AWE Nite NOLA - Fall 2020 - Inaugural Event

We will have three presenters at our inaugural event and several hands-on demos to try out after the presentations.

XR technologies are helping companies around the world by decreasing costs of training, improving safety, and developing empathy just to name a few. To celebrate these innovations and help share how they can help your company grow, we’re assembling a program that will feature local AR/VR experts to discuss the impact these technologies have on traditional industries and showcase the innovations coming out of the companies who build the products and provide the services that can improve your output and bottom line.

We want to inspire developers, designers, and business stakeholders with amazing technology demos, and provide actionable takeaways of real-world examples of how XR make businesses stronger.

6:00 - 6:30 pm
Welcome and networking
6:30 - 6:45 pm
Mike Harris and Cole Wiley: What is XR?
6:45 - 7:15 pm
Matt Hales: A brief history of VR
7:15 - 7:45 pm
Korak Sarkar: VR in medicine
7:45 -8:15 pm
Rigel Benton: AR everywhere
8:15 - 9:00 pm
Demos and Networking

There will be some light food and drinks provided by the night's sponsors:
http://www.kinemagic.com
Streamline project design with inventive XR software that makes your review and planning process faster, cheaper, clearer. Kinemagic expands options for users to easily explore their facilities with the click of a button.

https://www.crosscomm.com
CrossComm is an award-winning software development firm that has helped Fortune 500 companies, startups, research institutions and many others leverage the constantly-evolving landscape of technology to meet their software and business goals.

Present bios:
Matthew Hales:
Matthew Hales is the founder and CEO of Galen Immersive, providing consultancy services and developing applications in the healthcare XR space. Over the course of his career, Matthew has acquired a unique perspective on the creative process and emerging technology that today’s creators have at their disposal. Matthew’s position at the crossroads of the industry and the art of VR has yielded some intriguing insights into the future of this dynamic new medium, and where it fits into the future of a wide range of industries.

Korak Sarkar:
Dr. Korak Sarkar completed his undergraduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University where he received degrees in neuroscience, mathematical science, and biomedical engineering. He attended medical school at the University of California San Diego, and went on to complete his Neurology training at the University of California Davis. He is a board-certified neurologist who completed sub-specialty training at Northwestern and Shirley Ability Institute (formerly The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago) in Brain Injury Medicine. He has served as an Innovation Fellow at Northwestern’s Center for Device Development. He is currently an attending physician in the Department of Neurology at Ochsner Health System and a staff physician in the Department of PM&R in the New Orleans Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He serves as the director of Ochsner’s Medical 3D(m3d) Lab within Innovation Ochsner, which applies advanced manufacturing, virtual and augmented reality to healthcare delivery.

Rigel Benton:
Rigel Benton is an Interaction Designer at 8th Wall, an augmented reality technology company focused on democratizing AR development and access.
8th Wall is best known for their WebAR engine, the first to give mobile websites both markerless tracking and image target support. Recently, 8th Wall announced their Cloud Editor + Hosting solution, enabling a full end-to-end development tool for WebAR.
Previously, Rigel worked as a cinematographer before transitioning into AR/VR development and creating experiences for clients such as Salesforce, Warner Brothers, and Stanford School of Medicine. He also designed PLNAR, an ARKit app for measurements. Rigel holds a BS in Radio-Television-Film from The University of Texas at Austin.