Boston VR Newsletter - January 2025 Edition
MIT Reality Hack, New England Visionaries, XR Graduate Program, Galaxy Kart...
Monthly Socials!
The organizers and volunteers of Boston VR are continuing our monthly socials at TimeOut Market.
The next social event is on February 3rd at 7 pm.
Click here to RSVP!
Intro to modeling in Blender
Details
*Please bring your laptops, as this is a hands-on demo.
Watertown Public Library, Room: Lucia Mastrangelo Meeting Room
Description: This event is run though the Boston Virtual Reality Meetup Group. This month, John Gagan will demonstrate how to model a simple dune buggy in Blender, starting with the default cube. We will then add materials to the buggy, adjust the lighting and render it in a simple background of dunes. This is a good way to learn Blender! After the hour-long demo, people will have a chance to work on projects together and network.
John Gagan is a six-year veteran in Blender 3D, four of which he spent as the head of the Boston Blender Group.
For those participating who are new to the world of Blender please-
Bring your laptops and preferably a '3 button mouse'
Download and install the latest version of Blender:
www.blender.orgHost: John Gagan
This event is currently sold-out, join the waitlist here
Pre MIT Hack Mixer: The Fast Moving World of 3D Photos (Gaussian Splats) This Wednesday 1/22 at 6:30pm
Overview: Come and join the Boston VR community as we gather the day before the MIT Reality Hack Starts. Especially, if you're in town for the hack and looking for fun the night before, you are cordially invited to join us!
Agenda:
6 p.m. Doors open : The community is invited to gather and chat until our headlining talk begins
7 p.m. : General Announcements
7:15: Main talk begins; The Fast Moving World of 3D Photos (Gaussian Splats) in the Palm of Your Hand.
8:00 until close: XR demos from the community and more time to meet and greet
Food:
Some food will be available yet limited so come early before it's gone. If our food has run out, you can order from the restaurant. Drinks will not be provided and must be ordered at the bar.
Seating: While available. Seating is expected to be limited and we will prioritize those who are unable to stand.
Featured Talk: The Fast Moving World of 3D Photos (Gaussian Splats) in the Palm of Your Hand.
Speaker: Nathan C, Scaniverse Social Media & Insights
For more info or to RSVP, click here:
MIT Reality Hack Public Expo 2025
Attend to experience VR/AR/XR projects created during the MIT Reality Hack Hackathon 2025!
Co-hosted by Reality Hack, Inc. & VR/AR@MIT
After an intense weekend of creating projects, teams at MIT Reality Hack will show off their hard work! Over 400 participants working as developers, designers, and specialists will participate in this year's Reality Hack. The Public Expo is your chance to check out the projects that participants produce.
We invite all members of the public to come check out projects in the ever-expanding Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Spatial Computing fields. From healthcare to social good to games, our Hack will be sure to produce projects spanning a variety of fields.
Past XR hackathons at MIT have produced over 300 projects and helped 1,500 participants realize the potential to become XR creators. Every year, we strive to bring together global, magnetic, fun do-ers, to learn, create, and hack a better future. This event is the culmination of our efforts.
Join us for this public expo, where projects from this year's hack will be on display!
This event is co-hosted with VR/AR@MIT.
For more information about MIT Reality Hack, visit www.mitrealityhack.com.
New England Visionaries - January Gathering
Are you the proud owner of an Apple Vision Pro, a visionOS app developer, or someone who is just curious about this new platform? New England Visionaries is a community for Vision Pro aficionados, developers, and anyone interested in the future of spatial computing. Our monthly meetings provide a platform for networking, sharing knowledge, and exploring the latest developments in the field.
They meet 6-9pm on the third Monday of each month:
Microsoft NERD Conference Center 1 Memorial Drive, M Floor Cambridge, MA Pizza and networking start at 6:00pm.
Lightning talks begin at 6:30pm
Hosted by
Joseph Hill
Click here to RSVP
Game of the Month:
Galaxy Kart
This is probably the closest game we have to playing Mario Kart in VR—tons of fun!
Galaxy Kart is an arcade kart racing game focused on combat and the individual skill of each driver.
In a galaxy full of crazy racers, a frantic championship decides who is the best driver of all! 🏁
Click here for more info.
Book of the Month:
From the publisher’s website:
Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, & Vox
The father of virtual reality explains its dazzling possibilities by reflecting on his own lifelong relationship with technology
Bridging the gap between tech mania and the experience of being inside the human body, Dawn of the New Everything is a look at what it means to be human at a moment of unprecedented technological possibility.
Through a fascinating look back over his life in technology, Jaron Lanier, an interdisciplinary scientist and father of the term “virtual reality,” exposes VR’s ability to illuminate and amplify our understanding of our species, and gives readers a new perspective on how the brain and body connect to the world. An inventive blend of autobiography, science writing, philosophy and advice, this book tells the wild story of his personal and professional life as a scientist, from his childhood in the UFO territory of New Mexico, to the loss of his mother, the founding of the first start-up, and finally becoming a world-renowned technological guru.
Understanding virtual reality as being both a scientific and cultural adventure, Lanier demonstrates it to be a humanistic setting for technology. While his previous books offered a more critical view of social media and other manifestations of technology, in this book he argues that virtual reality can actually make our lives richer and fuller.
Click here to buy.
XR Graduate Program of the Month:
Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center graduate degrees at Arizona State University
Transdisciplinary programs at the MIX Center
The Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center in Mesa, Arizona, is home to transdisciplinary graduate programs from two different schools at Arizona State University with courses from several other schools. The programs foster collaboration across fields through a shared core curriculum.
For more information, click here.
QQs=Quality Questions (worth pondering)
Imagine stepping into a complete mixed reality theme park—what attractions would you create to refine fun and excitement, and why?
What would be the impact if an AI wrote an entire movie script that won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay?
What if they could recreate classic, iconic films as unique VR experiences?
If you could call your imagination on the phone, what would it say?
-Chris von Spitzer
For more QQs to enrich and enhance your creative thinking, follow me on X @letsaskqqs
Stay tuned for our next newsletter for more updates, highlights, and community stories. Let's keep exploring the infinite possibilities of extended reality together!
Boston VR is committed to fostering a welcoming and innovative community for XR enthusiasts and professionals.
Whether you're a developer, creator, researcher, or just plain curious, we're excited to explore the future of XR with you.
For more detailed discussions and to share your thoughts or experiences, don't hesitate to join us at our next meetup or reach out through our community channels.
See you in the virtual world!
Join the Boston VR Slack
To join, click here
Would you like to spotlight your VR project to inspire creativity in our community? Email Chris at chris@bostonvr.org with a short description of your project and why it should be included in the newsletter.
Interested in Volunteering with Boston VR?
Email Casey We need help with marketing, event planning, dev jams, sponsorship, and more!
Thank you to our Premium Sponsor, AMXRA!
AMXRA is the premier medical society advancing the science and practice of medical extended reality, https://amxra.org/.
AMXRA has generously committed to being a premium sponsor for Boston VR over the coming years. We are immensely grateful for their support and partnership in exploring the forefront of XR technology.
