AR/VR Austin returns for its third successive year, presenting a mini-conference named ‘Alternative Realities’. Taking place as an unofficial event during the SXSW 2017 festival on March 11th, this year’s event will question the impact of social and political change on the AR/VR industry.

Following last year’s celebration of technology innovation, the AR/VR Austin event returns on March 11th with a totally different tone; discussing the implications of the changing social and political climate on these new technologies. The event will include cutting-edge demonstrations, but the focal point is a ‘serious gathering of the best minds in austin-vr-2016AR/VR/social thought’ taking a deep dive into ‘resistance, privacy, analytics, deception and surveillance’.

Founder Simon Solotko believes that rapid political change will impact AR/VR, and has invited several industry experts and special guests to offer their insights across three sessions during the evening: ‘Resistance & Organization Intersect Surveillance’, ‘Synthetic Worlds Intersect Real Minds’, and ‘Constructing Groundbreaking Experiences in the New Republic’.

The Alternative Realities mini-conference is an unofficial event taking place during this year’s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, which itself includes 45 AR and VR panels, sessions, and workshops scheduled between the 10th and 16th March, including some with similar agendas.

Tickets for AR/VR Austin 2017 are available via Eventbrite.

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The trial version of Microsoft’s Monster Truck Madness probably had something to do with it. And certainly the original Super Mario Kart and Gran Turismo. A car nut from an early age, Dominic was always drawn to racing games above all other genres. Now a seasoned driving simulation enthusiast, and former editor of Sim Racer magazine, Dominic has followed virtual reality developments with keen interest, as cockpit-based simulation is a perfect match for the technology. Conditions could hardly be more ideal, a scientist once said. Writing about simulators lead him to Road to VR, whose broad coverage of the industry revealed the bigger picture and limitless potential of the medium. Passionate about technology and a lifelong PC gamer, Dominic suffers from the ‘tweak for days’ PC gaming condition, where he plays the same section over and over at every possible combination of visual settings to find the right balance between fidelity and performance. Based within The Fens of Lincolnshire (it’s very flat), Dominic can sometimes be found marvelling at the real world’s ‘draw distance’, wishing virtual technologies would catch up.