PANEL:

Women in the Arts

PANEL :

We Know What You Learned Last Summer

(in AR & VR)

FIRESIDE CHAT:

Game Production

INTERACTIVE JAM

Check-in and setup, mingling, team forming

INTERACTIVE JAM

Final assets / prototype deadline, begin polishing

Screening - TOXIC PUZZLE Documentary

+ Director Q&A with Bo Landin

UDEN #19

Social Media Keynote from Chad Mustard + Networking

LIVE eSPORTS

University of Utah -v- BYU

Exhibitors 

(noon - 6pm)

Watch My America

Grace Foundry

GApp Lab

Wil Bown

Microsoft

Dustin Hansen

Tiered World Studios

Utah Game Audio

Gyge Studio

Greg Squire

Neumont College

WOMEN IN THE ARTS - Panel Discussion

Dana Ware has both national and international experience working in film and photography. She earned a degree from the School of Arts at UCLA and specializes in Visual Media. After UCLA, she went on to receive two artist grants and visiting teaching positions at CheLA in Buenos Aries, Argentina and Duke University in North Carolina. She is currently working on a Virtual Reality experience sponsored by Google Fiber for The Leonardo museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dana has worked for many of the world’s leading magazine, studios, and Universities - among them the Los Angeles Times, Universal Studios, Getty Images, Alternative Press, BYU, Domo, and The Leonardo.

Loren Micalizio is a Senior Video Producer on the Studio team at Adobe. She tells dynamic and engaging visual stories about Adobe Experience Cloud and Creative Cloud solutions and customers. Loren honed her documentary production chops at 21st Century FOX studios, Lucasfilm, and Zoetrope before moving to Utah ten years ago to freelance in feature films and television. Here, she worked in the production trenches with Go Films, LDS Motion Picture Studio, Fueld Films, and Vineyard Productions before joining the world of digital marketing video. Loren is passionate about our local Utah crews, talent, and locations, and she’s a fierce supporter of bringing resources to the state to support the local film and video community. She is also heavily involved in community engagement and arts education initiatives for women and girls. Loren is the Lehi site lead of Adobe & Women, and she is a member of the Board of Directors for Girl Scouts of Utah and the Junior League of Salt Lake City. Additionally, she is active with Women United and Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor 2.0. Loren holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Cinema-Televion Critical Studies from University of Southern California and a Master’s of Arts in Film and Television Studies from San Francisco State University.  Follow Loren on Twitter: @lmicalizio

Becky Pennock is a digital artist who thrives wherever art smashes into code. Her experience has mainly with small companies and independent projects, which has lead her to learn many skills (such as digital painting, art direction, design, programming, and animation). The games she's contributed to have made it to PAX, PAX East, E3, and Indiecade. Her digital painting has also been featured in the ImagineFX magazine.  In her free time, she hikes, mountain bikes, and plays attack Bastion in Overwatch.

Diana Whitten is a filmmaker and a writer, and a New Yorker living in Salt Lake City. Her first feature documentary, Vessel, premiered at SXSW and won the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize for Political Courage. Released in 2014,Vessel screened for over 300 international audiences and 90+ festivals; was the centerpiece of an audience engagement campaign designed for advocates, activists, and educators working toward coalition building in their communities; and is currently available on Netflix and video-on-demand platforms around the world. Prior to this she worked for 15 years in independent film, children’s television, and theater; and as the Director of Communications at Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program. Recent commercial work includes Local Voices for Hillary, the Salt Lake Film Society, and consulting on the feature films Dying in Vein and An Unruly Faith. A graduate of Tufts University (BA English, BFA Visual Arts), and the New School (MA International Studies), her work has appeared on Democracy Now, WNYC’s The Leonard Lopate Show, Huffington Post Live, and TEDxAmazonia; and in the New York Times, Refinery 29, Huffington Post, and the Guardian, among other publications. Additional awards include the inaugural Pe­ter Wintonick Award from Sheffield DocFest, the Adrienne Shelly Excellence in Filmmaking Award, the Moving Mountains Honorable Mention from Mountainfilm in Telluride, the SIMA Lens to Action Jury Award, a finalist award for the CINE Golden Eagle for Independent and Emerg­ing Media, and a Fulbright Fellowship. She is currently writing for the Utah Film Commission, and runs the Utah chapter of Film Fatales.

