Friday, March 13th:

Panel – Learn how mobile and casual virtual reality is paving the way to mass consumer adoption.

Palmer Events Center

Geek Stage

900 Barton Springs Rd

Panel – How current and developing advancements in virtual reality software and hardware will both simulate our senses and suspend our disbelief to make the virtual become real. Panelists will also touch on the moral and ethical implications of an immersive virtual world.

Hyatt Regency Austin

Zilker Ballroom 4

208 Barton Springs Rd

Panel – Discuss the Oculus Rift, the Gear VR, and the future of virtual reality (VR) with members of the Oculus team, including Palmer Luckey and Nate Mitchell. They’ll give a short talk on the last year at Oculus, the state of VR across the industry, and the developments we’re most excited about. Afterward, we’ll open up to questions from the audience and Twitter.

Palmer Events Center

Geek Stage

900 Barton Springs Rd

Saturday, March 14th:

Panel – A conversation moderated by producer Amit Breuer with trailblazers sharing their discoveries and challenges in producing and engaging audiences in VR.

Austin Convention Center

Room 18ABCD

Austin Convention Center

Event – Join the good folks over at Rothenberg Ventures for an open bar, DJ’s, a frenzy of founders and a special surprise.

Speakeasy

412 Congress Ave

Workshop – In this workshop you will learn how to develop a Gear VR app using the Oculus SDK and Unity. (We will not cover NDK or Unreal development.) Using Unity, you will create the basic components required of a Gear VR app. You will also learn about Oculus recommendations and requirements, how to optimize your project to run on mobile and some best practices including how to design for user comfort. By the end of the workshop, you will have created a simple 360 degree image viewer that runs in the Gear VR.

Capital Factory

701 Brazos Street

Panel – A complete workflow of the experts beginning to end 360º filmmaking process and tips for working with talent.

InterContinental Stephen F. Austin

Capital Ballroom B

701 Congress Ave

Panel – Join veteran Visual Effects Supervisor & 2nd Unit Director James Madigan (‘The Divergent Series: Insurgent’, ‘Iron Man 2’) and virtual reality innovators Cory Strassburger & Ikrima Elhassan (Kite & Lightning – ‘Insurgent: Shatter Reality’, ‘Senza Peso’) for a discussion about the constantly-evolving, and rapidly converging, realms of feature film visual effects and virtual reality experiences.

Austin Convention Center

Room 18ABCD

Austin Convention Center

Panel – This session will examine the near to mid-term future of online adult entertainment, including the impact that Virtual Reality technology will have on the industry, as well as the growing influence of the female audience, and how competition from social media and the ongoing loss of revenue from piracy fits into the picture.

Hyatt Regency Austin

Texas Ballroom 4-7

208 Barton Springs Rd

Panel – From a background in building beautiful digital spaces and bringing holograms to life, Sandy Fleischer, Managing Partner of digital agency Pound & Grain and Peter Martin, CEO of VALIS Studios, will host a core conversation about how the unreal world only enhances experiences for people. Themes that will be discussed include: The art of creating authentic holograms, the latest development in the world of recreated performances, the experience that holograms can give audiences, the emotional reaction Peter’s work has received, how this medium is changing the possibilities for the entertainment and content industries, what the future holds for holograms and what impact this medium is having on perceptions of reality.

JW Marriott

Room 210

110 E 2nd St

Sunday, March 15th:

Panel – Learn how will 3D printers, virtual reality, augmented reality, smart objects and smart cities are inventing the future of storytelling.

Austin Convention Center

Room 12AB

Austin Convention Center

Panel – Panelists will discuss their experiences mixing spectacle and story while trailblazing the new medium of virtual reality in their films “The Mission”, “Kaiju Fury!” and “Black Mass.”

Austin Convention Center

Austin Suite

Austin Convention Center

Event – In this Meet Up, they will offer hands-on demonstrations of the latest technology from Oculus Rift and Intel, and share examples of work in broadcast and digital that hints at a possible future for immersive environments on the screen in your living room to the physical retail showroom. Presented by Saatchi & Saatchi LA.

