It has taken roughly 30 years since the term virtual reality was coined by a philosopher named Jaron Lanier before it has arrived at a point where it is about to explode into the mainstream. This powerful technology has the capacity to dramatically change how people interact with machines and by extension how they interact with each other. So the question then becomes where do the designers fit into this equation? For those of us who traditionally have been the pushers of pixels and the mappers of flows for a world where our users peered through fixed screens, what does it mean when the user steps through the screen? To help us think and talk about this subject we have invited two VR evangelists not only speak to us but show us how this stuff actually works with some real demos!

Silver Branch

Silver Branch is led by Camille Donegan and Sabina Bonnici, who together provide specialised services in story technology using VR, AR and online platforms as powerful tools for storytelling and marketing. Their combined experience includes work in theatre, film, computer science, video production, digital strategy, website production, marketing, social media, interactive performances and installations.

In Irish mythology, a Silver Branch was used as a passport to gain access to the ‘Otherworld’, and 'Silver Branch perception' is a return from there to perceiving this world as if for the first time. We believe technology can be used in the same way: to create stories and experiences that provide a unique and fresh perspective.

Silver Branch work collaboratively with artists and writers, designers and developers, 3D modellers, film-makers and theatre-makers.

Sabina Bonnici: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sabinabonnici/

Camille Donegan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vrcamille/

The agenda for the evening

18:30 - 19:00 - Doors open

~

19:00 - 19:20 - Camille - UX for VR

Camille’s background in creating outdoor theatre, often performed ‘in the round’, provides her with the insights needed when working with a 360 environment. Her talk will focus on UX for VR and considerations when designing for this new immersive medium. We will consider “Are VR headsets our workplace for the future? And if so, how will we design for that?“ The talk will also include guidelines for spatial positioning of design elements in VR.

~

19:25 - 19:45 - Sabina - VR Interactivity

Sabina’s talk will focus on Interactivity in VR. How do we navigate and interact in VR and what are the associated design considerations and challenges? We will look at what elements can help to guide a viewer in a particular direction and how feedback to the viewer deepens the sense of immersion and presence.

~

19:50 - 20:15 - Break

~

20:15 - Finish - Demo time!