Facebook - Vessel The Film  Twitter - Vessel the Film  Film Fatales

Date: Tues May 1st, NOON - 1.30pm

RSVP HERE

PODCASTING 101 - Chris Holifield

Have you always wanted to start a podcast but don’t know where to start? Find out why having a niche focused podcast will give you more leverage in the podcasting world and why it’s a lot easier to find your audience. Find out podcasting mistakes I’ve made and I’ll even share some podcasting tips. 

Chris Holifield is the host and producer of the I am Salt Lake podcast. After helping organize a handful of the very first local instawalks in the summer of 2012 and spending countless hours wandering the streets of SLC trying to showcase the city through photography, he decided to take things up a notch by interviewing people from the Salt Lake City area. With close to 6 years of doing the podcast he has interviewed over 300 people from local businesses, art, music, film, food and anything else he finds intriguing. The podcast has struck a chord with the locals and has slowly risen to the top of one of the most listened to podcasts along the Wasatch Front.

More: Twitter   Facebook

Date: Tues May 1st - 2 PM

RSVP HERE

MAKING UTAH the HOLLYWOOD of DIGITAL MEDIA - Greg Jeffs

 Fascinating research - and surprising facts about how Hollywood became Hollywood and how Silicon Valley became Silicon Valley against the odds, and what key features we can emulate (and what pitfalls we should avoid) to make Utah the beacon of digital media.

Greg is currently the agency internal audit director for the Governor's Office of Economic Development (which includes the Utah Film Commission) and the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts. Additionally, in the media industry, he has consulted for Adi Shankar's production company (Lone Survivor, Dredd, Castlevania, Bootleg Universe) on both business and creative matters. He has a Juris Doctorate and Master of Public Administration, both from BYU.

Other important credentials include: (1) he has seen (or read the screenplay of) all 250 of IMDB's Top 250 Movies, and (2) in high school he had a level 80-something Paladin in Diablo 2 and a level 30-something Wood Elf Ranger in EverQuest!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregoryjeffs/ 

Date: Tues May 1st - 3 PM

RSVP HERE

5 PRACTICAL WAYS TO IMPROVE AS A COMPOSER - Joshua Sohn

Are you looking for ways to improve your writing skills in music?  How do you constantly strive to write the best music possible?  With a half hour presentation, Joshua Sohn will share with you some ways he has learned to improve his workflow, how to approach compositions creatively, and how to extract musical recipes from the masters.  Whether you are a composer that creates music as a hobby or professionally, Josh's insights on the creative process can help you develop your creative talents.   

 Joshua Sohn is a Korean-American composer, percussionist and teacher. Much of his early musical background was surrounded by the tune of church hymns and classical music. The turning point in his life was when his mother passed away unexpectedly in a car accident. When this occurred, Josh's world turned upside down.  Listening to music helped him to cope with her loss. At first, music was a form of escape. Then it became a source of healing and inspiration to grow as a person. Fast forward to present day, equipped with a music degree from the University of Utah and a specialized skill set, Josh found his calling as a music composer. 

     Since then, Josh has premiered original music for the Air Force Reserve, 48 Hour Film Festival, Slamdance Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, Audience Awards Film Festival, Filmquest Film Festival, IGDA Global Game Jam and the Salt Lake Symphony. Other experiences include composing the musical production of “Come As You Are” which centers around anti-bullying for grades 6-12.

