Connections

Fox Futurist to Take HITS Attendees on VR/AR Journey

The worlds of virtual reality and augmented reality are meant to be light-hearted and fun. So that’s the tactic Ted Schilowitz, futurist for 20th Century Fox, will be taking with his presentation May 25 at the 25 “Holly-wired: Where IT and Entertainment Meet” event in Los Angeles.

“How much of what will create the success points of the emerging fields of VR and AR is truly related to pure technology advancements? And how much is about humanity and our choices on how we’ve integrated technology into our modern lifestyles?” Schilowitz said, offering up a preview of his keynote, the last of the day for the HITS conference.

His presentation — “VR/AR and The Augmented Human” — will look at how VR and AR technologies are a reflection of who we are as a species, and why today we look to things like virtual reality reflect our desires for new levels of immersion and intensity (especially visually). But are we ready for it, and how exactly did we get to this point?

“What have we learned from the past on what works for us as people [is] constantly evolving,” Schilowitz added. “The more we know about ourselves, the more we can predict the future of new forms of entertainment and productivity and what role technology plays in all of that.”

Fox has been among the more bullish on the VR front, creating all sorts of experiences, including most recently for “The Martian.” And the rest of the content industry should be keeping up as well: according to Strategy Analytics, nearly 13 million VR headsets will ship this year alone.

The May 25 gathering of the Hollywood IT community will see speakers from major studios, technology companies, distributors and more. Entertainment Partners and FilmTrack lead a list of event sponsors that also includes Avanade, Cognizant, Expert System Enterprise, MarkLogic, MediaSilo, Avere, Qumulo, Rovi, SalesForce and Slack.

To register, click here.