It's exactly one month until Techweek'18 Headline Event Creative Realities in Wellington!
The Techweek team has been curating this one-day exploration of creativity and technology in collaboration with Jessica Manins over the past few months, and we can't wait to share it with you. Here are some of the talks by international speakers, workshops and demonstrations ticket-holders can look forward to.What: Techweek'18 Headline Event Creative Realities
Where: Shed 6, Queens Wharf, Wellington
When: Mon 24 May, 8am-6.30pm
Get tickets here!
1. A warm welcome from host-with-the-most Josh Thomson
Above: Actor and comedian Josh Thomson in action, developing the voice for his character in NZ animated TV show The Barefoot Bandits.
Creative Realities is a one-day celebration of New Zealand's brightest minds, who are demonstrating mind-blowing creativity in their use and development of new technologies.
Overseeing proceedings will be Timaru-born actor and comedian, Josh Thomson, whose impressive career has been rooted in creativity. The South Islander/Tongan studied Theatre and Film at the University of Otago, before heading to Auckland to do stand-up comedy and then acting. He's graced the small screen in some iconic commercials and several TV series, is the voice of the tubby ginger kid in Barefoot Bandits and appeared larger than life on the big screen playing the titular role of Gary in Gary of the Pacific.
2. Some breath-taking live performances
The day kicks off at 9am in Wellington's Shed 6, with a ground-breaking artstech live performance by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Creative Technologist Joe Dixon. We don't want to give too much away, but think cinematic and dramatic. Futurist Stephanie Pride, who has produced the performance, wants to explore the idea of a New Zealand classical performing arts sector infused with science and technology, in the same way that our agriculture, film and high performance sports sectors already are.
Artstech will also close the day at 4.50pm, with another surprising performance.
3. And demonstrations...
A day of interactive presentations and workshops will be broken up with opportunities to experience immersive technologies yourself, specifically between 12.00-1.30pm, when the latest in virtual reality, augmented realities and artificial intelligence technologies will be on display for you to try.
4. You'll learn the importance of play
Playtime is by no means over in our first keynote address of the day. In fact, it's only just beginning. We're honoured to be welcoming international playologist Denise Chapman Weston to the stage to deliver the first keynote of the day at 9.10am. She'll be drawing on her impressive career as a trained psychologist, inventor and play expert to explore some of the common misconceptions about being creative in an age where the word is used as both noun and adjective. She'll also offer an insight into her newest creative projects, including a partnership with Weta Workshop that has the potential to contribute millions to the New Zealand economy.
5. And how creative uses of tech might just save humanity...
Blockchain, artificial intelligence, life-like gaming experiences...these are all examples of new technologies that any episode of Black Mirror could twist into a catastrophe. But what about the potential for ground-breaking benevolence? We've lined up a star cast of creative practitioners from five key sectors to showcase their solutions to global problems in a session called When creativity and tech combine forces, can we save the world? (between 9.50am-11am). Hear from Weta Digital's visual effects supervisor Dan Lemmon; Parrrot Analytics' Wared Seger; Pikpok's Mario Wynands and Adele Gautier of The Breast Cancer Foundation NZ.
6. We'll explore commercialising creativity
How much truth is there to the commonly held belief that creative industries need external support to survive and thrive? Hear from a panel of experts including UK-based strategic advisor Christine Losecaat MBE in our Commercialising creative technology session, moderated by Creative NZ Chair Michael Moynahan.
7. You'll walk away with new skills...
By participating in one of three optional breakout workshops, between 1.30pm-3.00pm, you'll learn new practical skills most relevant to your field. Choose between sessions on storytelling, education and artificial intelligence.
8. You’ll understand just how big blockchain is for our future…
G. Thomas Esmay, a New York-based filmmaker & educator, and director of business development at SingularDTV, joins us from the US to share the blockchain revolution and how they are working to bring the transparency and logic of mathematics to the entertainment industry.
9. And meet the mind-blowing NZ company giving computers a human face and emotional intelligence
Soul Machines are one of the hottest tech companies in New Zealand right now. They're creating digital humans that not only react to what you say, but to how you feel when you say it.
The potential of this technology, which spun out from research at the University of Auckland, is virtually limitless. Soul Machines' Greg Cross will take you on a journey to a world where everyone has a digital financial advisor, a personal trainer, a teacher, a coach, a companion...
In a nutshell:
See the full agenda and book your tickets here.