Building safe immersive virtual environments and championing collective opportunity to create a better and safer future is vital as multiple technologies intersect to form the building blocks. Join us to learn about challenges, opportunities, collective action and what’s on the horizon for 2023.
With “metaverse” shortlisted for 2022’s Oxford Word of the Year and the Online Safety Bill intended to become law in the UK before next summer, building safe immersive virtual environments and championing collective opportunity to create a better and safer future is vital as multiple technologies intersect to form the building blocks; from immersive technologies like VR and AR to blockchain and cryptocurrencies to AI. With events such as Metaverse Safety Week, an international community effort led by the XR Safety Initiative, and Metaverse Symposium part ofDigital Regulation Cooperation Forum’s (DRCF) technology horizon scanning programme, the UK XR industry is actively engaged in raising awareness and promoting policies, guidelines and research, exploring issues including interoperability, privacy, bias, transparency and data ownership. Join us to learn about challenges, opportunities, collective action and what’s on the horizon for 2023 from speakers at the forefront of the discussions.
Speakers
Verity McIntosh
Verity is a researcher and senior lecturer in virtual and extended realities at the University of the West of England. As a member of the Digital Cultures Research Centre, her research focuses on the ethics of presence, access and inclusion in immersive experiences, multi-person virtual experiences, and the simulation of unsafe spaces in VR. Verity has written and spoken about the metaverse around the world, including co-authoring the IET report ‘Safeguarding the metaverse’ and recent features in BBC World Service and ITV World Service. Verity runs a pioneering industry-led, practice-based Masters programme offering students the opportunity to develop their craft as immersive storytellers, adding VR/AR/XR to their creative toolkit, and critically engaging with the politics, business and culture of this emerging field.
Tom Ffiske
Tom writes about immersive technologies at the Immersive Wire, a newsletter and website dedicated to all things VR, AR, and the metaverse. His goal is to bring a curated digest of the analysis that matters, helping professionals interested in immersive to reach new heights. Tom has written about the industry since 2016, covering the latest trends and investments while keeping a pulse on the latest innovations. He has spoken in several events, published a bestselling book on the sector, and help connect professionals to help each other soar.