Virtual Beings World “New Play Together”

Virtual Beings World in SIGGRAPH 2020 BoF,
August 24th, 10-11 am PDT (日本時間8/25 26時~)

[Live][Speakers] [Hubs] [Program] [VTuber]

This is the 2nd BoF session on Virtual Beings World. We will share live players, the latest techniques, and communications made with computer graphics and interactive techniques. New Play Together!!

Motivation and Vision

Virtual Beings World Showcase 2020 “New Play Together” is the 2nd Birds of a Feather (“BoF”) workshop to showcase the rapidly growing phenomena of “Virtual Beings”(AI-driven storytelling, virtual humans, VTubers, virtual influences, digital doubles, virtual idols and virtual entertainers). We want to bring diverse artistic perspectives on new forms of entertainment and playful communications with/between Virtual Beings. This workshop is for attendees interested in computer graphics, realtime and interactive techniques. During this workshop, we want to share the latest trends in Virtual Beings in computer graphics, live-entertainment, and playful communications from different regions and several metaverses with creator supportive technologies and cases. What can Virtual Beings leave behind in the history of humanity and computer graphics? What forms of storytelling are emerging?

What is Virtual Beings’ new play together?

The event will be held on Monday August 24th, 2020 online in Mozilla Hubs. It will have a character driven short teaser contest “World VTuber Showcase”, a virtual photography expo, presentations contributing to Virtual Beings and sharing knowledge and technology, and at the end, a panel discussion among specialists in the domain of Virtual Beings. 

You can find the event’s presentation at this link https://bit.ly/2VEqHhq 

BoF: Birds of a Feather in SIGGRAPH 2020

The goal of this event is “Sharing current latest trends in new human beings in computer graphics and interactive techniques”. Birds of a Feather (BoF) is part of SIGGRAPH official event, it is designed as a workshop and video showcase led by Virtual Beings. The BoF is related to computer graphics or interactive techniques. It is open to all registered SIGGRAPH 2020 attendees and it is non-commercial in nature (topics specific to one commercial product or company are not allowed). The presentations are free of recruitment, sales, product tutorials, or company promotion. The BoF Presentation is free of charge but the attendees have to be registered to SIGGRAPH 2020 

The submitted video presentations will be made available in a MozillaHubs environment to all registered SIGGRAPH 2020 attendees and on GREE VR STUDIO LAB playlist (optional, applicants can choose if they want to, copyright will be respected). The event will be streamed from Hubs on Twitch/ YouTube. Applicants can submit a video like last year, and also join a “real-time” presence via Hubs + OBS Virtual cam (avatar + video stream). The conference will be held in English. The presentation must be a contribution to Virtual Beings. Meaning it’s all about sharing knowledge and technology.

And more about SIGGRAPH BoF https://s2020.siggraph.org/submissions/birds-of-a-feather-submissions/#bof-general-information
The official Web page of this event is accessible this page and official page in SIGGRAPH is here

Terms & Conditions

ACM SIGGRAPH Privacy Policy . This BoF session is in accordance with ACM SIGGRAPH Privacy Policy. “Virtual Beings World Showcase 2020: New Play Together” is free but attendees need to be registered at SIGGRAPH 2020. The broadcasting, editing rights, and copyright are managed by presenters. If the presenter needs to specify any particular rights, please specify in the submission l (ideally, it is CC-BY). The organizer will not have any duty and responsibility for any content that is not copyright approved. This session is non-commercial in nature. Refer to this document regarding the last statement: https://s2020.siggraph.org/submissions/birds-of-a-feather-submissions/ 

Live in Hubs

https://hub.link/CxgSqht
Hubs studio (for Speakers) URL will be told to the speakers

VibeShare: Virtual Clapping

For more details about VibeShare, please visit GREE VR Studio Laboratory.
  • VibeShare is a technology to share non-verbal feedback through virtual live. Actors/players can feel various vibrations by Hapbeat and other conventional media from audience reaction by Smartphone.
  • Audience can send “Virtual clapping” by their smartphone, it reaches to actors/players in less 1 sec. Non-verbal feedback motivates good moods in the live events than commenting on YouTube live.
  • This multi-user remote haptic technology will be useful for the “new emoji” to communicate intercultural sense, and it can be applied to new style “massive e-sports” in the future game scene.

