XR Conferences to Attend in 2024/ Paintings in the Age of VR Reproductions
List of conferences and exhibitions that you can attend in 2024 in addition to full access to a paper raising questions about how VR applications mediate art.
Hello, my dear readers!
If you follow me on LinkedIn, you probably know that my paper titled "Paintings in the Age of VR Reproductions: Examining the Design of Virtual Reality Galleries" has been published in the Work In Progress section of the CHI PLAY Conference series 2024.
Galleries, museums, and designers have been adopting virtual reality (VR) technologies to display paintings and create novel experiences with artwork.
We contribute an analysis of 20 examples of these applications to examine the design of VR reproductions of existing paintings, raising questions about how VR applications mediate art.
Our findings show that current design strategies dominantly reproduce many of the relatively passive characteristics of a traditional museum experience, signalling design opportunities that leverage the affordances of VR to offer additional spatial, embodied, and playful experiences with paintings.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to my co-author, Daniel Harley, Assistant Professor at Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo. His mentorship and expertise were instrumental in shaping both the research and my growth as a VR researcher.
For those who are interested in this topic, you can access the full paper and watch the 3-minute presentation video.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
As the year comes to an end, several festivals, exhibitions and conferences will be held in Canada and across the world that you might want to attend. Some events are more focused on art, while others feature intriguing talks or activities based on their titles, which I would have participated in.
Performance and XR Conference (PXR) 2024Â
Nov 8 - 17, 2024 | Online and in-person | Kingston, Toronto, and Vancouver | Canada
The Performance and XR Conference (PXR) brings together artists, technologists, and more to discuss using XR technology in live performances.
The PXR Conference, hosted by Single Thread Theatre, is a series of interactive presentations, discussions, and performances by Canadian and international creators on how they use virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality to create live performances.
This hybrid-format conference takes place both in a custom-built and interactive VRChat world, and in person across Canada (Kingston, Toronto, and Vancouver).Â
Ticket: Starting from CAD 55Â
Hyper 2024 - The Creative Tech Gathering
Nov 19, 2024 | WINNIPEG, MB | Canada
HYPER is the unique event in Winnipeg that unites immersive tech enthusiasts, digital creators, and innovators to explore the creative, commercial, and technical potential of emerging digital arts and technologies
Throughout the day, topics such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and interactive content, will be explored with professional panels, workshops, trade shows and creative technology exhibitions
Ticket: Early Bird CAD 14
PS. The list of speakers and exhibitors on the website has not been published yet.
IN BLOOM GALAÂ 2024
Nov 20, 2024 | Toronto, ON | Canada
The Toronto Arts Foundation, a city-wide charity dedicated to the arts for over a decade, hosts The Mayor’s Evening for the Arts, an annual fundraising event. The funds raised through this event support essential programs, including Arts in the Parks, the Neighbourhood Arts Network, the Newcomer Spotlight Program, and the Black Arts Initiative.
For the first time, a new element has been added to the event: the IN BLOOM GALA. This Gala is open to the public and highlights the important role that everyone in the city plays in supporting and celebrating the arts in Toronto.
Ticket: CAD 150
AWE EU 2024
Oct 29-30, 2024 | Vienna, Austria
Augmented World Expo® (AWE) EU, featuring leading XR companies, speakers, and networking opportunities. This year's expo will focus on the social impact of XR applications, increasing efficiency and improving safety measures in industry, immersive gaming, AI integration in the XR world and key technologies for the spatial computing ecosystem such as AR cloud, motion capture and 5G.
Ticket: Starting from ~ CAD 345 (€249)Â
From the titles on the website, there's no specific mention of Art and extended reality, but I believe these talks can also benefit XRTists.
After ten years of consumer-oriented VR, the industry continues to struggle with challenges in accessibility, scalability, and user experience design. This session will explore the ongoing challenges in developing intuitive and inclusive user experiences in this evolving domain.Â
What makes companies stand out, what are investors looking for, what are they avoiding, and what are some of the biggest mistakes start-ups make when pitching VCs?
If you are going to AWE EU 2024, let me know what you think of these talks.Â
Immersive Tech Week 2024
December 4-6, 2024 | Rotterdam, Netherlands
Immersive Tech Week is a three-day conference filled with experiences, talks, round tables, workshops and more to facilitate networking, connections and collaboration, foster innovation, and increase public awareness. With the Church of VR, Impulse and Creators lab project ITW is a platform to drive the creation, exposure, investment distribution and dissemination of new works, applications and projects.
Ticket: Starting from ~ CAD 38 (€25)Â
While all the titles are interesting, I would have chosen the following talks as they align more closely with my interests in arts, storytelling, and entrepreneurship.
The Moving Media Lab is an innovative hub for creatives at the intersection of arts, design, and science, focusing on the relationship between emerging technologies, movement, and the human body. This session will showcase the works in process of 14 talented makers from the Moving Media Lab trajectory, running from 2023 to 2025.Â
Beyond Virtual Museums: Exploring Immersive Experience Opportunities in the Cultural Heritage Sector
This workshop explores how cultural heritage organizations and immersive experience creators can utilize data-driven storytelling.Â
This session explores how AI is revolutionizing the development of immersive experiences across virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR).
Receive practical advice from seasoned entrepreneurs and industry experts on business models, funding, and overcoming common challenges. Beyond the core focus on creating and growing XR businesses, they delve into distribution challenges and strategies for fostering community support and international collaboration.Â
An illuminating discussion on "From Dust," a pioneering VR opera that pushes the boundaries of immersive storytelling. This panel will explore how artificial intelligence has been employed to craft a unique experience for each audience member.Â
This unique session brings visionary creators on stage, presenting their work, sharing the inspiration behind their pieces, and discussing the creative processes that brought their VR experiences to life.Â
Explore the range of funding opportunities available to immersive content creators in Europe. Gain insights, demystify application processes, and learn from successful creators who have harnessed these opportunities.Â
Match XR 2024
Nov 19, 2024 | Helsinki, Finland
Match XR is an annual Slush pre-event focusing on the current state of extended reality (XR) & Web3 in Finland. Once a year, the event assembles XR & emerging tech stakeholders, opinion leaders and peers around the globe under the same roof to share ideas, demonstrate their solutions and create meaningful connections. Also, participants are encouraged to participate in the matchmaking event, exclusively made available to Match XR 2024 registrants by Enterprise Europe Network (EEN). This event requires additional registration but is free.
Ticket: FreeÂ
These two events got my attention when I checked out the website. If you go to Match XR, please let me know how your experience is and if you recommend flying there for XRTists from Canada.Â
XR & Metaverse Fair TOKYOÂ Â 2024
Nov 20 - 22, 2024 | Makuhari Messe, Japan
XR & Metaverse Fair Tokyo is a B-to-B exhibition that for XR & Metaverse companies to introduce their latest services/technologies to various industries such as entertainment, manufacturing, marketing, etc.
Ticket: FreeÂ
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