The “feeling that you’re really there” is the “defining quality” of the Metaverse for Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta Reality Labs has spent more than $46B on it since 2019. “Mediated Presence” has a modern history from 19th Century cycloramas to last fall’s opening of MSG Sphere in Las Vegas; and VR, AR, and MR headsets strive to replicate this feeling in a more personal and practical way. Michael Naimark will present landmark examples, as well as several decades of his own explorations, at this artist talk.

Michael Naimark works in immersive and emerging media as an artist, inventor, scholar, and consultant. His name appears on the Wikipedia pages for Virtual Reality (twice), Projection Mapping, New Media Artists, Interactive Artists, Cinematographers from the United States, and The Hackers Conference. His work has been seen in nearly 400 art exhibitions, film festivals, and presentations around the world; and he’s listed as lead inventor on 16 patents relating to cameras, display, haptics, and live. Michael has taught 20 different classes at 10 universities over 4 decades including, since 2009, at UC Berkeley, NYU and NYU Shanghai, USC Cinema’s Interactive Media and Games Division, and the MIT Media Lab. Michael has consulted and directed projects with support from Apple, Google, Disney, Microsoft, Atari, Panavision, Lucasfilm, and Paul Allen’s Interval Research; and from National Geographic, UNESCO, the Rockefeller Foundation, NY MoMA, the Banff Centre, Ars Electronica, and the Paris Metro.