May of 2013. Oculus was just back from their first Game Developers Conference (GDC) a month and a half before, and DK1 Rifts were (slowly) making their way into the hands of anxious early adopters. The go-to demos of the time were games like Lunar Flight, Ciess, and Titans of Space, amongst others. The first Silicon Valley VR meetup, held May 16 of that year, attracted 72 VR enthusiasts. Hot on its heels, San Francisco VR (SFVR) in July of the same year had 40 attendees.
See Also: Videos from the 1st Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) Meetup Now Online
May of 2014 brought us the first Silicon Valley VR expo at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. The two day event attracted over 400 attendees and 35 exhibitors. The show was a resounding success, bringing together members of the VR community and industry from all over the world.
My, how times have changed.
Yesterday, Silicon Valley VR announced dates and venue for a two day expo devoted to virtual reality. Planned for May 18 and 19 at the San Jose Convention Center, organizers Karl Krantz and Nana Usui are targeting 1200 attendees and 100 of VR’s top innovators on the expo floor. Early plans are for two tiers of tickets, with the lower expo-only pass costing a fraction of last year’s price.
Expect a formal announcement for the event in a few weeks, but consider this breaking update from Road to VR as your Save-the-Date warning!