StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2017

Welcome to StudioXperience!

The StudioXperience Broadcast Studio at SIGGRAPH 2017
The StudioXperience Broadcast Studio at SIGGRAPH 2017

New to StudioXperience?

StudioXperience is Waskul Entertainment’s state-of-the-art traveling broadcast studio and technology showcase. It leverages more than two decades of experience working with technology titans.

StudioXperience workflows are powered by HP Z Workstations with Intel® Xeon® processors and include a range of production pipelines for enabling our live broadcasts at 4K resolution. StudioXperience also features NewTek IP Series solutions giving our team interconnected IP, SDI and 4K UHD live production capabilities.

At its core, many consider StudioXperience to be a “real-world production test laboratory” where new technologies are constantly integrated into and showcased in our live production, “mission-critical” environment.

During live appearances StudioXperience plays host to visionaries, industry leaders, creative professionals, scientists, and a wide range of interesting and talented people who join Waskul Entertainment’s CEO, Steve Waskul, for long-format, wide-ranging, unscripted conversations that are streamed live on Waskul.TV.

StudioXperience has appeared at events across the globe and has served as the home for major product announcements and introductions from some of the world’s best known brands.

One of the goals of StudioXperience is to transfer the knowledge and experience we’ve gained working for more than two decads with some of the finest hardware and software tools available. To that end, visitors to StudioXperience during a live appearance will find innovative technology zones staffed by industry experts who will engage with them and discuss solutions that can improve their workflows and provide new capabilities.

Steve Waskul with HP's Josh Peterson and AMD's Roy Taylor during a live Waskul.TV Interview from SIGGRAPH 2016
Steve Waskul with HP's Josh Peterson and AMD's Roy Taylor after a live Waskul.TV interview from StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2016
The StudioXperience Broadcast Control Center at SIGGRAPH 2017 during a live Waskul.TV interview of HP's Sean Young
The StudioXperience Broadcast Control Center at SIGGRAPH 2017 during a live Waskul.TV interview of HP's Sean Young
Intel's GM of Virtual Reality and Gaming Frank Soqui with Steve Waskul on the StudioXperience Broadcast Stage at SIGGRAPH 2017
Intel's GM of Virtual Reality and Gaming Frank Soqui with Steve Waskul on the StudioXperience Broadcast Stage at SIGGRAPH 2017
StudioXperience welcomes SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees with a great lineup of interviewees and a wide range of compelling VR experiences to try powered by HP Z Workstations with Intel processors
StudioXperience welcomes SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees with a great lineup of interviewees and a wide range of compelling VR experiences powered by HP Z Workstations with Intel processors

StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2017

StudioXperience Front and Center at SIGGRAPH 2017

Xavi Garcia, General Manager and Global Head of HP Workstations and Josh Peterson, VP, Head of Worldwide Product Management for HP Workstations with Steve Waskul on the StudioXperience Broadcast Stage at SIGGRAPH 2017
Xavi Garcia, General Manager and Global Head of HP Workstations and Josh Peterson, VP, Head of Worldwide Product Management for HP Workstations with Steve Waskul on the StudioXperience Broadcast Stage at SIGGRAPH 2017

SIGGRAPH is the world’s largest, most influential annual conference and exhibition in computer graphics and interactive techniques. This year StudioXperience once again played a significant role in the conference which was held in Los Angeles from July 30, 2017 – August 3, 2017 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

StudioXperience Hosts HP’s Launch of the Z VR Backpack

At SIGGRAPH 2017, StudioXperience hosted the launch of HP’s new Z VR Backpack which is the most powerful wearable VR PC created to date based on processing power, graphics capabilities and memory.

The Z VR Backpack is light  and comfortable (weighs about 10 lbs) and it allows free, “untethered movement” so people can leverage the capabilities of VR in any environment. One particularly interesting feature is the Z VR Backpack’s hot-swappable battery capability which allows the user to quickly swap out the two batteries while wearing the backpack.

The HP Z VR Backpack is also the first PC on the market to feature the powerful NVIDIA Quadro P5200 GPU which has 16GB of memory. This, combined with the latest Intel® Core™ i7 vPro™ processors and up to 32GB of RAM will allow users to interact smoothly with high-end workloads and complex simulations.