Website:  www.sohncompositions.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sohncompositions
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/sohncompositions

Date: Tues May 1st - 4 PM

RSVP HERE

WHAT DOES DIGITAL PRESS LOOK LIKE? - Rhett Wilkinson

We talk about journalism going off the page and on our PC, and of course, that's happened. But what does it mean when a member of the media working for a publication with the reach of The Salt Lake Tribune is in the building, but you don't know what the publication is? Fake news, or publications that never could have before existed?  Also, with your region being covered in places besides the traditional press, where can these stories be found?

These are just some of the questions given the rise of digital press. You can access news, but with it being non-traditional and growing, there may be a lot of uncertainty as to what the the outlets are producing it. Come learn what to expect when you see the face of online journalism.  That face belongs to Rhett Wilkinson!  He has written for The Inquisitr, Bleacher Report, The Good Men Project, Thought Catalog, ami, the Deseret News, Utah Policy Daily, Standard-Examiner, City Weekly, Utah Stories, Rocket-Miner and other publications. His work has been seen in USA Today, ESPN and the Pew Forum. In film, he was a screenwriter and jack of all trades generally for "Before Your Time," a theatrical production in the Wasatch Front.

Rhett Wilkinson would say he's an award-winning journalist, but as one of the cardinal rules of writing is to avoid cliche, he'll brag nonetheless but say that he's won nine awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and Religion Newswriters Association. Way cooler than that, though, was seeing a billboard about male cheerleaders go up in town only around two weeks after he wrote a story on the subject. He recently learned that Rep. Mia Love used campaign funds for Disney World because he's weird and loved pouring through Federal Election Commission documentation. He did not try marijuana when in Denver on 4/20 to learn that his work from last year had been honored -- he reported on constituent interaction by Utah's federal delegation post-Trump and there being hundreds of dry Mormon ... transhumanists. Most recently, he's written for The Inquisitr about the rise of Democratic candidates in Utah, the replacement of the LDS church's home teaching program and Robert Mueller's investigation of Donald Trump. He keeps from expecting that the Utah Jazz will win an NBA championship because he'd obsess over it.

Not to be missed.

Facebook   Twitter   Google+   LinkedIn   reddit

Date: Tues May 1st - 5 PM

RSVP HERE

Screening: TOXIC PUZZLE

A film by award winning director Bo Landin.  Narrated by Harrison Ford

UDEN is delighted to announce a screening of the award-winning documentary TOXIC PUZZLE, made by local Utah film makers about environmental toxins that can trigger ALS and Alzheimer’s.  

Date: Tues May 1st, 6pm

RSVP HERE

WE KNOW WHAT YOU LEARNED LAST SUMMER (in AR and VR) 

- Panel Discussion

Yeah, we all know how exciting virtual reality and augmented reality is -- the promise of decades finally realized!  Tron! Minority Report! Star Wars! Ready Player One! Star Trek etc... Except... it's proving to be much harder for developers to deliver on such massive expectations that we, the consumer or the business user have.  Frankly, we're all feeling a little underwhelmed.  Excited, sure. But still waiting...

Enter our distinguished panel of developers, all of whom are passionate to deliver on this potential. They'll discuss what they have learned developing for VR and AR, setting our expectations correctly and getting us reinvigorated for what might be coming.

Chris Madsen (moderator) believes that VR and AR technologies will profoundly disrupt the way in which humans learn, play, work and socialize. He says "With modern consumer XR hardware, our consciousness can experience 'presence' within new shared realities, free from the physical restraints and proximity requirements of the real world, in which any experience becomes possible." As an early adopter of modern Virtual Reality in 2013, Chris became active in the global VR developer community preparing for the impact that immersive technologies will have on nearly every facet of our lives. Currently ranked by Onalytica as a Top 100 influencer in AR and VR, Chris maintains a focus in the social, educational and artistic spaces of the XR movement. 

Coming from a 20 year background in Behavioral Science, Chris has been a noted spokesman for Social and Educational VR development as well as holding a variety of positions such as Social VR Liaison for leading Virtual Reality tech blog, Road to VR, co-founder for Utah VR meet-up, Ambassador for Edge of Discovery, VR Director for Morph 3D,  Judge for Siggraph and Consultant to Popular Mechanics. 

