SXSW’s PanelPicker is now open, letting the community voice their support for the topics they’d like to see on the SXSW stage. Over the past few years, we’ve been delighted to see frogs from across our global ponds participate in the festival. Last year, three of our frogs took to the stage to discuss a range of themes from Designing Against a Data Dystopia to Art Museums as Spaces of Digital Play.

For 2020, we have two frogs in the running to lead panels or talks:

The Cognitive Impact of Mixed Reality

Alexis Puchek, Principal Director, Interaction Design

This talk is beyond the fundamentals of designing for mixed reality, or what today’s implementation looks like. Instead, I focus on the considerations we need to take as we embark into a future where digital, physical, and the space in-between merge as our cognitive understanding of what is real, what is expected, and what can help/harm us becomes muddled in our everyday experiences.

What Augmented Driving Will Feel Like

Theo Calvin, Creative Director, Transportation Sector Lead

The auto industry is grappling with the realization that fully autonomous cars may be further from production than once hoped. But related technologies (automated driver assistance) are making cars vastly safer now. The driving experience these increasingly automated cars can be bewildering. Inspired by the mixed reality industry, a new human-machine interface will unify these disparate sensors, map data, and services into a coherent, intuitive interface. Today’s car-control interface (wheel, pedals, gearshift) is a mechanical relationship. In the future, these controls will be joined by an interface that allows the driver to “feel” the information contained in a simultaneous virtual environment overlaid 1:1 on the physical environment of the car.

Vote now to see these frogs on the SXSW stage! The PanelPicker closes August 23rd, 2019.

We can’t wait to see you in Austin!