Annual Emerging Communications Conference & Awards eComm 2010 to Feature World's First Commercial Augmented Reality Event

This year's third annual American edition of the Emerging Communications Conference & Awards (eComm 2010), to be held April 19 - 21 at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel, will feature the world's first commercial Augmented Reality Conference on day three, April 21. Lee S. Dryburgh, eComm 2010 organizer and chair, had set mobile augmented reality (AR) as one of the major event topics. However the volume of interest to participate is far beyond what was expected, said Dryburgh, calling it "once-in-a-decade level of interest."

Due to such extreme interest, it was decided that eComm day three will be dedicated to mobile AR and that tickets will be made available separately. Interest levels show no signs of slowing even though the day has been expanded to 12 hours. Gartner Research has identified Augmented Reality as one of the top 10 most disruptive new technologies.

In support of the initiative, Hartmut Neven, lead engineer for Google Goggles, will open the day with a keynote address entitled "Searches Originating Inside and Outside of Your Head."

Discounted "early bird" registration is available until March 8, with the opportunity to save $300 off the onsite registration fee.

"We want to make the physical world our platform and to accelerate the AR industry. The best way of doing that is to bring together the thought leaders who wish to spur AR onto the mass market with the communication-innovation community which our eComm audience represents, the most-influential smartphone developers, and the early-stage venture capital community," said Dryburgh.

Dryburgh said recent developments in mobile AR are "on par with the first hypertext web browser or the introduction of the digital cellular phone. Its introduction may be as significant as the introduction of the Internet itself; moving computers off desks and out of their separate modality into our lives. AR will define a new interactive relationship between mobile users and their surroundings."

The dedicated AR day will stage the thought leaders and pioneers bringing the first tangible platforms, services and products to market. It's expected that mobile operators, handset manufacturers, smartphone developers, technology strategists, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists will show strong event attendance.

Sponsors of eComm 2010 so far include Voxeo (Platinum), Global IP Solutions (Gold), MetaSwitch (Gold) and Aculab (Lanyards).

Full details about the conference are available at http://america.ecomm.ec/2010/. For online registration, visit http://america.ecomm.ec/2010/register.php.

Keywords: AT&T, Airlines, Audio and Video, Cellular Phone, Computers, Consumer Electronics, Finance, Internet, Investing, Investment, Leisure, Mobile and Wireless, San Francisco Airport, Software, Technology, Telecommunications, Transportation, Venture Capital, VoIP.

This article was prepared by Telecommunications Weekly editors from staff and other reports.