For the latest in VR activity, you can follow Chris on his popular twitter channel @deep_rifter

Ben Hesson is the CEO and founder of Ardsk, a company focusing on AR/VR experiences. He has worked in the AR/VR industry for several years, most recently as the Lead Application Engineer for Morph3D.  While at Morph3D, he led the development on all of Morph's AR/VR products. The most recent and well known product is the Ready Player One Avatar Creator, built in collaboration with HTC and Warner Bros. Ben was also one of the founders of UtahVR, a meetup group for VR enthusiasts in Utah. Inspired by the endless possibilities of Virtual and Augmented Reality, he has a passion for finding creative use cases, both through hardware and software. He holds two B.A.'s from the University of Utah.

Joe Gabriel is a VR UX designer by trade, with a flair for business development and entrepreneurship. Joe specializes in rapid prototyping for experiential technologies like VR, AR, and 360 film. Having cut his teeth in VR working at THE VOID and as an Executive Producer of VR/AR at Cosmic Pictures, Joe is now building his own XR agency to focus on XR for Good endeavors. Joe regularly runs seminars and workshops sharing his expertise on VR/AR design and communicating spatial concepts with teams and clients new to the medium. 

Date: Weds May 2nd, NOON - 1.30pm

RSVP HERE

A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO AUDIO FOR VIRTUAL REALITY - Owen Peterson

In this session you will learn about the concepts, tools, and technology necessary to create a fully immersive sonic environment for VR.  Whether you are working in a linear form like 360 video or a more interactive medium like video games, this session will help you understand how to bring your audience from an observer who is outside looking in, to a participant inside the experience.

Owen Peterson has been working for the past 10 years as a sound designer and composer for film, television, and video games.  He got his start working at Monkeyland Audio in Glendale, California before starting his own sound design and music company called SHATTERboom Studios.  His credits include work for EA Games, Illumination Entertainment, Nickelodeon, HGTV, NBC, Universal, and G4, among others.  He also works as an Assistant Professor of Digital Audio at Utah Valley University teaching classes on game sound, film sound, and music recording and mixing.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/shatterboom?trk=ppro_cprof
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shatterboom Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/shatterboom

Date: Weds May 2nd - 2 PM

RSVP HERE

TOP 5 VR LEARNINGS FROM CREATING THE IRREGULAR - Alex Johnstone and Matt Anderson

The Irregular is a beautifully crafted mystery set within the Sherlock Holmes universe, designed for virtual reality by Utah development studio Octothorpe.  In creating it, Octothorpe has come a long way in learning how to craft fun experiences within the VR medium. After a year of iteration, user research, and ceaseless failing upward, Alex Johnstone and Matt Anderson will be sharing broad lessons acquired the hard way for the “do’s” and “don’ts” of crafting engaging VR experiences.

Matt Anderson is a co-founder of Octothorpe, games industry veteran, programming engineer, and a passionate devotee of all areas where entertainment and interaction intersect. He has designed, developed, and published award-winning work in almost every corner of the games industry. Highlights include co-founding the multi-million dollar exer-games company, Cobalt Flux, and co-designing the international best-selling miniatures game Malifaux Second Edition. In 2011, Matt worked as Creative Director on the front page featured mobile title Catball Eats It All, recipient of three separate Apple Staff Favorites. In addition to Octothorpe, Matthew currently teaches game design, history, and social issues at the University of Utah in the number one ranked game design program. Matt holds an MFA in Entertainment Arts & Engineering from the University of Utah. His graduate thesis, PC horror title Erie, garnered over a million downloads and tens of millions of Youtube video Let’s Play views.

Originally from England, Alex Johnstone is an adjunct professor, game developer, and film director in Salt Lake City, Utah. His film productions have aired on broadcast television, won accolades and premiered in the Sundance Film Festival. His games have reached audiences across the world, featuring in publications such as PC Gamer and on the Indie Games weblog. Beyond co-founding Octothorpe, Alex teaches game development in the University of Utah’s Entertainment Arts & Engineering Program, ranked #1 for game design in the nation by the Princeton Review.

