In science fiction, technologist, and futurism circles, author Neal Stephenson is someone akin to a prophet. In his influential 1992 novel, Snow Crash, Stephenson predicted the metaverse (heck, even coining the term), avatars, cryptocurrencies and some socio-political trends as well. Recently, Stephenson partnered with Bitcoin Foundation co-founder and venture capitalist Stephenson to build a blockchain, Lamina1, intended to help create the “fabric of the open metaverse.”
Given his background, both as an author about the metaverse and now helping to build its foundation, it makes perfect sense why Neal Stephenson is keynoting at the upcoming Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2023. AWE 2023 focuses on extended reality (XR), which includes virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), the metaverse, haptics and other overlapping technologies helping to underwrite the growth of XR.
Neal Stephenson joins about four hundred speakers, who include:
- Peggy Johnson, CEO, Magic Leap
- John Riccitiello, CEO, Unity Technologies
- Hugo Swart, VP & GM, XR, Qualcomm
- Chi Xu, CEO, Nreal
- Shelley Peterson, Director – Principal Program Manager, Microsoft
AWE 2023 will take place May 31st to June 2nd in Santa Clara, CA. AWE 2023 organizers expect over 5,000 attendees as well as 300 global exhibitors to participate. Check out the AWE 2023 website for more information about the agenda, registration, and more.
