The Neurotechnology Industry Organization (NIO), a leading neuroscience trade association, today revealed several additions to its speaker agenda at next week’s NeuroGaming Conference and Expo. The NeuroGaming Conference focuses on the convergence of mind and body with game play; using virtual reality, neurosensing, motion and gesture control, augmented reality, haptics, eye tracking, facial recognition and more cutting edge sensor technologies.
The two-day event brings together nearly 50 CEOs and executives speaking across twelve panels to share best practices, showcase new products and ideas, inspire each other and build new networks to help accelerate this rapidly emerging gaming sector. Additional speakers joining those previously announced are:
- Dr. Richard Marks, Director of PlayStation Magic Lab in SCEA’s R&D Group;
- Shiraz Akmal, Business Development, Dreamworks Animation
- Isabela Granic, CEO of the PlayNice Institute
- Dr. James Thompson, Chief Science Officer at Evoke Neuroscience
- Reider Wasenius, Founder of BRIIM, Finland’s foremost authority on brain training
- Ariel Garten, CEO and Founder of InteraXon
- David Ewing Duncan, best-selling author of eight books, including When I’m 164: The New Science of Radical Life Extension
- Sunny Dhillon, Investor at Signa Venture Partners
- Arye Barnehama, CEO of Melon
- Roger Quy, General Partner at Technology Partners Tom Butt, President of BrainRush
- Bruce Wexler, Yale Professor and Chief Scientist at C8 Sciences
- Tedj Tadi, CEO and Founder of MindMaze
- David Holz, CTO and Co-founder of Leap Motion
- Casey Lynch, Co-founder and Managing Director of NeuroInsights
- Tish Shute, Director of Product Experience and founding team member of Syntertainment
- Amir Rubin, President and CEO of Sixense Entertainment
- Tony Gaitatzas, CTO at Personal Neuro Devices
- Adam Sessler, Founder of TheoryHead, game critic and TV personality
- Eric Johnson, Associate Editor, Gaming at Re/code
- Nick Thomas, Haptics Gaming Evangelist, Immersion Corp. and CEO at SomaTone Interactive
- Tommy Sagroun, CEO of CogniFit
The complete roster of speakers is available here.
This year the NeuroGaming Conference, slated for May 7-8, has moved to a bigger venue, City View at Metreon, to accommodate demand. Several new companies have joined DAQRI, Leap Motion, Emotiv NeuroSky and the list of other newsworthy exhibitors previously announced. Added exhibitors include:
- Melon – EEG-monitoring headband and mobile app;
- Sixense Entertainment – a company of developers, engineers, experts who share a passion for creating products that revolutionize the way we create and interact with digital content;
- PrioVR – immersive game controllers that use high-performance inertial sensors to provide 360 degrees motion tracking without cameras, optics, line-of-sight, or large, awkward equipment;
- Luminosity – a leading brain training and neuroscience research company with over 60M members, and paying subscribers from 180 countries;
- Helsinki Business Hub – investment promotion agency supporting business and innovation for Greater Helsinki in Finland;
- NeuroGaming Finland, Ltd. – developer of fun and therapeutic games;
- NeuroVox – cognitive assessment and brain-device interfaces for gaming and health-related products;
- Squag – developer of a curated, online experience for kids with autism spectrum disorders;
- eh?ve – cognitive and educational tools from specialty software and gaming company Behavioral Neurological Applications and Solutions, Inc.;
- Cogniciti – shaping brain health through science (Baycrest and MaRS partnership);
- Thriver – an adaptive brain-training and learning platform;
- MusIQkids – the brain-training software company behind the Smarter Kids Training and Smart Aging programs;
- MDDT – a medical device company dedicated to improving the lives of those suffering from movement disorders (such as Parkinson’s Disease);
- Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital – Canada’s largest pediatric rehabilitation hospital; developing an evidence-based virtual reality therapy platform for children with Cerebral Palsy.
- My Virtual Dream – a multimedia brain-wave imaging art installation project with Toronto’s Baycrest Health Sciences Center;
- Puzzlebox Orbit – a brain-controlled helicopter that develops skills of attention and mental relaxation;
- Synertial – Synertial sells and rents industry leading motion capture systems that capture human motion for Digital Factory, Training & Simulation and Movement Science.
A complete list of exhibitors is available here.
“We’re thrilled with the caliber of speakers, exhibitors and sponsors participating in this year’s conference,” said Zack Lynch, conference chair, author and neurotech visionary. “I think it’s a testament to the ground-breaking strides being made in neuroscience and gaming, as well as the growing mainstream interest in the future possibilities.”
A weekend-long Neurogaming Hackathon will precede the main conference, held on May 3-4, at sponsor Apportable’s San Francisco headquarters. Teams will compete for more than $50,000 in prizes provided by co-sponsors Emotiv,Leap Motion, Melon, NeuroSky, OpenBCI and Unity. The Hackathon panel of judges includes UCSF Neuroscience Adjunct Professor Jyoti Mishra; Brainihack founder Hamutal Meridor; Funomea’s Robin Hunicke; TheoryHead founder and TV personality Adam Sessler; author David Ewing Duncan; and NeuroGaming’s organizer Zack Lynch.
Co-hosted by NeuroInsights, the neurotech market authority; the NeuroGaming Conference will take place on May 7-8 at City View at Metreon, located at 135 Fourth Street, San Francisco. Tickets are nearly sold out, with more than 500 attendees pre-registered. However, registration is still open at the official website.