More: Twitter Facebook

Date: Weds May 2nd - 3 PM

RSVP HERE

REVOLUTIONIZING MUSIC WITH AR, VR and 360 VIDEO - Grace Foundry

Grace Foundry is an indie game studio founded by five entrepreneurs and friends who develop and publish VR/AR games and 360 music videos.

In this session, Grace Foundry will share their explorations in revolutionizing music using their XR app Audiowave VR.  The team will also be allowing you to try-it for yourself with their concurrent exhibit on the same day!

Find out more: Twitter Instagram Facebook

Date: Weds May 2nd - 4 PM

RSVP HERE

HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR VIDEO CONTENT STRATEGY AND SCALE IT - Anthony Ambriz

In keeping with UDEN's 2018 theme of business development, Anthony Ambriz will share details of how you can use video, for example, YouTube, as a viable growth strategy.  His expertise is in video marketing and growth hacking. He’s grown YouTube channels for companies, creators, and thought leaders to millions of subscribers and has gained over 500+ million views.

Anthony is a YouTube Certified Consultant in Audience Growth and Content Strategy. He is the Founder of Digital Creators, an organization empowering Utah’s creators with resources to learn, network, and create. He is the Owner of VidStrategy, an agency focused on building brands of entrepreneurs and creators through video. You don't want to miss this!

Twitter: www.twitter.com/anthonyambriz 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/anthonyambriz LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyambriz/

Date: Weds May 2nd - 5 PM

RSVP HERE

UDEN #19

Uden's next full membership meeting. Keynote - Effective Social Media with Chad Mustard + Networking.

Some call him a YouTube phenomenon... OK, maybe that's just us, but we, along with millions of others love his Mustard Plays YouTube channel.  Social media expert and UDEN original Chad Mustard of Blue Helm presents the UDEN 19 keynote, sharing  some of the best practices for using social media to help your business rise above the noise. Plus he'll be available for your questions after.

You can follow Chad on Twitter: @bluehelmmustard

Of course we'll have food, drink and oodles of great networking time as well so you can mingle with the brightest and the best creators of digital entertainment in Utah!

Date: Weds May 2nd, 6pm

MORE DETAILS + RSVP HERE

GAME PRODUCTION - Fireside* Chat with NICK LAING

One of the most critical roles in the game development process is that of Producer -- it can mean the difference between success and failure -- yet it remains one of the least understood and often poorly practiced jobs.

Nick Laing is one of the most respected game producers today.  He has started out almost 20 years ago as an outspoken young gun at an indie developer, Hypnotix, in New Jersey before entering the big leagues at EASPORTS in Florida and Microsoft in Washington.  Passionate about both games and game making, Nick frequently talks about the right - and the wrong - ways to produce games and lead teams.

His credits include Forza Motorsports, EA SPORTS MMA, NASCAR 08-09, NFL Street 3, AFL 06, Outlaw Golf 1-2, Outlaw Tennis, Outlaw Volleyball, Outlaw Volleyball Remixed, BMX Trick Racer, Dragon tales: Learn to fly with Dragons, Scholastic Math missions and MTV Total Request Live Trivia.

During Hive Ignite Week, Nick will chat with Jon Dean and take your questions.  It is guaranteed to be controversial and fun. You don't want to miss this!

Follow Nick on Twitter: @VigilantRex 

*no actual fire

Date: Thurs May 3rd, NOON - 1.30pm

RSVP HERE

THE FACETS, FIBS AND FACTS OF STORYTELLING - Dustin Hansen

Dustin Hansen has been working in the video game and entertainment industry for more than two decades. His passion for games and gaming has led up from coast to coast, as he played in the creative mud with companies like EA, Hasbo, Sony, and Microsoft. Dustin has worked as a concept artist, an art director, a designer, a writer, and a creative director over his time, but his true passion has always been storytelling. Dustin is also the author of the award winning, Game On: Video Game History from Pong and Pac-Man to Mario, Minecraft and More, and his second non-fiction book, The Greatest Stories Ever Played, is due on early 2019. 

