Guest Speaker May 9, 2018

Guest Speakers Hans Bathija, Phoebe So, and Anthony Macri of Shadow Factory: Virtual Reality (VR) for Social Impact

Shadow Factory produces quality, story-driven, fully immersive and interactive experiences using VR technologies. Founded in Hong Kong, Shadow Factory now has offices in Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, and most recently, Toronto.
 
Evolving technologies like VR are changing society. It has allowed companies to develop new products faster, test concepts and interact with users. It also allows people to experience and appreciate different environments. Their customers have included large manufactures, retailers and governments. For the NGO, Charity Water, they created a VR environment that allows people to experience some of the struggles of a young girl living in a remote Ethiopian village.
 
Shadow Factory has worked with Sheridan College and York Regional Police. For this project, they created a VR game experience that encouraged kids to have a positive interaction with the police. They’ve also worked the police in Hong Kong to help improve their public reputation. VR was used to train officers and to better communicate and interact with the public. Hong Kong also uses VR for planning public spaces, sporting events, and public buildings before they are constructed. This allows for feedback and changes that can save money.
 
Shadow Factory brought a VR helmet and encouraged audience members to try it out. For those that did, the experience was incredibly interesting. When asked where VR will be in 5 years, Hans said that he was not sure, but the technology is evolving at such a rapid pace, it will look very different from today.
 
Mike H thanked our speakers.