News

SIGGRAPH, the premier conference on computer graphics, went virtual again this year. The online hub was organized like last year‘s virtual conference with a large part of on-demand lectures and papers, centered around a full week of live presentations and panel discussions. The online event focused on the established thematic frameworks and discussion groups. Meetings and session chats could be continued long a

After the totally digital experience of A Maze 2020, the festival for playful media and interactive art partly got back on the real stage this year. The main program with lectures, workshops and panels continued to be streamed online. But some events were broadcasted live from the festival’s traditional venue in Berlin, and they set up a co-working space for public online viewing on site. Unfortunately, the mai

After two showcase placeholders in 2020 and in springtime of 2021, the Game Developer Conference came back on the stage with a full-fledged virtual program this summer. The week-long program covered the traditional theme tracks for deep dives into everything that matters in game development. Most sessions were prerecorded, but lecturers were available in the live chat during the streaming event. Due to the displaceme

During its decades long history the Electronic Entertainment Expo went through a number of transition phases, some related to industry changes, some to carnival barkers, some to Zombie surviving, some to complete vaporization. In 2021, E3 went digital with a streaming event that appeared well-adjusted in its timing but unadjusted in its setting. As a streaming event, virtual E3 successfully maintained the show’

While the world carefully prepares for business reopening, conventions still have to be managed with online versions in 2021. Despite these restrictions, the North-American VR/AR Global Summit presented a huge line-up of business-ready activities. After the recent acceleration of digitization, the spatial computing industry now banks on economies of scale. The 3-day conference offered up to 100 sessions every day, a

Game Industry gatherings in 2021 continue to ride on the wave of prosperity caused for them by the pandemic: GamesBeat Summit, GamesIndustry Investment Summit and LA Games Conference focused heavily on the business challenges of preserving and monetizing the current dynamics. Building on these advantageous circumstances, Beyond Games now reaches out for crossover possibilities for the leading medium of our troubled t

Digital live events are becoming a recuperation perspective for the music industry after considerable lockdown effects since the pandemic began. I went to a Japanese Virtual YouTuber concert to check how well live concerts work in VR, how they create bonding between performers and fans – and how they can serve as a blueprint for monetization. Cinderella Switch is a monthly music event on VARK. Each session feat

Los Angeles based media convention Digital Entertainment World went virtual this year. The 5-day conference focused on management topics and reflected the shifts caused by the acceleration of digitization under pandemic conditions. Each day was dedicated to another media section, all together represented the region’s enormous scope of media activities, all separately drifted on their own way to the Metaverse. E

COVID-19 marked this year’s annual Consumer Electronics Show deeply. CES went all digital with live broadcasting shows, brand promotion videos, online meetings and side events. Apart from the online screening concept for the whole trade show, many product presentations, trend observations and expert discussions reflected the ongoing pandemic situation in design, marketing and strategic positioning. LG dedicated