The Z VR Backpack is a professional solution for commercial applications and is not intended as a consumer gaming device. Some appropriate applications would be:

  • Training and simulation for emergency teams, difficult procedures, or technical assembly
  • Alignment in management, client, or team reviews for multi-million projects and designs (for example, touring building projects during design, pre-construction and construction)
  • Customer experiences in retail environments like luxury car showrooms, or for commercial entertainment in theme parks or entertainment centers
HP Technology Zone in StudioXperience featured a range of VR demonstrations powered by HP Z Workstations and the HP Z VR Backpack at SIGGRAPH 2017
HP Technology Zone in StudioXperience featured a range of VR demonstrations powered by HP Z Workstations and the HP Z VR Backpack at SIGGRAPH 2017
HP's Louis Gaiot shows off the new HP Z VR Backpack with Steve Waskul in StudioXperience
HP's Louis Gaiot shows off the new HP Z VR Backpack with Steve Waskul in StudioXperience
HP's Louis Gaiot hands Steve Waskul the new HP Z VR Backpack during a live Waskul.TV broadcast from SIGGRAPH 2017
HP's Louis Gaiot hands Steve Waskul the new HP Z VR Backpack during a live Waskul.TV broadcast from SIGGRAPH 2017
HP's Louis Gaiot shows Steve Waskul how the new HP Z VR Backpack can be used in its dock during a live Waskul.TV broadcast from SIGGRAPH 2017
HP's Louis Gaiot shows Steve Waskul how the new HP Z VR Backpack can be used in its dock during a live Waskul.TV broadcast from SIGGRAPH 2017

Waskul.TV Broadcast Features Great Lineup of Guests at SIGGRAPH 2017

StudioXperience showcased Waskul.TV production and post-production workflows powered by HP Z Workstation with Intel processors. SIGGRAPH attendees had a great time seeing the latest IP content delivery platforms and the learning about the solutions Waskul.TV uses to create and deliver content to a global audience.
StudioXperience showcased Waskul.TV production and post-production workflows powered by HP Z Workstation with Intel processors. SIGGRAPH attendees had a great time seeing the latest IP content delivery platforms and the learning about the solutions Waskul.TV uses to create and deliver content to a global audience.

StudioXperience played host to a great lineup of guests at SIGGRAPH 2017 who participating in our in-depth interviews. Here’s a list of the interviews:

      • Andrew Rink, AEC Marketing Strategy, NVIDIA
      • Marcie Jastrow, SVP Immersive Media, Technicolor
      • Xavi Garcia, General Manager and Global Head of HP Workstations and Josh Peterson, VP, Head of Worldwide Product Management for HP Workstations
      • DR. Thomas McLaughlin, CEO and Chairman, Motion Reality
      • Frank Soqui, GM of Virtual Reality & Gaming, Intel
      • James Blaha, CEO, Founder, Vivid Vision
      • Brooks Brown, Global Director of VR, StarVR
      • Howard Rose, CEO, Firsthand Technology
      • Simon Robinson, Co-Founder and Chief Scientist, Foundry and Jody Madden, Chief Product and Customer Officer, Foundry
      • Munkhtsetseg Nandigjav, SV Program Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Julian Reyes, Director of VR/AR, Fusion Media Group
      • Sean Young, HP Mars Home Planet
      • Magdalena Mackowski, Erich Wohlmuth, Audi City Digital Retail VR
      • JB McRee, Sr. Mgr., Product & Developer Marketing, HTC VIVE
      • Allen Buckner, Director of Product Management & VR/AR, HP
      • Chris Vinneau, Autodesk Media & Entertainment
      • Louis Gaiot, VR Product Manager, HP
      • Marc Petit, VP of VR, Unreal
      • Jeremy Kenisky, 2017 Emerging Technologies Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Mikki Rose, 2019 Conference Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Denise Quesnel, 2017 VR Village Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Aimee Doyne, HP Mars Home Planet
      • Lap Van Luu, CTO, Magnopus
      • Kevin Baillie, CEO, Conductor Technologies
      • Greg Estes, VP of Developer Programs, NVIDIA
      • Keith Maher, Co-founder, CEO and Dominic DOobson, Co-founder, COO, VR Motion Corp.
      • Emily Hsu, Production Sessions Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Jerome Solomon, Conference Chair, ACM SIGGRAPH 2017
      • Robert Stromberg, Academy Award Winning Art Director / Special Effects Artist, Designer and Filmmaker

