From artificial intelligence through to walk-in cinema: the media technologies of the future at MediaTech Con

Potsdam, 12 November, 2018.

Over two days starting on Wednesday Babelsberg will be the center of artificial intelligence, walk-in films, cinematic VR, mixed VR, digital health, digital engineering, smart home technologies and much more. Creative visionaries, filmmakers, international technology experts, virtual reality experts, and representatives from the Digital Hub Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) will meeting in the media city this week for the new English-language conference MediaTech Con (14 - 15 November, 2018). The Federal Cabinet will also be convening in Babelsberg during these two conference days at a parallel event in the Hasso Plattner Institute to debate and adopt the Federal Government's Artificial Intelligence Strategy.

The MediaTech Con will be held for the first time along with the previously introduced conference brands of Changing the Picture (CTPix) and VR NOW Con & Awards. Around 70 international speakers will be presenting and discussing media technologies of the future at the interface between film, entertainment, research, industry and society in a programme of keynotes, workshops, screenings and panel discussions. In addition, the VR NOW Awards will be presented for the third time as part of the VR NOW Con & Awards. All three events are supported by the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg. More at www.mediatech-con.de

The MediaTech Con will be opened on November 14th at 10am by a comprehensive keynote from Samir Fadlallah (SPRING Axel Springer Digital News Media) about how media, technologies and big data interact these days. Afterwards there will be panels, talks and workshops on different stages in the areas industry, film / tv and VR / AR.

Media technologies for the industry are at the focus of the MediaTech Con. „Big data“, „digital health“, „volumetric film“, „logistics“, „infrastructure“ and „science“ are closely connected with media technologies. This will be presented and discussed by such speakers as Thomas Ebner (Volucap), Marius Eschen (Hamburg Port Authority), Prof. Annabelle Gawer (CoDE), Frank Govaere (UFA Serial Drama), Stephan Guttowski (Research Fab Microelectronics Germany), Jonas Jung (Medical Valley EMN), Dr. Ralf Krestel (Hasso-Plattner-Institut), Kristian Kreyes (ILB), Lucie Montel (Maschinenraum), Prof. Dr. Jan Ninnemann (Hamburg School of Business Administration), Maj-Britt Pohlmann (Ingenics), Dr. Johannes Richers (TU Berlin), Prof. Dr. Igor M. Sauer (Charité), Dr. Angelika Thöne-Otto (University Clinic, Leipzig), Dr. Gerold Zeilinger (University of Potsdam), Dr. Raphael Zender (University of Potsdam).

In the area film / tv and vod the sixth edition of the Changing the Picture conference will be focusing on artificial intelligence for storytelling and production, blockchain as new financing model, smart home technologies, the Internet of Things, the future of non-fictional productions, and Europe's answer to Netflix and Amazon. Among the speakers already confirmed are: Robert Amlung (ZDF), Christian Beetz (gebrüder beetz filmproduktion), Mark Harrison (DDP), Hendrik Hey (Welt der Wunder TV), Phil McLauchlan (Mirriad),

Esther van Messel (First Hand Films), Rowan de Pomerai (Digital Production Partnership), Deb Ray (RivetAI), filmmakers Oscar Sharp, Soumy Sriraman (BritBox), Pete Thompson (Amazon Voice Service), Alexandar Vassilev (7TV), director and producer Marcus Vetter.

Virtual Reality in the cinema – cinematic VR – is one of the areas of particular interest at this year's VR NOW Con & Award alongside location-based VR and mixed reality. Apart from screenings of VR content from around the world, exhibitors, distributors, producers and VR experts will also be discussing the opportunities, challenges and the current status quo of cinematic VR in the face of dwindling admission figures in the cinemas.

The speakers include Thomas Bedenk (Exozet), Paul Bouchard (Diversion Cinema), Kent Bye (Voices of VR), John Canning (Digital Domain), Susanne Dickel (IntroVR), Ansgar Esch (Cineplex Münster), Jonathan Flesher (Baobab Studio), Felix Gaedtke (NowHere Media), Christian Glessner (Hololux), Frank Govaere (UFA Serial Drama), Laura Jeffords Greenberg (Unity Technologies), Dave Hunt (Unity Technologies), Ioulia Isserlis (AnotherWorld VR), Eleni Kofekidou (University of Applied Sciences Brandenburg), Sylvius Lack (Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf), Elle Langer (pimento formate), Rebecca Liu (CoreVR), Eddie Lou (Sandman VR), Joe Pawlas (Warner Bros.), Gayatri Parameswaran (NowHere Media), Jim Rüggeberg (Illusion Walk), Eric W. Shamlin (Firebringer), Daniel Sproll (realities.io), Sean Stewart (Magic Leap), Cyril Tuschi (Vonderland VR), Chong Wang (Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental), and Philipp Wenning (INVR.SPACE). The programme and all the speakers can be found at www.mediatech-con.de

We would also like to invite you to the following press events to be held during the MediaTech Con:

14 November, 14.00 - 14.30, fx.Center

Press conference for the launch of the first accelerator in Babelsberg in 2019

The accelerator will see the launching of the first comprehensive funding programme for founders in the media and technology sector in Babelsberg. This initiative has been jointly created by the University of Potsdam, the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and the Hasso-Plattner-Institut gGmbH to help startup teams hold their own in the marketplace for the long term. With Secretary of State Hendrik Fischer (Ministry for Economy and Energy, Brandenburg), Prof. Dr. Susanne Stürmer (Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF), Prof. Dr. Christoph Meinel (HPI), Prof. Dr. Uta Herbst (Managing Director UP Transfer / University of Potsdam), Olav Wilms (ILB), Jörg Rheinboldt (Axel Springer Porsche), Andrea Peters (media:net berlinbrandenburg).

15 November, 11.30 - 12.30, German Broadcasting Archive (DRA)

Presentation of the research project dwerft2, one of the largest German research projects for innovative media technologies – launched on 1 October, 2018. Angelika Hörth, spokesperson of dwerft2 (DRA) and Mark Guelbahar, scientific-technical director of dwerft2 (IRT), will give provide some insight into the project and answer questions afterwards.