Immersed 2016 Features A Robust Public Experience Lineup

The Immersed 2016 conference is approaching fast, and this year it is expanding in a big way. The ITA (Immersive Technology Alliance) is preparing a robust lineup of experiences for attendees to take in at its annual immersive technology industry conference.

The ITA is expanding the Immersed conference in a big way. The Immersed conference is primarily for industry professionals, but this year’s event features a huge public exhibit that includes dozens of experiences and exhibits to take in. If you live in the Toronto area and you haven’t had a chance to experience VR, you’ll want to keep your schedule open between October 16 and 18.

Immersed 2016 will include plenty for the public. You can expect nearly 20 HTC Vive room-scale booths showcasing a variety of content. The demonstrations include a collaborative castle-building game with up to six people in VR, Mars, and the moon walks. You can also visit Disney’s Tomorrowland in VR. You’ll have the chance to experiment with new technologies, such as the latest advancements in immersive audio and gesture sensing devices. Immersed will even feature prototype VR HMD hardware.

If you work in the VR industry, the professional side of Immersed features discussion panels and presentations from various leaders in the immersive technology industries. Speakers include Daryl Sartain, AMD’s Director and Worldwide Head of Virtual Reality & Displays, John Schrage, Experience Design Architect at Autodesk, Tim Dashwood, Founder of Dashwood Cinema Solutions, and Bertrand Nepveu, CEO of Vrvana. This writer will even be hosting a discussion panel during the event (The Immersive Technology Panel, 1:30PM-2:15PM, Monday Oct 17).

The ITA is still working to lock down the full list of exhibits, but here’s what we can confirm so far:

Approaching 20 HTC Vive room scale VR demonstrationsCollaboratively build a VR castle with six people in virtual reality!Experience VR empathy from an animal’s point of view with PETASee how immersive technology is being used in medicineWalk on the moon and Mars in virtual realityLearn how 360 camera rigs workFly remote control helicopters with augmented reality!Experience the magic of hologramsHear the latest immersive audio technologyTry new gesture sensing devicesWalk between two skyscrapers at death defying heightsSee how a desalination plant works in virtual realityTry VR Polis and experience a recreation of the city of Santander that was filmed in 360 and remodeled in 3D.Relive the Olympic training experience of Rio 2016 athletes in virtual realityVisit Disney’s Tomorrowland in VRCast spells and defeat your opponents in collaborative room-scale VRTry new VR HMD prototypesExperimental glasses-free 3D technology being used by NASA!Experience technologies by HTC, Oculus, Microsoft, and GoogleAnd More!

Tickets are available through Eventbrite if you’re interested in attending the professional conference. You can find the schedule of professional workshops at the ITA website. Tickets to the public event are available at the door at the Ontario Science Center. Immersed 2016 runs from October 16 through 18. The public exhibit is open all three days.

 Kevin Carbotte is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware who primarily covers VR and AR hardware. He has been writing for us for more than four years. 

  • bit_user
    See how a desalination plant works in virtual reality
    I'm really looking forward to empathizing with the salt water, in this one.
    ; )
    Seriously, I'm sure it helps to see and perhaps interact with the computer graphics renderings in 3D.
    Reply