VRTO took place at the Rogers Communications Centre in Toronto from June 15 to June 18, 2018
The Virtual and Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo was back in Toronto for its third year. Organized by the VRTO team lead by Keram Malicki-Sanchez, it brought an international community of over 80 influencers, experts and leaders from the VR/AR industry to Toronto. These included notable names like Charlie Fink, Kent Bye, Tom Emrich and Bob Fine, Philip Rosedale and Brett Leonard. A big thanks to Charlie Fink, Joanna Popper, Olga Nabatova and the other VRTO attendees who took the time to visit SIRT for an impromptu afterparty, especially after a long day at the conference. We enjoyed showing some of our demos and tech at Stage 10.
These photos were taken by Olga Nabatova at SIRT
There were some unique experiences from exhibitors and developers including Battleverse, the KATVR Premium Arcade and an indie video game room. In particular, there was VR theatre from Contraverse as well as a sample of content from Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories (FIVARS) that was presented in a surround theatre at the immersive content pavilion. FIVARS shows mixed reality stories from around the world and the will be happening in Toronto from September 14-16, so it was fun to get a preview of what is to come. In addition to FIVARS, there was a strong representation of Canadian ventures at the event like Globacore, Futurescape, Kelencontent. The Canadian Film Centre brought with them a number of startups coming out of their accelerator, Ideaboost.
In a conversation with Forbes writer Charlie Fink, he told SIRT that there is more happening with VR/AR in Toronto than in New York. We're very proud to celebrate our accomplishments in the industry and this sentiment was present throughout the conference along with an enthusiasm from the organizers and attendees to promote collaboration and knowledge sharing. Since there was a multitude of talks, panels and demos, it was hard to experience everything, but here are some highlights from the event:
- Kent Bye's discussion on the Philosophical Foundations of Experimental Design, looked at VR/AR from a philosophical lens. He dug into the theories of reality and experience which were perspectives toward VR.
- Jeremy Patterson from Nationwide Children's hospital talked about how he brought VR into clinics as a method of pain therapy. They have been an effective tool for helping children and family to cope with chronic illness. Check out their website to learn more.
- Lisa Sokoloff from Baycrest Health Sciences talked about the VR Dementia Simulation created to promote empathy towards people with dementia and their caregivers. Read more about them here
- Dr. Stephane Bouchard discussed the therapy program In Virtuo and the advantages of using VR in psychotherapy for anxiety-related disorders like phobias and PTSD. Visit their website here.
- Stephen Shew founder of Battleverse discussed his experience in "Attracting Early Adopters for AR Gaming". Battleverse is an augmented reality arcade that is a mix between laser tag and dodgeball. While kids do enjoy the novelty, those under the age of six and under may not be physically or cognitive ready for an immersive AR experience and teens found the game too awkward. Parents enjoyed joined the game with their kids and couples did found the experience to be a unique kind of date night activity. Check out their website to learn more.
