#AWE2014
This Year’s AWE is BIG, Still Time to Save BIG to get there!

This Year’s AWE is BIG, Still Time to Save BIG to get there!

Early bird tickets end March 30 Last week we revealed an initial list of speakers and sessions set to make AWE 2015 our biggest one yet. AWE 2015 is poised to set a new record with over 3000 CEOs, CTOs, designers, developers, creative agencies, futurists, analysts, investors, and high-level press all gathering for three days June 8-10 at the Santa Clara Convention Center and we can’t wait for you to be part of it! This year AWE includes keynotes by industry luminaries, classes and tutorials, more than 200 products and startup demos, the largest collection of industry use cases, the Auggie Award Competition, the Art Gala and reception, talks by 200 industry leaders covering business, technology and design, and 33,000 square feet of exhibit space. Our headliners are pioneers and visionaries in the AR and VR space including Tom Furness, the godfather of augmented and virtual reality; David Brin, as scientist and award-winning author and the father of Wearable Computing, Steve Mann. And on stage and in the exhibitor area you can expect to find over a dozen smart glass manufacturers including EPSON, OPTINVENT, META, VUZIX, ATHEER, SEEBRIGHT, GLASSUP, ODG, IMMY, ARA, DAQRI, INNOVEGA. Here’s just a taste of what to expect at AWE 2015: Epic talks from additional industry luminaries including Jay Wright (VP, Qualcomm), Mark Billinghurst (Director HIT Lab NZ), Steven Feiner (Professor, Columbia University) and Chris Stapleton (Simyosis) Micro-talks by top innovators about new products and a collection of industry use cases demonstrating the value of AR, VR, wearables and IoT in a variety of verticals Case studies showing how AR is creating actual business value in a variety of vertical applications including advertising, retail, sales, real estate, architecture, urban design, healthcare, education, art and culture Automotive and Aerospace use cases including car design and HUDs from Honda and Jaguar Land Rover and more Panels on topics including Authoring Reality, VR in advertising, privacy and security and building an industry roadmap Check out the full list of initial speakers and sessions on our website here It’s not too late to save BIG on tickets to this year’s event. Early bird tickets are on sale until March 30. Save 40% on a 3-day full access ticket or grab an exhibitor pass for only $49. Groups of 5-9 people are eligible for 20% discount on top of existing discounts. Grab your early bird tickets today. Oh and be sure to mark your calendars with these important dates! March 30: Early bird tickets end & full agenda published April 6: Auggie Awards submission starts April 30: Secure your seats and book your travel & Auggie Awards public voting starts May 8: Download the app & create your schedule June 8-10: AWE event in progress  ...

Tom Furness, grandfather of virtual- and augmented-reality, to keynote at AWE 2015

Tom Furness, grandfather of virtual- and augmented-reality, to keynote at AWE 2015

BEING the Future As Sputnik flew over the skies of the US, a young Tom Furness dreamed of other worlds.  He wasn’t dreaming of the virtual and augmented worlds that he would soon pioneer in parallel with his contemporary Ivan Sutherland and others. Tom dreamed of being an astronaut and inhabiting outer space.  The power of the child’s imagination and dreams still drives him today, especially with inspiring the next generation society where virtual worlds will be one with reality and the imagination.  Much of the product technology that is now being popularized with the announcements from Oculus Rift/Facebook, Magic Leap, Google Glass, MicroSoft HoloLens is based in part by early inventions and demonstrations that he and his protégés created over the decades.  As the Founding Director of the international family of Human Interface Technology Laboratories (HITlab) based at the University of Washington with satellite labs in New Zealand and Australia, Tom is exploring the next generation of augmenting human potential with profound and ubiquitous virtual world experiences. “The power of virtual worlds is not in the achievement of technological capabilities, but in the creative possibilities of the human imagination that transform the limits of reality.” The human side of innovation has driven Dr. Furness’s research since working in classified research programs with the US Air Force in the 1960’s. The early stages of the Super Cockpit focused on exploring how to extend human potential with the ability to seamlessly interface with technology.  His work spearheaded the first stereoscopic, head-mounted VR/AR, audio/visual displays. His team simulated superhuman feats of fighter pilots traveling at Mach 2+ under 6+ Gs of force under life and death scenarios.  This led to wearable technology patents in the 1990’s foreshadowing aug-mediated reality of the Google Glass and the virtual reality displays of Oculus and Sony, today.  His 20 year-old patent for retinal displays will still yet spark the next best thing in visual displays with almost limitless depth of field and field of view.  Yet these revolutionary inventions are just stepping stones for his vision of the future. In his keynote presentation, Tom will take on the flight of his life’s achievements that have significantly defined the past, present and future of the augmented world experience. This will also spark our imagination in seeing new possibilities in the futures that we will make. Imagine a virtual learning living room in every home where we can inspire every child with the superpower of the imagination augmented by infinite virtual worlds.    Tom Furness bio...

Tom Furness

Tom Furness

Tom Furness is a pioneer in human interface technology and grandfather of virtual reality. He earned a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Duke University and the Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from the University of Southampton, England. Tom is currently a professor of Industrial Engineering and Systems Engineering with adjunct professorships in Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington (UW), Seattle, Washington, USA. He is the founder of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab) at UW and founder and international director of the HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand and the HIT Lab Australia at the University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania. He is also an Erskine Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the University of Canterbury and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Tasmania. Prior to joining the faculty at the UW, Tom served a combined 23 years as an U.S. Air Force officer and civilian at the Armstrong Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where he developed advanced cockpits and virtual interfaces for the Department of Defense. He is the author of the Super Cockpit program and served as the Chief of Visual Display Systems and Super Cockpit Director until he joined the University of Washington in 1989. He is credited as a pioneer in developing virtual reality and augmented reality. Tom lectures widely and has appeared in many national and international network and syndicated television science and technology documentaries and news programs. He is the inventor of the personal eyewear display, the virtual retinal display, the HALO display and holds 19 patents in advanced sensor, display and interface technologies. With his colleagues Dr. Furness has started 27 companies, two of which are traded on NASDAQ at a market capitalization of > $ 7 B (USD). In 1998 he received the Discover Award for his invention of the virtual retinal display. Tom is also co-inventor of the SPM (spectral matching) technology licensed to Visualant Inc. He continues to serve as a Senior Scientific Advisor for the company and recently received the 2013 SPIE Prism Award for his invention of the ChromaID technology. His current projects deal with developing pulse diagnosis as a early warning system for cardiovascular disease and the start up of the Virtual World Society, a non-profit for extending virtual reality as a learning system for families. Dr. Furness and his wife Linda live in Seattle, Tofino (Vancouver Island), British Columbia and Christchurch NZ. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. His favorite pastime is playing with his grandchildren. Contact Information: !Email: tfurness@uw.edu...