Practical Applications of Virtual and Augmented Reality in Business and Society

Dr. Roberto Saracco is a senior member of IEEE, was the Co-Chair of IEEE Digital Reality Initiative, and is the leader of the Future Directions Committee’s Industry Advisory Board. He is a distinguished lecturer at IEEE as well as being a lecturer at the University of Trento. He is the former president of the European Institute of Technology’s Information and Communications Technology program, renamed EIT Digital, which is EU’s “leading European digital innovation and entrepreneurial education organization driving Europe’s digital transformation.” He also was the director of the industrial doctoral program and is a prominent proponent of digital transformation and speaks often on Smart Cities, Smart Factories and related topics like the Internet of Things,  and the development of “digital twins.” He launched the IEEE Smart Cities Initiative. He has authored more than 200 papers and 14 books on these subjects in addition to publishing the IEEE Future Directions Blog daily.

Nicholas Napp has worked with Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and related technologies for more than 20 years. During his career, he has launched more than 40 products across a broad range of consumer and enterprise markets. His team at Rainbow Studios, a game and animation studio in Phoenix, Arizona, pioneered the use of VR in CGI TV production in the late 1990s. Nicholas is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Steering Committee Member for the IEEE Digital Reality Initiative. In addition to working with many startups, he has contributed to or led projects for companies that include Apple, AT&T, Hasbro, Hilti, HTC, Microsoft, NREL, Tencent, and multiple divisions of Sony.

Dr. Eleftherios Drossinos has been involved in the agrofood business for the past 30 years. He is an expert on food safety and has contributed to the design and implemented HACCP systems which is an internationally recognized method of identifying and managing food safety related risk. He has published research on agricultural and food management systems involving new technologies. He has also published on the assurance and control of the microbiological quality and hygiene of edible material. He is also an expert on quality management of the ISO 9000 series focusing on matters such as the growth and development of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms in foodstuff and agricultural products. Today he is a professor of food safety and quality management systems at the Agricultural University of Athens.

Dr. Derrick de Kerckhove a leading expert in the world of new media extensively known for his many academic works which have led to lay the foundations for the modern theory of communication in the digital age. He is considered a leading expert in the world of new media and has been the scientific director of the digital culture magazine Media Duemila. He is also the supervisor of the Planetary Collegium T-Node in Trento research and the scientific director of the association TuttiMedia observatory. He is a full professor at the University of Toronto in Canada and the University Federico II of Naples.

David Witkowski is an author, advisor, and strategist for the wireless and telecommunications industry. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard and earning his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, he held managerial and leadership roles for companies ranging from Fortune 500 multi-nationals to early-stage startups. David is the Founder & CEO of Oku Solutions LLC and serves as the Executive Director of Civic Technology Initiatives at Joint Venture Silicon Valley. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Deployment Working Group at IEEE Future Networks, Co-Chair of the GCTC Wireless SuperCluster at NIST, on the Board of Expert Advisors for the California Emerging Technology Fund, and is a Fellow in the Radio Club of America and a Senior Member in the IEEE.