Collisions, Field of View: Play, and Full-Spectrum Science

As emerging technologies find their footing, artists and enthusiasts are often early adopters and boundary pushers. Playful and artful projects can be the impetus for pushing technology further and informing developers as to the unexpected ways creative spirits will approach their designs. And the technology can be the key for an artist realizing a complex project. Tonight, we consider this playful landscape in which wholly new universes have been crafted to prompt creativity, observation, inclusion, education, and, occasionally, designed confusion. From self-driven artist collectives researching the future of the office to new, cooperative worlds crafted by users, we will tour the inner and outer edges of new media experiences.

Note: Some virtual reality experiences have very limited capacity. First come, first served or via timed tickets distributed at the experience.

Presentations:

Collision  6:15, 7:15, 8:15, and 9:15 p.m.

Directed by artist and filmmaker Lynette Wallworth, is a poetic virtual reality (VR) journey to the homeland of indigenous elder Nyarri Morgan and the Martu tribe in the remote Western Australian Pilbara desert. The Martu lived largely untouched by Western culture until the 1960s. Nyarri's first contact with Western culture came in the 1950s via a dramatic collision between his traditional world view and the cutting edge of Western science and technology when he witnessed firsthand, and with no context, an atomic test. Nyarri offers a view to what he saw and, reflecting on this extraordinary event, shares his perspective on the Martu way of caring for the planet. Through the use of immersive VR technology in combination with Wallworth’s world‐class storytelling, Collisions invites participants to experience an alternative understanding of long‐term decision-making through the perspective of one of the world’s oldest cultures. Rooted in tradition and historical context, the story shared in Collisions is one of deep urgency as we struggle to develop a meaningful response to the human‐induced climate change of our shared planet.

 

eleVR   7:30
eleVR is a research group that plays with math, VR, and embodiment to find new ways of experiencing abstract concepts with concrete bodies. With a research practice that manifests as experimental - and wildy creative -projects, eleVR takes a compelling and sweeping approach to exploring the potential of immersive media technology.

Full-Spectrum Science with Ron Hipschman: Time  8:00

You know what time is because of your daily experience, but what seems constant and unchanging is not. In 1905, Albert Einstein threw a monkey wrench in our perception of time and space. Join us as we examine a few of these quirks on a conceptual non-mathematical level. Yes, you can age slower than your twin!

Sansar   8:30 p.m.
Social Virtual Reality (VR) is a powerful emerging medium poised to redefine the boundaries separating work from play and consumers from creators. Sansar, the leading next-gen Social VR platform is at the forefront of this redefinition. Sansar's creators will break down the current state of Social VR enabled play and share an exciting vision of how we'll all be playing together in the future.