JW Marriott

Room 501

110 E 2nd St

Panel – IDFA DocLab curator Caspar Sonnen showcases the most thought-provoking projects, trends and challenges for Virtual Reality and Interactive Non-Fiction Storytelling. Guest speakers include VR pioneer Robert Overweg (Triple IT), exploring the narrative potential (and risks) of falsified virtual memories. First of two sessions as part of the annual IDFA DocLab Showcase at SXSW.

Austin Convention Center

Austin Suite

Austin Convention Center

Event/Panel – IDFA DocLab invites you to come and explore how physical media and experiences can inform the future of immersive media like VR. Expect a very interactive session featuring audience participation, immersive drawings by Dutch visual artist Jan Rothuizen and the amazing digital duo May Abdalla and Amy Rose of We Are Anagram from Bristol (UK). Prepare to be playful and explore the physical boundaries between humans and digital technology live on stage.

Austin Convention Center

Austin Suite

Austin Convention Center

Panel – In this session, learn from experts in the areas of virtual reality, social data, and memory about what the future may hold for the deceased.

JW Marriott

Room 208

110 E 2nd St

Monday, March 16th:

Panel – Over the course of an hour, we will take you through our journey and we will leave you with 5 big things to consider when creating immersive interactive experiences. This session is focused on the realities of producing VR. The session is suited to those interested in entering the VR space, managing VR teams or anyone interested in moving from hobby VR to professional production. We’ll cover the business side, creative side, and an intro to the technology and code.

Hyatt Regency Austin

Zilker Ballroom 3

208 Barton Springs Rd

Panel – This talk will cover how virtual reality and avatars are being used as tools to understand human behavior and thought. It will then explore how our experiences in virtual reality can shape our real-world behavior, from motivating us to save more money to encouraging us to exercise more.

Austin Convention Center

Ballroom C

Austin Convention Center

Panel – This 60-minute panel will bring together perspectives on virtual reality from the worlds of sports, entertainment, gear, production and distribution. Join the conversation and demo some of the latest immersive VR experiences.

Austin Convention Center

Next Stage

Austin Convention Center

Panel – Highlighting the multiple immersive journalism projects built by de la Peña and exploring the virtual reality journalism projects of the Tow Center, Vice News and the Secret Location, this panel will bring together leading technologists, academics, and journalists at the cutting edge of this new field to ask whether virtual reality can effect how users empathize with and better understand international events.

Hyatt Regency Austin

Zilker Ballroom 1

208 Barton Springs Rd

Panel – From 3D production to virtual reality, this panel addresses how virtual products, environments, and their enabling technologies will create radical shifts in media production and delivery.

Austin Convention Center

Room 12AB

Austin Convention Center

Event – Experience the latest virtual reality and augmented reality technology and network with the industries leaders. VIP networking and demo sessions will begin at 5pm. GET TICKETS HERE.

Vuka Austin

411 W Monroe St

Austin, TX 78704

Tuesday, March 17th:

Panel – What happens when the world as we know it combines with virtual reality, streams of content, personal data, sensors, cameras and implantable or wearable devices?

JW Marriott

Room 211-212

110 E 2nd St

Panel – Cognitive neuroscientists, therapists and game developers at the Center for BrainHealth at UT Dallas have created a virtual reality platform to help individuals on the autism spectrum achieve social and economic independence. Currently part of a research collaboration between the Center for BrainHealth and Yale University, the scientifically proven brain enhancing therapy is a fun, high-tech game with state-of-the-art graphics, real-time face tracking and personalized avatars that may also have implications for combatting bullying in schools. BrainHealth’s Founder and Chief Director, Sandi Chapman, and Creative Director, Carl Lutz, discuss the neuroscience and technology behind the game and how virtual reality can lead to positive real world outcomes.

Hyatt Regency Austin

Zilker Ballroom 4

208 Barton Springs Rd

Ongoing Events:

Reel FX VR @ SXSW 3/13 – 3/15

Event: For those of you attending SXSW this weekend, 2015 Golden Globe nominated studio, Reel FX will be hosting a series of private VR meetups. We’d like you to experience some of our latest VR work in a more relaxed environment with drinks and food. We are located near the Alamo Draft House in Barton Springs/Zilker neighborhood.

Friday – 12 to 6

Saturday – 10 to 6

Sunday – 10 to 6

Email Dan – dan.ferguson@reelfx.com or Tina – tina.ghezzi@reelfx.com for more info.