At Hive Ignite, Dustin will speak about his many roles as a content creator in the games industry and show how they have more in common than one might think. We'll discuss the common thread, storytelling, and take a quick look back as well as make a couple bold predictions of where the medium is heading. 

Website: www.dustwrites.com Twitter: @DustHansen Instagram: @dustwrites

Date: Thurs May 3rd - 2 PM

RSVP HERE

INVESTING IN GAMES - JenJen Francis

During Hive Ignite Week, JenJen will share what she has learned thus far about getting investor-ready. She’ll offer practical early venture advice a pre-revenue startup can put into action.  And she a perfect person to offer this advice as a gaming social entrepreneur of Tiered World Studios, who you can also meet today as they are exhibiting their first IP, No Way!'s Friends, a Playful Augmented Reality STEM-based Kids Rewards Program for restaurants.

JenJen's presentation will cover: 

Recent shift in investor landscape 

'Skin' she put in the game 

Success and especially failures 

Entrepreneurs create two products: Studio IP for customers and the studio/business itself for investors.  

Creating artifacts for investors (e.g. pro forma)

Tools JJ used to help create them (e.g. business model canvas, COGS calculation) 

The dating game of finding right investors (e.g. thesis, stage of investment, etc)..

Tiered World is a local, award winning, certified Women Owned Small Business (WOSB).  The studio creates diverse playful experiences for diverse audiences.  Tiered World began as a college startup during JenJen’s last year as a graduate student in Entertainment Arts & Engineering program at the University of Utah.  Since then, the studio was a mid-finalist in both Utah’s Women’s Entrepreneurial Conference Competition and Echoing Green Fellowship Global Competition.  The studio also placed in the top ten at a Google competition. JenJen received invaluable feedback from each competition and made it work for her.  As a result, Tiered World was one of eight startups accepted by a Google-backed virtual accelerator based in San Francisco to help her get investor-ready.  The studio will soon pilot its first IP at a partnering business.  JenJen and her team are committed to leveraging the power of video game development to fulfill their social responsibility to community.  

Instagram: @tieredworldstudios Twitter: @nowayseries LinkedIn: Tiered World Studios

Date: Thurs May 2nd - 4 PM

RSVP HERE

STORYTELLING THROUGH MAGIC AND YOUTUBE - Stuart Edge

Ever since his first video went viral in December 2012, Stuart Edge has been making people laugh and feel inspired.  Featured as a performer on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, the Today Show, CNN, Extra, and many other notable media outlets, Stuart amazes and inspires an online audience of over 3 million followers and has garnered over 556 million video views. He continues to exercise his creative prowess as an entertainer, speaker, and storyteller through magic and digital media.

During Hive Ignite Week, Stuart will share the story of how he went from cleaning porta-potties to overnight YouTube sensation, interwoven with Magic that will amaze and inspire!  Afterwards Stuart will answer your questions, so come prepared to learn how Stuart has made digital media a full time job for the past five years making short form videos with clients ranging from Honda and Pepsi to Royal Caribbean.

 www.youtube.com/stuartedge - 2.4 Million Subscribers / 378,500,000+ views

www.facebook.com/thestuartedge - 540k Likes / 177,600,000+ views

www.instagram.com/stuart_edge  - 68k Fans

twitter.com/stuart_edge - 40k Followers

Date: Thurs May 2nd - 5 PM

RSVP HERE

LIVE eSPORTS - The HIVE IGNITE "HOLY WAR"

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

-v-

BYU

The rivalry goes digital!

