Future Media Conference; Oct 15th, hosted by Georgia Tech & sponsored by Turner Broadcasting

October 7, 11:36 AMAtlanta Video Game Industry ExaminerMorris Wall

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Future Media Conference hosted by Georgia Tech and Turner Broadcasting.

The FutureMedia Conference is scheduled for October 15 with a day-long conference aimed at encouraging dialogue regarding Georgia's emerging role as an open innovation ecosystem for developing media of the future. The conference will be held at the Palomar Hotel adjacent to the Georgia Tech campus and will feature media visionaries, thought leaders from Georgia universities and industry, and demonstrations of technologies already in the innovation pipeline from startup firms and university research communities. Renu Kulkarni is the head of the new Future Media Initiative at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and believes the Peach State is uniquely positioned to be both a global pioneer and innovator in helping to define the future of media. Kulkarni, recently joined Georgia Tech after a 20-year career in the high-tech industry, most recently serving as vice president for technology partnerships at communications giant Motorola. "We envision physical and virtual places where all are invited to experiment, discover, create, commercialize and shape the future of media," Kulkarni explained. "We want to create a rich, open innovation ecosystem that will make Georgia a global pioneer in this field and provide a model not only for what we do in enabling the future, but also in how we do it."

Among the speakers will be Chris Klaus, founder and CEO of Kaneva; Krishna Bharat, creator of Google News, and Ron Clark, founder of The Ron Clark Academy. The event will also include speakers from the University of Georgia's New Media Institute, the Savannah College of Art and Design, Emory University's Goizueta Business School, Georgia Tech's GVU Center and its School of Literature, Communication and Culture. Industry represented will include Google, Cisco, Motorola, Turner Broadcasting, Music Intelligence Solutions, Noro-Moseley Partners and Chrysalis Ventures.  An afternoon session will provide demonstrations of university research, including innovative music technology, gesture navigation, augmented reality - and advanced high-speed network and mobile technologies. As many as 60 startup companies are expected to demonstrate their new products and services. These technologies have huge implications for business, education, training and entertainment, including the video game industry. One of the many demos scheduled is The Augmented Environment Lab. The AEL is a research lab at Georgia Tech investigating the design and implementation of augmented- and mixed-reality experiences, including "ARhrrr".

ARhrrrr is an augmented reality (AR) shooter for mobile camera-phones, created at Georgia Tech Augmented Environments Lab and the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD-Atlanta). The phone provides a window into a 3d town overrun with zombies. Point the camera at the special game map to mix virtual and real world content. Civilians are trapped in the town, and must escape before the zombies eat them! From your vantage point in a helicopter overhead, you must shoot the zombies to clear the path for the civilians to get out. Watch out though as the zombies will fight back, throwing bloody organs to bring down your copter.  Move the phone quickly to dodge them. You can also use Skittles as tangible inputs to the game, placing one on the board and shooting it to trigger an explosion. [...]

Private cloud computing. Augmented mobile reality. 3D gaming. Immersive Internet. Unicasting. Exclusive films on Facebook. Xbox Live. Twitter valued at $1 billion. A year or so ago these phrases would have been alien. Today, they herald the future. What do these trends suggest for the future of media companies around the world? The Future Media Conference will "start the conversation" about the question - and the role that Georgia will play in shaping the future of digital, social and multimedia.

Further information and registration details at http://www.futuremediaga.com
Hosted by Georgia Tech http://www.gtri.gatech.edu 

Event announcement http://www.gtri.gatech.edu/news/conference-aims-shape-georgia%E2%80%99s-role-developing-fu