8 sketchnotes from NextM / CopenX

This week I had the pleasure of attending NextM / CopenXRealities and sketchnote for 8 of the talks. My key take away is that people and experiences are still at the heart of new technology. This event had multiple stages at the same time, so I had to make quick choices where to be. A written summary of the highlights from each of these 8 talks will follow bellow each image.

Sketchnotes from the NextM Main stage

Rich Astley (Not to be confused with Rick Astley) from Finecast did a talk on Addressable TV which lead up to a panel discussion on the subject. They are now able to “hyper Target” which enables really specific adds for each device. Get ready for your ads on tv being as specific as those online… crazy! My key learning from this was that it is a good idea to make ads optional for an extra charge. That way the people can understand the cost of content without ads, noone really misses them when they are gone, but it is necessary for keeping the cost of the content low.

Jonathan Epstein from Sentient Ascend did a talk on evolution, covering the difference between Deep learning and evolutionary algorithm, making a case for Neuro Evolution because it is faster, you spend time on highest value tasks, it frees creativity and you can democratize.

Pascal Finette’s talk dove into giving concrete examples of the exponential growth we have seen, linking it to what we will likely see in the future. Like cancer is likely eradicated in the next 20 years, energy is free by 2040 and in the next 7 years Siri will likely become 128x times better… meaning she will be far smarter than us!

In the talk by Ryan Pulliam from ST (Specular Theory), she introduced 8 case examples of immersive technology for business and brands. Her key point was that you should give people a reason to put on the headset! Don’t just sell the hardware of VR + XR + AR + MR, sell experiences! You don’t make people come to the cinema by doing commercials for the outstanding audio experience. You create movies people want to see and lure people in through movie trailers! These immersive experiences have the unique ability to make you not just hear or see, but do! When you do something that really creates an impact, which is the whole premise behind the ‘Perspective series’ created by Specular Theory.

Peter Sunde Kolmisoppi is co-founder of The Pirate Bay, and his talk took us through some Pirate Bay history detailing his time as an activist trying to win the war of the internet, covering some of their biggest acts of trolling.

His key point is that the internet of today is creating trolls! Real life trolls. We need to realize that the internet and the real world is not separate worlds, but one world! He says that “We lost the war of the internet”, and when asked during Q&A what a young student within tech could do to help… he says there is no hope anymore. Pretty bleak statement. Another question during Q&A was what he would say to this room filled with people who work in advertising?. His answer was: “Quit your day job!”

Sketchnotes from the CopenXRealities Main stage

Andreas Cleve from Nordic.ai and Corti.ai took us beyond Alexa and voice accessed Ai (Artificial intelligence) systems, into making a case for iA (Intelligence Augmentation). Where an Ai is good for answering questions, you at the moment need humans to ask the right questions. He spoke of a case from the healthcare sector, where the emergency call receiver employee was enabled to save lives through having decision support that helps them spot heart attacks.

Alexander S. Lopera from Neurons Inc took us through Neuroscience research on VR. From testing  if meeting in VR is less stressful than through video or real life (Answer is yes, for introverts is makes a big difference), to testing peoples brain response to VR porn versus screen porn. That Lollipop in my drawing is not really a lollipop!

The talk by Peder Sandqvist and Filippos Arvanitakis took us through their 9 learnings from creating a lot of successful VR experiences. From keeping it simple and balancing the crazy with the known to being aware of the space around the experience as well, and the participants mindset

My sketchnote process review:

  • It was dark, very dark, during the talks at both of the stages. That is how most conference-goers prefer it I guess, unless you are taking notes like me. It took a few tries before I found a spot with a little bit of light, where I could also be able to read the text on the screens. I have good eyesight but it has its limits.
  • Another time I should really choose my itinerary a few days before, and factor in time for breaks and time to hang out in the conference hall.
  • I should practice my visual library for digital/technology/electricity.

My general review of the conference:

  • Food trucks, heck yeah! (Made all the better by sitting in the beautiful sunshine).
  • Really smart to have headphones for everyone at the talks in the open hall area.
  • Hourly meditation in the basement to balance out the conference buzz, nice!
  • Loved the NextM theme song and creative showreel of speakers – had to look up the song when I got home!
  • App for choosing your itinerary and reminding you where you need to be, great!