Disclosure: Mozilla is financially sponsoring the Voices of VR podcast to collaborate on four different events in 2019, and our first collaboration was this conversation featuring the work of seven women within the XR space. Mozilla curated these seven participants and coordinated the logistics for this conversation to happen during Sundance, but it was up to me decide what to talk about and how to facilitate the overall conversation. I feel that the educational mission of the Voices of VR podcast aligns pretty closely with Mozilla’s mission of promoting an open and inclusive web, and so I’m excited to see how our three other collaborations evolve this year.
This conversation featured the following participants:
- Miriam Lueck Avery, director of foresight in emerging technologies at Mozilla
- Jenna Pirog, senior director of video and immersive experiences at National Geographic
- Jacqueline Bošnjak, co-founder and CEO of Mach 1
- Tyler Musgrave, XR Studio participant and founder of Restorative VR
- Anastasia Victor, XR Studio participant and co-founder of [ PLACE ]
- Jess Engel founder of Crimes of Curiosity
- Nonny de la Peña, founder and CEO of Emblematic Group
Some of these women are working directly with Mozilla with specific projects, but not all of them are directly connected. One of Mozilla’s key initiatives is to promote diversity and inclusion with the XR industry, and they created the XR Studio in San Francisco, which was a physical location that provided “mentorship, collaboration and equipment for 30 women to develop work in machine learning and mixed reality in San Francisco from May to August 2018.” Mozilla sponsored two of the XR Studio participants of Tyler Musgrave and Anastasia Victor to attend Sundance and network with other industry leaders, and they also sponsored Jacqueline Bošnjak’s Mad Women Breakfest club networking gathering at Sundance. Mozilla is also sponsored some of Nonny de la Peña’s work on Reach, which was debuting at Sundance New Frontier.
We ended up exploring the work that each of them are doing, their deeper intentions for why each of them are the XR space, some of the biggest challenges that they face within the XR industry, as well as what they think the ultimate potential of VR is.
LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE OF THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST
This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon.
Photo courtesy of Sandra Persing
Music: Fatality
