An Exploration of Web and VR Technology

We have a very special meetup coming up! Normally the TAD Talks tend to discuss live coding tools like Processing and Open Frameworks, but we've got three very special guests and couldn't pass up the opportunity to let them show off their work in VR and WebGL.

First we'll we'll mingle in the lobby of the Centre for Digital Media until 7:15 as people arrive and then move into the classroom for two presentations. For this meetup only, we also have exclusive access to the CDM's "Vive Room" to experience the latest in immersive technology.

Presentations:

EDIT: we actually have three guests now available to speak.

First off, we have Samm Cooper, who is going to demonstrate an awesome open source creative coding system called "Loopin." With unique client-server architecture, it has some really interesting features, such as setting presets, live shader reloading and secondary servers such as http. Promises to be exciting!

Next up is Kip Gilbert, a senior engineer who currently works for the Mozilla Foundation here in Vancouver. He brings decades of 3D and real-time experience to the table, and is currently redesigning his Nation Film Board project "Circa 1948" for virtual reality. He'll be discussing various technologies and platforms that the Mozilla Foundation has been exploring, and will examine the web's place in VR overall.

Finally, Kip will be joined by his coworker Casey Yee and they'll give a talk on aframe.io, which is described as "an open-source framework for easily creating WebVR experiences with HTML." They'll be showing off a cool game they made using the platform and talk us through their process and what issues they overcame.

VR Experience:

The group will head over to the Vive Room which is scaled to allow total exploration of the space using the HTC Vive. Kip will be demoing several experiments that have been cooking over at Mozilla. We can also let attendees experiment with games that ship with the HTC Vive for those who have never experienced VR before (beware, some of the horror games are a little "too" scary!)

Schedule:

6:45-7:15 mingle in the lobby

7:15 Presentation: Loopin' - A Unique Approach To Creative Coding Online

8:00 Presentation: The Web's Place in VR

8:45 Presentation: Making A Game in Aframe.io

9:00 Break: 15min

9:15 HTC Vive: Experiencing the latest in webVR

10:00 Connect & Mingle

Attendees are welcome to bring food and drink for themselves and/or to share.