The leading University of Utah eSports team will play BYU in the digital "Holy War"

Date: Thurs May 3rd, 6pm

RSVP HERE

INTERACTIVE JAM

It’s like a combination game and film jam, where creators come together over two days, sharing knowledge and expertise to make a unique interactive product using the best of their combined skills.  You can join a team on the day or come along with your own.  There will be prizes for the most innovative interactive experiences.  This is an event for the entire digital entertainment industry, including the film industry and game industry, where we bring together people with different skillsets and see what they can make in 24 hours. They don't have to make a game, just something interactive, so a VR movie, or an AR utility, or a moving comic book app, or a tabletop print-and-play game, etc. are all options.

Notes:

• you will need to be available to work with your team Friday and Saturday!
• you will need to bring your own equipment, food, sleeping bag (if stopping over) 

If you're interested in participating as a judge, please let us know ASAP! Email vazor222@gmail.com to sign up. 

Timeline:

Friday 4th May

12pm Check-in and setup, mingling, team forming

Preparations, planning, begin!

Saturday 5th May

12pm - Finalizing projects

5pm - Presentations and Awards

Latest info and timetable here

The Salt Lake City chapter of the IGDA will be running the Interactive Jam.

Date: Fri May 4th, 12pm - Sat May 5th, 6pm

RSVP HERE

WATCH MY AMERICA.COM

Watchmyamerica.com is an original content platform created by and for heartland millennials and Gen-Z’s.  

We create original, funny, and entertaining stories of real American heartlanders and we encourage our audience to do the same.  Share your stories, watch our stories, and be a part of the MyCountry revolution!

Date: Tuesday May 1st

GApp LAB - University of Utah

The GApp Lab will be showing Virtual Home Simulation (VHS),  an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience designed and developed to simulate home visits and other environments for students who are preparing to become Social Workers. Currently, new graduates often feel overwhelmed when conducting home visits with particularly squalid conditions and neglectful guardians, leading them to make real world mistakes which results in a high turnover rate. VHS prepares students by highlighting examples of what they will encounter in the real world through a VR experience during which they practice identifying positive and negative factors in a home environment.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegapplab/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChL-1CS8P1Q8sYvQr4YpbHA/videos 

Website: https://thegapp.eae.utah.edu/

The GApp Lab (therapeutic games and apps) is a collaboration between the Center for Medical Innovation and the Entertainment Arts and Engineering Program. Located in the Eccles Health Sciences Library, this unique facility hosts over 35 graduate students and staff working on medical games and apps. The GApp Lab has several unique advantages: proximity allows for easy collaboration with health professionals, a dedicated lab allows students and staff to leverage time and expertise across multiple projects, and full access to the library allows our research to be well grounded and cutting-edge. This experimental lab is a unique tool that positions us to push the boundaries on innovation and technology in unique applications.

Date: Wednesday May 2nd

AUDIOWAVE VR - Grace Foundry

Grace Foundry will share their explorations in revolutionizing music with VR/AR and 360 Music Videos using their XR app Audiowave VR.

More details:

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook 

Date: Wednesday May 2nd

WORLD SPACE VR - Wil Bown

If you ever wanted to meet someone that is right at the bleeding edge of technology trends, then this is it - come say 'Hi' to Wil Bown during Hive Ignite Week. Wil was one of the first people to implement world scale VR tracking back in 2015 after building an HMD using a Samsung Gear coupled with a Google Tango as seen here https://youtu.be/rGWJeV3plvM

At HiveIgnite, Wil is going to demonstrate his World Space VR setup, including an HP Omen X VR backpack coupled with the Samsung Odyssey HMD featuring inside-out tracking capability and 1440 x 1600 resolution. He will also answer any questions you might have. Not to be missed!

Wil has been working as a contract software engineer for over 20 years. Futurist, Innovator and Community Builder; he founded the state’s largest VR and Bitcoin meetups, the AI+blockchain open source project Neureal and single handedly developed the Mozaex product line which did over $30 mil in sales. Wil considers himself an old school Cyberpunk and hopes to merge his mind directly with machines and to help build strong artificial intelligence.

