27 September 2013
Symposium brings together world leaders in augmented reality
It will be an opportunity to challenge the realms of what is possible in Adelaide next week when the University of South Australia hosts the world’s premier augmented reality conference at its City East campus, welcoming more than 200 delegates from 24 countries around the world.
The 2013 International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) from October 1 - 4 will showcase top research from around the globe focussing on augmented reality technologies and applications across the spectrum from health and medicine to media and entertainment and industry and engineering.
Symposium General Co-Chair, UniSA Professor Bruce Thomas says the Australasian region is home to at least a dozen of the world’s leading augmented and mixed reality research and development centres and UniSA is well represented in the mix with its Wearable Computer and its Magic Vision laboratories.
“It is a testament to the quality of research and endeavour in the region that the organisers have selected South Australia and UniSA to host the symposium and the line up for the four-day event is going to be amazing,” Prof Thomas says.
The conference will be opened by South Australian Chief Scientist, Professor Don Bursill, presenting an overview of advances in science, technology and innovation in SA.
Keynote speakers include Dr Ivan Poupyrev from the Walt Disney Company who will speak on AR in the entertainment industry and Dr Jun Rekimoto from Sony CS Laboratories who will be talking about augmented reality to augmented human, explaining advanced concepts in AR and their application in the day to day lives of humans.
Prof Thomas says the symposium reflects the real breadth of augmented and mixed reality applications in society and how they are making a difference to people’s lives.
“Yes, the technology does mean there are some amazing games and movies out there but augmented reality is also being used to help children with autism learn and engage, it is helping us operate cars more safely and it is foreshadowing new ways of engaging with our environment that are beneficial for human health and well being,” he says.
The conference will commence with a special industry day which is being attended by Boeing, Qualcomm and Nvidia among other companies. Organisations and individuals can still sign up to attend this part of the conference.
Media are welcome at a special open demonstration session will be held Wednesday afternoon in Brookman Hall at City East with opportunities for hands-on engagement with the technologies.
More information is available at the conference website http://ismar.vgtc.org
Media contact: Michèle Nardelli office: 08 8302 0966 mobile: 0418 823 673 email: Michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au
