Stereopsia EUROPE is back, with a few changes (and a full 2022 programme)

Mathieu G.

Stereopsia EUROPE, one of the most important events at the end of each year, comes back earlier than expected with an autumn 14th edition from October 17 to 19, in a new place: the Maison de la Poste in Brussels. Apart from these changes, and after a 2021 edition limited by the Covid-19, it is a complete program that will physically take place in Belgium in a few weeks!

Stereopsia 2022: a new start?

Alexandra Gerard – In 2022 the objective is of course to return to a face-to-face event, because Stereopsia’s DNA has always been the meetings between XR professionals – especially when these people are not used to meeting spontaneously – developers with scientists, or tech people with creatives… Our change of dates (from December to mid-October) is related, not only an opportunity to leave a winter period conducive to the return of viruses, but was also imposed by the competition with a multitude of events, especially in early December. This year, and for 3 years, we will invest a new venue. It is at the Maison de la Poste that Stereopsia will take place. (more details)

A. G. – Because of its strategic location, on the edge of the canal and near the historic center of Brussels, this former railway site has enormous potential and is undergoing a real revival. The “Maison de la Poste” part was renovated in 2019 and has many rooms of different sizes and atmosphere, which was exactly what we were looking for: conference rooms, small tastefully decorated meeting rooms for workshops/workshops/accelerators, lounges for demos and B2B, and a large space to host our exhibitors.

On the support of creative and cultural projects: XR4Heritage

A. G. – Stereopsia has, for years, wished to support innovative projects, both in VR creation and in XR innovation. XR4Heritage has allowed us to bring a new range of projects in the cultural sector which, in terms of immersion, is in full development. In the long run, it is true that the question of the business model arises because the project leaders do not always have the financial capacity to cover the costs of these programs/accelerators, so we ask for subsidies to support them. Progressively, XR4Heritage is benefiting from the support of foundations and we are trying to involve equipment manufacturers, as is the case this year with Barco.

The European Union, regulation and XR

A. G. – This is indeed one of the challenges of the next years. Stereopsia is not in charge, but will be the voice of the initiatives in this field. XR4Europe is the operator for these themes, via the Horizon Europe XR4Human project, for example. This one will be able to influence the legislations which will be born by sharing the voice of the professionals of the sector. The fact that Stereopsia is the Brussels event of the XR reinforces of course the role of lobby that it can play, together with XR4Europe.

A. G. – Next year, once XR4Human on the rails, we can imagine a large conference, in margin of Stereopsia with the representatives of the political and administrative European decision-makers (Commission, Parliament, ..) following the example of what we do this year with the day ‘Europe’ and the presentations of the Consortiums H2020 and Horizon Europe.

Conference Schedule

Monday 17

9:30AM – 9:45AM: XR CHALLENGES FOR THIS DECADE with Alain Gallez (XR4Europe & Stereopsia EUROPE), link,
9:45AM – 10:00AM: XR LANDSCAPE IN THE WORLD with Eloi Gérard (E.N.D. Entertainment, XR-Story),
10:00AM – 10:30AM: FUNDING SCHEMES, INITIATIVES SUPPORTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION with Anne Bajart (European Commission)
11:00AM – 12:30PM: THE XR CHALLENGES SUPPORTED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION with Laetitia Bochud (Virtual Switzerland, XR4Europe), link,
11:30AM – 12:00AM: XR4HUMAN, THE ETHICAL CHALLENGES FOR THE XR COMMUNITY with Rigmor Baraas (USN) & Rosemarie de la Cruz Bernade (USN), link,
11:30AM – 5:30PM: MEET THE H2020 & HORIZON EUROPE XR CONSORTIUMS, link,
4:00PM – 5:30PM: TIME TO TAKE IMMERSIVE SERIOUS GAMES SERIOUSLY with Aurélien Bolkaerts (CECOTEPE), Thierry Lejeune (Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc) & Stéphane Grade (CECOTEPE & VR SPARX), link,
5:00PM – 8:00PM: ICE-BREAKER: MEET THE BELGIAN XR ECOSYSTEM, link,

Tuesday 18

9AM – 12:30PM: SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE, link,
9:00AM – 9:30AM: SHAPING A MARKET FOR INDEPENDENT XR with Monique Simard (Xn Québec), link,
09:00AM – 10:30AM: WHEN YOUR AVATAR BECOMES YOUR PERFECT TWIN: TECHNOLOGIES & CHALLENGES with Beatrice Biancardi (LINEACT CESI), Urszula Gleisner (Gleisner Consulting), Sven Bliedung (Volucap) & Sara Lise Vogl (Co-founder WIIT & VR UX Designer), link,
09:30AM – 10:30AM: NEW NARRATIVES: FOCUS ON CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE with Agnes Karolina Bakk (University of Art and Design), Urszula Gleisner (Gleisner Consulting) & Milosz Hermanovicz (Szkoła Filmowa w Łodzi), link,
02:00PM – 03:30PM: WHAT’S UP WITH 5G? BANDWITH AND REALTIME EXPERIENCES with Hugues de Pra (WEBEX by Cisco), link,
2:00PM – 3:30PM: EXTENDED REALITY: REALISTIC CAREER OPPORTUNITIES with Isabel de Peuter-Rutten (XR-One & Mizik), François Klein (Digital Rise), Christophe Hermanns (Vigo Universal & HoLLLoH) & Alain Gallez (XR4Europe & Stereopsia EUROPE), link,
4:00PM – 4:45PM: HOW TO TRAIN FUTURE XR PROFESSIONALS with Olivia Papini (La Méduse Violette), Thierry Koscielniak (Le CNAM / EUNIS), Valentino Catricala (School of Digital Arts), Elisabela Rotolo (MIAT) & Daniel Dyboski-Bryant (Educators in VR & Virtual World Society), link,
5:00PM – 8:00PM: NETWORKING RECEPTION, link,

