The AWE EU event is a different event from AWE USA. Smaller, but with an absolutely interesting European gaze on the XR world.
This is my fourth AWE event (AWE EU 2019, AWE USA 2021, AWE USA 2022) and for the first time it took place in Lisbon, a beautiful city that I didn’t know about but that stole my heart.
There are many ways to tell you about this first day of AWE EU 2022, and this time, I will choose to tell you about it from a personal point of view, but I will not fail to tell you all the professional.
This year I arrived precisely at the opening of Ori Inbar, with the frenzy and the desire to see how Ori would have set up his opening speech as a few months have passed only since AWE USA which took place in California in June 2022.
An excellent presentation during which the focus was on the presentation of the XR Prize Challenge award, of which you can find more detailed information below.
Another very interesting presentation was that of Amy Peck on the Main stage “The Metaverse for business: moving past the hype”.
I remind you that you can find all the AWE EU 2022 speeches within the AWE.live app, after registration, in the next days.
I awaited this return of AWE in Europe as if it were an anniversary to celebrate, because my path in the XR world was born also thanks to AWE EU 2019 in Munich, Germany.
This is an event that emotionally involved me, with the right mix of adrenaline (sky-high I would say!), an increasing number of Italians (it’s nice to see that Italy is also moving!) and from all the world professionals, many friends of the XR community that meet each time, and finally my declaration to the world of who I am: “a wild crazy unleashed”.
The event took place in three pavilions and at the same time as the speeches held on the main stream stage, more specific panels dedicated to creators were held in other rooms, etc. you can see the agenda here: https://www.awexr.com/eu-2022/agenda
Many themes this year from which to choose the one closest to your interests: Collaboration and training, Creator, Developer, Enterprise, Gaming Entertainment & Media, Healthcare & Wellness, Retail & Ecommerce, Advertising, Strat-ups & Investor, XR Enablement, XR Impact.
SOME OF TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE (source AWE blog):
- Pico’s Oliver Wöhler and Alizé Amrani announcing the release of the company’s new Pico 4 Enterprise offering; (read the in-depth article by Antony Vitillo to know the technical aspect of this novelty! AWE 2022: Discover Pico 4 Enterprise launch date, price, and…)
- AWE’s Co-Founder Ori Inbar shared more info on the XR Prize Challenge and unveiled the four categories that entrants can submit proposals for to be in with a chance of winning $100,000;
- Keynote speeches from TeamViewer and META Materials on the Main Stage;
- Panasonic subsidiary Shiftall showcased its latest VR glasses, with attendees able to try out the MeganeX VR headset on the expo floor;
- Vitruvian VR’s gyroscopic virtual reality flight simulator has proven to be a smash hit at the AWE Playground;
- Plus, so many more engaging talks and experiences from across the event.
You can read also this summary from our Jonathan Hirshon from Horizon Communications. These are the three focuses highlighted by Jonathan:
First off – the summary of the news from AWE proper for Day 1 of the show is here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/augmented-world-expo-announces-the-start-of-awe-europe-2022-301654441.html
Second, we just kicked off the $100K XR Climate Change Challenge – details are here: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/awe-europe-2022-launches-the-xr-prize-challenge-fight-climate-change-301654443.html
Lastly, the 50-minute livestream of the onsite press walkthrough this morning is available on YouTube – check out the highlights and latest news from the show floor at
FLYING INTO THE METAVERSE THROUGH BOOKS & CULTURE
The “Flying Into The Metaverse Through Books & Culture” project interviews continued with very special professionals and with lots of laughs during the shoot! (In the case of Lance Powell, that you can see below, we had chosen a location for the video recording in a very quiet corner, without realizing that we were in front of an elevator that opened continuously!)
And the three interviews that really involved me in first person were those with Amy Peck, Liz Rosenthal and Jay Latta, of which you can see a photo below.
See you soon for a review of the second day of AWE EU 2022!
Cecilia is also an artist, photographer, videomaker, community manager and International Journalist. She is the organizer of AWE Nite Florence and she is the Italian Representative for Artivive.
Cecilia created a project called “Flying Into The Metaverse Through Books & Culture”, which is a series of interviews with the most important professionals in the XR field and manages an online Journal called ARea6DoF, registered to the Italian Court, where she writes the articles about the different topics she is concerned with.