Date: Wednesday May 2nd

MEET DUSTIN HANSEN - Author

Your chance to come meet distinguished game developer and author, Dustin Hansen.  You can also hear him speak during Hive Ignite Week about his many roles as a content creator in the games industry and show how they have more in common than one might think (see The Facets, Fibs and Facts of Storytelling, above).  If you ask him nicely, he might even sign a book or two for you!

Website: www.dustwrites.com

Twitter: @DustHansen

Instagram: @dustwrites

Date: Thursday May 3rd

UTAH GAME AUDIO

Interested in chatting, hanging out, and geeking out with a growing network of Utah game audio students, hobbyists, and professionals?  Then come meet with us during Hive Ignite Week!  Regardless of your experience, you are welcome here. Audio folks who have moved out of Utah are also welcome!

We will be showing movie trailers, games and music in audio and video, from, among others, Nick Day, Rachel Robinson, Robert Williams and Don Suite.

We've got several ways for you to keep in touch with local audio peeps and happenings. Check 'em out:

Twitter #UtahGameAudio

Facebook group Slack 

Mailing list for game audio meetups & related events

Date: Thursday May 3rd

I'M OKAY TODAY - Gyge Studio

A murderer is on the loose and it might be you. Should you survive?

Come and experience 'I'm Okay Today',a unique HTC Vive game experience. Local, live actors (from Utah!) set the stage but *you* shape the story. 

Gyge Studio is a husband and wife team committed to creating games that haven't been seen before. Our experimental titles defy genre conventions and combine many forms of digital media.

Website  -  Twitch  -  Youtube  -  Twitter

Date: Thursday May 3rd

MICROSOFT

Microsoft Store from City Creek in downtown Salt Lake City will be offering you the chance to get hands-on with their latest technology, including a discussion of the accessibility features in Xbox hardware and core system software. This will include the Elite Controller and Co-pilot and a general discussion of inclusive design in gaming!

Date: Thursday May 3rd

LORD OF FIRE and ICE - Greg Squire

Lord of FIRE and ICE is a VR fantasy shooter game for the HTC-Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality currently in development. As the defender of the realm, you wield magic staffs of both fire and ice. You must defeat waves of ever increasing enemies from all directions. Fire destroys ice creatures and ice destroys fire creatures. You can cast magic spells using guestures, which can be used for defense or attack. New enemies have been added since last time the game was shown.

Greg Squire is an indie games developer and evangelist. He's been a game hobbyist since he started programming at age 14 on his TI994a and Atari 800XL. He grew up during the golden age of the arcade and gained a love and passion for video games. In 2005 he organized a get together of local indie game developers, and thus the Utah Indie Games Group was born. He's been organizing regular Utah Indie Game Nights for over 12 years now, and still going strong. He's currently working on his first commercial VR title named Lord of FIRE and ICE through his studio Monkeytime Software.

Twitter: @MonkeyTimeSoft @LordOfFireIce

Website: http://monkeytimesoftware.com/   http://lordoffireandice.com  

Date: Thursday May 3rd

NO WAY FRIENDS - Tiered World Studios

Come and try Tiered World Studios' new IP No Way!'s Friends, a playful Augmented Reality STEM-based kids rewards program for restaurants. Platform: Android. iPhone, and iPad.

Also, hear CEO JenJen Francis talk at 4pm today about the company's history and how it navigated funding (see above).

Instagram: @tieredworldstudios Twitter: @nowayseries LinkedIn: Tiered World Studios

Date: Thursday May 3rd

STUDENT PROJECTS - Neumont College of Computer Science

Utah leads the nation with quality programs for digital arts and entertainment.  At Hive Ignite Week you can see what students at Neumont College of Computer Science have been working on as well as hear information about the program.

Neumont College of Computer Science is the training ground for modern-day tech heroes to hone their analytical, creative, and coding skills to create the software that will change the world. Our students earn industry-proven bachelor’s degrees focused on computer science, while developing a portfolio of real-world experience through project-based learning in 3 years.

Website: www.neumont.edu

Date: Thursday May 3rd