Plan Your Meetings @ Meeting Professionals International

  • About PYM
    • About us
    • Testimonials
    • Advertise
      • Advertising specifications
    • PYM in the news
  • Education
    • Live events
    • Advice and best practices
    • Meeting industry news
    • PYM Magazine
  • Resources
    • City guides
    • PYM business directory
    • Request information
    • MPI membership
  • Special offers
    • PYM Contests
    • Weekly deals and highlights
  • Blog

10 intriguing VR takeaways from SXSW

March 21, 2016 by Michael Pinchera Leave a Comment

For the first time in the 30-year history of South by Southwest (SXSW), “reality” technologies—virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)—were presented in the form of a specialized, three-day track open to all badge holders.

With that in mind, I headed down to Austin in advance of MPI’s Experiential Event Series at SXSW to catch up on the latest and greatest in VR as presented by some of the most influential figures in the field. Following are 10 intriguing and inspirational (possibly frightening) notes on the material that should help to open your mind as to the possibilities for your future.

General impactfulness

“Can we hack the brain [with VR]? Well, as we’ve heard [today], the answer is yes.” – Walter Greenleaf, distinguished visiting scholar, Stanford University

“What we’re seeing is a fusion of technology, art and engineering.” – Patrick Troutman, senior systems engineer, NASA Langley Research Center

SXSW 2016 VR panel“[With VR] the brain can learn to control a third arm.” – Greenleaf

“I think [experiencing] VR is like exercising a muscle that we never have before.” – Miles Perkins, VP of marketing, Jaunt

Dangers of VR

“Everything in moderation, right? We haven’t had a technology before that lets us tap into [the mind] so richly.” – Nonny de la Peña, CEO, Emblematic Group

“You ever see a really bad movie and have to watch another to sort of clear out your buffer? Imagine that but more profound [with a bad VR experience].” – Greenleaf

On education…

“At the professional level, VR will change how we train… Distant learning is more palatable in VR.” – Shawn Dubravac, chief economist and head of research, Consumer Technology Association

On health…

“VR is literally stronger than morphine for kids with burns having their bandages changed.” – de la Peña

Robert Scoble at SXSW 2016On sports…

“Mark Cuban doesn’t believe we’ll like VR experiences in sports.” – Robert Scoble, futurist/technologist

On VR and, well, everything…

“This is a BIG fucking wave coming at us in the next five years!” – Scoble

It was clear that after this first SXSW VR/AR track, the interest by attendees is huge. Look for even more high-profile inclusion of VR, specifically, at SXSW 2017.

 

Filed Under: Event technology Tagged With: SXSW, technology, virtual reality

About Michael Pinchera

Award-winning writer and editor covering business, meetings and events and pop culture topics since 1997.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *







About Us

Everything we do at Plan Your Meetings @ Meeting Professionals International is designed to educate, inspire and empower meeting planners, and connect them to the ideas and resources they need to plan better meetings and events. Read More…

Recent Posts

  • Education and advocacy for GMID 2018
  • 9 strategies for last-minute event planning
  • Conferences to grow your thought leadership
  • 6 considerations for effective all-hands meetings
  • Weekly deals and highlights: March 28, 2018

Welcome new PYM partners!

  • PYM Welcomes Horseshoe Bay
  • PYM Welcomes Wynn Las Vegas
  • PYM Welcomes Delta Air Lines
  • PYM Welcomes Starwood Hotels and Resorts
  • Woodlands Resort & Conference Center

Our Mission

PYM @ MPI seeks to empower the people who make meetings happen by providing best practices education, helping them forge strong business partnerships with suppliers and find mentors in the industry. We firmly believe that meeting and event planners are the movie producers of the corporate world. Meetings move us. Meetings mean business. When we meet, we can change the world.

2711 Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, Suite 600, Dallas, Texas 75234

Privacy policy  |  Contact us

The Practical Guide to Meeting Planning

PYM2015-Practical-Guide-to-Meeting-PlanningPages of handy-dandy checklists of essential items and best practices. Download it today

Connect with us

Want to keep up with what's going on with PYM? Follow us across our Social Networks.
  • Dribbble
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Become a Meeting Professional

Join Meeting Professionals International, the largest and most prestigious international association for meeting and event professionals.

Want to learn more? Contact us or call 866-318-2743 and tell them PYM sent you! MPI Logo

©2018 Plan Your Meetings @ Meeting Professionals International. Plan well & prosper, friends!