StudioXperience Showcases A Wide Range of VR Experiences Powered by HP Z Workstations

SIGGRAPH 2017 attendee Thomas Leahy tries the immersive VR pain relief demo created by Firsthand Technology in StudioXperience.
SIGGRAPH 2017 attendee Thomas Leahy tries the immersive VR pain relief demo created by Firsthand Technology in StudioXperience.
VR Motion Corp builds products that power VR experiences for the automotive market. Here one of the SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees tries their demo in StudioXperience.
VR Motion Corp builds products that power VR experiences for the automotive market. Here one of the SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees tries their demo in StudioXperience.
The Virtual Reality Company's Raising A Rukus is one of the best VR Experiences our team has seen to date and we were proud to feature it in StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2017. Robert Stromberg, co-founder and CCO of VRC was one of our interviewees as well.
The Virtual Reality Company's Raising A Rukus is one of the best VR Experiences our team has seen to date and we were proud to feature it in StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2017. Robert Stromberg, co-founder and CCO of VRC was one of our interviewees as well.
Motion Reality's Dauntless VR simulation solution gave SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees a fully immersive military virtual reality training experience in StudioXperience
Motion Reality's Dauntless VR simulation solution gave SIGGRAPH 2017 attendees a fully immersive military virtual reality training experience in StudioXperience
The Audi VR Experience featured in StudioXperience gave attendees the ability to view different car models in a VR Environment
The Audi VR Experience featured in StudioXperience gave attendees the ability to view different car models in a VR Environment

Additional VR Experiences showcased in StudioXperience at SIGGRAPH 2017 included:

  • StarVR connected their wide field of view headset to the HP Z VR backpack and immersed attendees in their sister company’s game (Starbreeze’s game) John Wick Chronicles. The new StarVR head-mounted display features a 210-degree full peripheral field of view – roughly double that of any other VR headset currently available – along with 5K resolution (2560×1440 per eye).
  • Adobe showed off it’s newly acquired SkyBox plug-ins for editing and applying effects and titles on 360-degree content using HP’s VR-Ready ZBook 17 G4 with NVIDIA P5000 graphics.
  • Autodesk demonstrated their new tools for Realtime VR development and viewing on a HP Z840 Workstation with NVIDIA’s Quadro P6000 GPU and Intel Xeon Processors.
  • The Mars 2030 VR experience was enjoyed by attendees on the new HP Z VR Backpack as they experienced the current state of the collaborative project to design a city on Mars capable of supporting a million earthlings.

Steve Waskul Hosts Keynote Fireside Chat with Disney Legend Floyd Norman at SIGGRAPH 2017

At SIGGRAPH 2017, Steve Waskul had the honor of interviewing Disney Legend Floyd Norman for the conference Keynote. The 50 minute long interview revealed a number of interesting glimpses into Floyd’s life and career which began back in 1956 when he was hired at Walt Disney Studios.

In the words of SIGGRAPH 2017 Conference Chair Jerome Solomon, “Floyd Norman is a living legend and a national treasure. He is an animator, storyteller, and renowned artist. As the first African-American animator to work at Walt Disney [Animation Studios], Norman is an inspiration to those of us who followed his trail-blazed path into the animation, motion graphics, and computer graphics fields.”

Steve Waskul and Floyd Norman during their fireside chat keynote at SIGGRAPH 2017
Steve Waskul and Floyd Norman during their fireside chat keynote at SIGGRAPH 2017

Steve Waskul and Disney Legend Floyd Norman on stage just after the SIGGRAPH 2017 Keynote
Steve Waskul and Disney Legend Floyd Norman on stage just after the SIGGRAPH 2017 Keynote
Steve Waskul and Disney Legend Floyd Norman on stage during the SIGGRAPH 2017 Keynote Fireside Chat
The keynote fireside chat was attended by a large audience who appreciated hearing about Floyd's life and experiences