Under the umbrella of GDC 2016 in March, GDC event organizer UBM hosted its first dedicated VR event, the Virtual Reality Developers Conference. After the successful pilot run, the organizers have decided to spin the event out into a standalone conference which will be hosted in San Francisco this November.
Although the long running GDC has been an important event for the VR industry over the last few years, it wasn’t until GDC 2016 that the organizer UBM decided to create a dedicated space for the growing virtual reality industry. That came in the form of the Virtual Reality Developers Conference which was hosted as part of GDC 2016 back in March. Road to VR served as the official partner of that inaugural VRDC.
As VR’s influence grows, UBM is now spinning VRDC into its own dedicated event to be hosted in San Francisco this November. Like GDC, UBM is positioning VRDC as an industry-focused developer conference. The company pitches it as such in their announcement of the new standalone event:
Bringing an expanded focus and new Advisory Board, the two‐day event will bring together designers, programmers, business professionals, producers, artists, and audio practitioners to share best practices, demo new technology, create new business partnerships, and exchange ideas with innovators shaping the industry.
VRDC will take place November 2‐3, 2016 in the Park Central Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Registration is open as of today, and a call for speakers has been issued until July 8th. UBM has also opened sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities for the upcoming VRDC.
That doesn’t mean that GDC won’t continue to be an important event for the VR industry. VRDC Game and Entertainment tracks will continue to be hosted as part of the broader GDC event. However, the standalone VRDC event will expand to cover VR & AR in brand experiences and other innovative non-game spaces like healthcare, journalism, travel, manufacturing, retail, live events, real estate, training, and more, the company says.
