PANELISTS

Thomas Kinsman – Australian Conservation Foundation \”Daintree: A Nature Legacy\”
Helen Nias – \”Save Sydney\”
Joel De Ross – Rock Against Poverty / Metavents
Moderator – Leah Bunny

VR FILM SHOWCASE + EXPERIENCE

Daintree: A Nature Legacy – Australian Conservation Foundation
A Thin Black Line – VRTOV
Uku360 – Cassie De Colling
Save Sydney (HTC Vive Room Scale Experience) – Helen NIas & Kelsey Shanahan
Rock Against Poverty – Metavents (Beta launch) 

BIOS

THOMAS KINSMAN
Thomas is a multimedia designer working on changing the environmental and political landscapes as well as creating impact awareness of conservation for the Australian Conservation Foundation. His latest immersive experience ‘Daintree: A Nature Legacy’ was created for a campaign towards stronger nature laws in Australia.

HELEN NIAS
Helen Nias is a digital communications and marketing professional, producer of short films & designer of virtual reality room scale experiences. Her motivation is to try and understand more about the world we live in and the minds we inhabit. 

JOEL DE ROSS
Joel currently leads the technology strategy for Vihara Foundation and Rock Against Poverty, a charity event initiative comprising of 50 charity events in 25 countries, with a target to raise $1 billion annually for disaster mitigation and poverty alleviation projects.

VR FILM SHOWCASE

DAINTREE: A NATURE LEGACY – Australian Conservation Foundation
Take an intimate journey through the breathtaking landscapes of the Daintree while listening to the story of the forest’s indisputable importance to Australia and the world, as the oldest surviving tropical rainforest on earth. Narrated by scientist, politician and environmental campaigner, Mike Berwick, this visually stunning and inspiring experience recounts one of the greatest ecological battles ever fought in Australia’s history when the Daintree came disastrously close to destruction. This immersive and emotional story highlights the need for a new generation of national laws. Because we need laws that protect life, not allow it to be destroyed.

A THIN BLACK LINE – VRTOV 
For young Patima, the war had always seemed a distant threat. But when the bombs reach her hometown, she is forced to flee; leaving her father behind.
The bombing of Darwin in 1942 was the first and largest aerial attack on mainland Australia during the Second World War. As bombers strafed the lightly defended city, nearly half the civilian population fled southwards in the belief a Japanese invasion was imminent. Amongst them was Indigenous filmmaker Douglas Watkin’s mother, just five-years old at the time. An animated documentary in interactive real-time Virtual Reality, A Thin Black Line invites the audience to step into a pivotal event in the history of one family, and a nation, as seen by a young child. Directed by ATOM award-winner Douglas Watkin, with art by acclaimed Aboriginal artist Vernon Ah Kee and produced by award-winning VR studio VRTOV, A Thin Black Line tells the story of a family’s struggle to stay together in the face of war.

UKU360 – Cassie De Colling 
Immerse yourself in this extraordinary adventure and share a new perspective of the underwater world. Uku means to dive. Uku360º is a series of 360VR experiences that explores our intrinsic human relationship to the ocean and it’s inhabitants. As humans we have a deep subconscious connection to the ocean. Although it is a place we cannot breath, it is a place many of us are drawn to for different reasons. It is time for us to switch off your mind and connect with some of the world’s most majestic animals. 

SAVE SYDNEY (Room Scale Experience – Helen Nias & Kelsey Shanahan 
One of the problems with getting people to care about climate change is that we can\’t immediately see the negative effects of our lifestyle choices. SAVE SYDNEY is an interactive room-scale VR game, which simplifies the effects of climate change and sea level rise in order to show that our choices do make a difference to the future of the planet. The game a collaboration between Helen Nias and Design Director & Strategist Kelsey Shanahan. They developed SAVE SYDNEY during Academy Xi’s VR Design course (now Mixed Reality Design) which encouraged students to focus on intuitive, ‘native-VR’ designs and seamless onboarding. 

METAVENTS BETA SHOWCASE – Metavents
Metavents have developed a platform that allows for remote, real-time project planning using 3D VR visualisation and simulation.

More VR films showcased on the night.

8:00 PM – 9:00 PM Panel + Q&A
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM Virtual reality film showcase + networking