Stereopsia 2021 – Crystal Owls Awards Ceremony / Facebook page

Wednesday 19

9:00AM – 10:30AM: XR AND 3D – THE NEW ECOSYSTEM with Frédéric Purgal (ArtofCorner), Olivier Piasentin (Ikimasho), Maartens Tobias (Dimenco) & Nicholas Routhier (Mindtrick Innovations Inc.), link,
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM: IMMERSIVE WORLDS: THE NEW STAGE TO PERFORM with Nihaarika Negi (A City of Fox), Louis Cacciuttolo (VRrOOm), Voyelle Acker (Small Studio) & Alexandre Todoresco (Les 7 Doigts), link,
11:00AM – 12:30PM: I HAVE A DREAM: XR & METAVERSE, THE NEXT UTOPIA? with Alok Nandi (Architempo & Spread Design), Deepa Mann-Kler (NEON XR), Landia Egal (Tiny Planet), Marion Guth (a_Bahn) & Rosemarie de la Cruz Bernade (USN), link,
2:00 PM – 3:30 PM: AR STORYTELLING IN A 5G WORLD: OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CREATIVE SECTOR with Jean-Pierre Maillet (AliceA), Soraya Jaber (Wanderland), Nino Sapina (Realcast) & Philippe Bornstein (XR.PLUS), link,
7:00PM – 11:00PM: CRYSTAL OWLS AWARDS GALA, link.

Others events

The Exhibition area is the very heart of Stereopsia! It is where most of the activities take place (breaks, evening drinks, happy hours, presentations, XR Showcase, B2B meetings…) and where participants get together in-between conferences. (all 3 days)

The XR Showcase, located at the heart of the event in the Exhibition area, will display these nominated contents, some of which will also be contextualized. (all 3 days – List of projects TBD)

XR4EUROPE, LAVAL VIRTUAL, Stereopsia EUROPE, and VRDays Europe have teamed up to foster growth for entrepreneurial, creative, and academic ventures by facilitating the matching of high-potential projects with their scaling counterpart with the IMPULSE Programme. It is dedicated to three verticals: Content, SMEs, and Research. For each one, there are scouting, training, access to market, and nurturing phases involved in the Programme, for a holistic engagement with each selected project. (all 3 days)

The Booster is a 3-day-program starting with an intensive, small-group, hands-on training led by international experts to master the art of pitching, get the latest insights & trends for the XR contents, industry and market, be at the forefront of the XR technologies and learn how to develop and finance a XR project. (October 18 & 19)

Crystal Owls Awards – 2022 Nominees

https://stereopsia.com/

@ Dabatase

Crystal Owl Awards – Nominees @ Stereopsia EUROPE 2022

@ Magazine

XR&Games, Competition, Work in Progress… Discover the entire immersive program of Annecy 2024

The world’s premier animation festival, Annecy (and its market, MIFA), is well aware of immersive innovations. With an existing interest since 2015, the event quickly introduced several sections to host not only a Competition but also moments of reflection and

“To make the user believe that they matter” – Erick Oh, Kane Lee (NAMOO)

NAMOO is an animated VR experience that uses all the tools cinematic VR offers to animation to invite the audience on a spiritual journey through life and memories. Sometimes – not often – you come across a story that feels

XR Distribution: a new model to be imagined?

As virtual worlds take on an ever-increasing role in the field of creation, and as more and more hybrid works combining live performance and XR technologies appear, the question of distribution is at the heart of contemporary issues, both for

REFLECTIONS OF LITTLE RED DOT: an open-world mixed reality documentary with heart and soul

What does it mean to interact with a documentary? In 1991, Bill Nichols proposed six different kinds of documentaries. Since then, the documentary form has been dissected, shifted, observed, turned on its head—and, with VR, we’ve been able to enter

“Apple Vision Pro opens the door to a wider audience than XR enthusiasts” – Thibault Mathieu (Wilkins Avenue AR)

Thibault Mathieu is an immersive technology entrepreneur who worked the mixed reality frontier early on with OUT THERE, a musical experience for Magic Leap released in late 2019. Five years on, this promise is being realized through the ambitions of

CUBAVERSO, a new XR workshop for XR narrative creators in Central America and the Caribbean islands

This is an historic event for Central America and the Caribbean islands: an in-person XR creation lab (virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, video 360, video games, metaverse, AI and virtual worlds) in the city of Havana, Cuba, for 16