NASA Speaking at VRTGO 2016

VRTGO 2016, Europe’s leading virtual reality conference, has announced that NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) will be speaking at this year’s event.

Carri Cunliffe, VRTGO Director, said: “We are eager to hear more about how JPL is using VR, AR and MR. They are renowned for using technology in innovative ways and pushing the boundaries of what it can achieve.”

VRTGO will take place on 9 November 2016 at Baltic, Centre for Contemporary Art. Delegates will hear from leading VR experts and VR buyers on the future of VR and experience cutting edge technology used for serious applications such as automotive, modelling, training and marketing, as well as in the ever popular gaming world.

Doug Ellison, a producer in JPL’s Opslab will be speaking about some of the lab’s recent work using mixed reality. ProtoSpace and OnSight are two key projects that have enabled engineers and scientists to engage with their content in innovative yet intuitive ways. A public spin-off from OnSight, called Destination Mars, will open at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, this autumn.

In Destination Mars, visitors will explore several sites on Mars, reconstructed using real imagery from NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover, which has been exploring the Red Planet since August 2012. Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut, and Erisa Hines, a Mars Rover Driver serve as “holographic tour guides” on the journey.

“Destination Mars will be the first large roll out of an MR project in a visitor attraction setting, we can’t wait to see how the public respond to using cutting edge exploration tools to walk on the red planet. I’m looking forward to sharing the lessons we learn with the VR community,” said Doug Ellison.

“The language of UX and UI in the VR world is still emerging and evolving. Meeting other creators in the space is a vital part of defining that language so that our users become familiar and comfortable with these amazing new technologies.”

If you are interested in hearing more from JPL and other world class VR speakers sign up for VRTGO 2016 www.vrtgo.co.uk

VRTGO is a leading European Conference based in the UK and produced by Secret Sauce.