Virtual reality conference comes to Manchester

MANCHESTER’S new view, the Virtual reality conference comes to Europe’s city of science.

Following last week’s article introducing the VR/AR conference, Quays spoke with Dr Dario Tom-Dieck of Manchester Metropolitan University to go further into the application of virtual reality and augmented reality. Manchester Metropolitan University will be hosting the third international VR/AR conference this February.

Dr. Tom-Dieck offers insight into not only the technological standpoint but also the interactive and user experience components of the world of VR and AR.

“When we approach a situation where we intend to implement virtual or augmented reality we try to say ‘Well, what can we do with you?’ We look for meaningful applications of the technology to aid us in telling a story or highlighting areas of a project that might not see as much focus without these tools.”

“It’s a matter of whether there is a point to why we’re doing this.” Dr Tom-Dieck says. “Where I think things become problematic is when companies begin to try to use virtual reality because it’s the popular or trendy thing to do without it having any bearing on the product.

“This is one of the issues i feel we have with the current limited implementation of VR.” He says.

With the conference in February being lead by Dr Tom-Dieck’s team and coworkers in the Creative Augmented and Virtual Reality Hub, he hopes that the chance to meet as an industry could lead to greatness.

“Let’s come together and share our experiences, let’s have a look at what other companies are doing.

“We found in the first two conferences that we ran that there is actually a lot of work going on, but very little of that is actually transported to those who are interested because everyone kind of works away in their own company or research and development lab, and therefore a large part of the experiences are held by the individuals as opposed to the industry.

“There is much to gain from coming and sharing more statistics and figures among ourselves to further the work we do.”

@googleglass a wearable future ? Dr Mandy Claudia Dr Dario tom Dieck Dr Timothy Jung @CreativeARhub #ARIFITTtalk pic.twitter.com/w7PcXrZNNc

— anjanesh babu (@anjaneshbabu) November 25, 2015

As we come closer to the conference in february and more information is available to the public, Quays will present this and more topics in the world of science and industry in Manchester as 2017’s city of science events unfold.

By Thomas Taylor