28 APR 6:00PM – 8PM
HORSE & TRAP, 3 ENFIELD STREET, MOUNT EDEN
FREE (KOHA APPRECIATED)
Dr Roy Davies, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
Virtual Reality has been around a while in different guises and is now heralded as an emerging technology with a great future. In this talk, we will explore the origins of Virtual Reality, and associated technologies Augmented and Mixed Reality. We will explore the past, and look to the future, and see what, if anything these technologies are actually good for. I will also bring along one of the latest Virtual Reality devices, the Oculus Quest, so you can try the experience first-hand.
Dr Roy Davies is a pioneer in Virtual Reality, having been involved with the technology and applications since the late '90s. His first challenge was using a DOS PC to create a coffee brewing Virtual Environment to train people with traumatic brain injury to relearn daily tasks. In Sweden, he founded a VR Centre at the University of Lund, then back in NZ, became a consultant and started Augmented Reality company 'Imersia'. "The future of technology is exciting, but we have to rethink how technology supports and augments people rather than replaces them'.