Summit ( LA) and selected best VR film at the Life Art film festival in Greece. It was part of the NEXT VR Corner of Cannes film festival ( marche du film) In June 2017 it was showcased at the United Nations Head Quarters .

Presentation Language: English