Virtual Exposition

Virtual Model Agency
Shavonne Wong,
SINGAPORE

Web: Genv.agency Instagram: @genv.agency Twitter: @genvagency

Shavonne Wong is an award-winning fashion photographer with 10 years of experience under her belt. She is also an ambassador (X-Photographer) for Fujifilm and was also recently included in the Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list for 2020. When COVID first hit, it was clear that many industries will have to go through changes in order to adapt and these changes are likely here to stay in even a post COVID world. Seeing how the world is becoming increasing digital, she felt that there was an opportunity to create virtual assets that brands can engage with to future proof their campaigns.  

Program

[YouTube Live] http://j.mp/VRSYT

10:00 – 10:15 [Opening Address]
– VibeShare: Virtual Clapping – VTuber Showcase Fast Forward
10:15 – 10:20 [Introduction of Virtual Model Agency]
10:20 – 10:30 Speaker 1: Liudmila Bredikhina
10:30 – 10:40 Speaker 2: Wolf3D
10:40 – 10:50 Speaker 3: The Venture Reality Fund
10:50 – 11:00 Speaker 4: Virtuals
11:00 – 11:10 Speaker 5: Transitional Forms
11:10 – 11:20 Speaker 6: Sylvia Pan
11:20 – 11:30 [Intermission]
– Best Pitch selection by VibeShare
11:30 – 11:55 [Panel Talk]
11:55 – 12:00 [Conclusion] GREE VR Studio Lab
12:00 – Social Meetup in Hubs
(URL will be announced in the end of the session)

Program will be broadcast by GREE VR Studio Laboratory YouTube Channel. http://j.mp/VRSYT

Speakers

Geneva University
Liudmila Bredikhina, SWISS

Web: https://twitter.com/BredikhinaL

Liudmila Bredikhina is a virtual anthropologist at the Geneva University. Her research focuses on avatar society and virtual beings, such as VTubers. She tries to understand virtual beings through a gender studies approach, questioning how human interactions, self-expression, and kinship relations are negotiated, performed and expressed in a more than human world

WOLF3D
Kaspar Tiri,
USA/ESTONIA
Web: wolf3d.io and readyplayer.me

Named to Forbes 30 Under 30, Kaspar is a co-founder of Wolf3D, a company creating personal 3D avatars of people for games and AR/VR using a single selfie. Wolf3D’s goal is to provide a persistent identity for the virtual worlds. Kaspar has over 5 years of experience building virtual human technologies in various industries from telecommunication, gaming to fashion industry. 

THE VENTURE REALITY FUND
Marco DeMiroz,
USA
Web: thevrfund.com 

Marco DeMiroz is a co-founder & General Partner of The Venture Reality Fund, a leading venture capital firm investing in early stage AI, AR & VR technologies and solutions for media, entertainment and enterprise.

VIRTUALS 

Yingzi Yuan and Alvaro Lamarche, FRANCE
Web: virtuals.co

Alvaro Lamarche-Toloza. Alvaro was introduced to virtual beings during his time at Eisko as head of marketing,  with a focus on digital humans. He is self-taught in 3D and virtual production, though he has spent years writing, formulating projects that real-time filmmaking has now made possible to create. Yingzi Yuan. As a culture and entertainment industry specialist, Yingzi previously worked in entertainment holding group Vivendi then she joined Ubisoft’s Strategic Innovation Lab as a strategist. These backgrounds led her to focus on the world of virtual production and virtual beings.

TRANSITIONAL FORMS
Pietro Gagliano,
CANADA
Web: transforms.ai and agence.ai

Pietro Gagliano, the founder of Transitional Forms, is a creative entrepreneur and director, who has spent his career leveraging emerging technologies to pioneer new forms of media. He won the first Emmy for a VR experience in 2015, and his work has been recognized through hundreds of awards and nominations. Prior to founding Transitional Forms, Pietro co-founded digital agency+studio Secret Location. His production background has involved everything from large-scale corporate branding and social media marketing to app and game development as well as interactive/immersive films.

LECTURER IN VR, GOLDSMITH, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Sylvia Pan,
CHINA/ENGLAND
Web: panxueni.com

Dr Xueni Pan is a Lecturer in VR in Virtual Reality, Goldsmiths, University of London. She has a BEng in Computer Science, Beihang University, an MSc in Graphics and PhD in Virtual Reality from UCL (funded by the EPSRC). She developed a unique interdisciplinary research profile with journal and conference publications in both VR technology and social neuroscience. Her Coursera Virtual Reality specialisation attracted over 50,000 registered learners globally.

GREE VR STUDIO LAB
Akihiko Shirai,
JAPAN
Web: vr.gree.net/lab

AKIHIKO SHIRAI, Ph.D. (Engineering) is a researcher in VR entertainment systems, Director of GREE VR Studio in WFLE, Inc. and invited professor at Digital Hollywood University, graduate school. He worked in different companies (Criterion RenderWare, NHK-ES, ENSAM Presence & Innovation Laboratory in France, a science communicator and exhibition planner in Miraikan) and acquired a wide range of skills and expertise. As of now, Akihiko Shirai is exploring and contributing to VR live entertainment and virtual beings for academic research.

World VTuber Showcase 2020

World VTuber Showcase 2020
Entire Playlist http://j.mp/WVS20

Finalists

From Mexico, Japan, USA, Poland, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, France, Swiss,… 25 finalists:  Entire Playlist http://j.mp/WVS20

Eiri Sanada @eirifu YouTube Video

Pending @PendingV YouTube Video

Ovalee @ovaraisu YouTube Video

Harunone Hal @YggdrasiaPJT YouTube Video

Leon Zeromiya @leonzeromiya YouTube Video

Enil @EnilChannel YouTube Video

Keikai @Keikai_Gumin YouTube Video

Bunny @bunnyvtuber YouTube Video

Rubii @RubiiVirtual YouTube Video

Keiro Kamioka @keirokamioka YouTube Video

Omoi Kane @omoi0kane YouTube Video

Deat @Virtual_Deat YouTube Video

Daadada Jet Blanco @blancodadada YouTube Video

Holographic(C)RI Inc. @361Yohen YouTube Video

Theremin Nimereht-Gou @eciov_nimereht YouTube Video

Ocutan Bot @OculusTan YouTube Video

Milky @mikyuuchuu YouTube Video

Puffs @puffsleeve_ YouTube Video

Fukushima Genshiro @Fgenshiro YouTube Video

Shinazugawa Sen @shinazugawa1000 YouTube Video

Amanda @A_man_da_L YouTube Video

Mikan Takano @MikanTakano YouTube Video

Lewis @LewisQuadruped YouTube Video

Edgardo Niwatori @ENiwatori YouTube Video

DokokanoUsagi @patsupyon YouTube Video
Music : “Kokoro Cosplay” / Kapruit + Virtual Girl Nem

Program committee 

– Liudmila Bredikhina, University of Geneva
Twitter: @BredikhinaL
– Akihiko Shirai, WFLE, Inc. GREE VR Studio Laboratory / Digital Hollywood University

[Live][Speakers] [Hubs] [Program] [VTuber]

…more live events in SIGGRAPH 2020 by GREE VR Studio Laboratory

Tuesday, 25 August, 6–7:30 pm
“What’s happening in Japanese research institutions and industry now?”

GREE VR Studio LabVirtual Beings WorldVBW2019