A Week at SXSW with Lux Aeterna
Every March some of the world’s top artists, creators and tech companies gather in Austin for SXSW festival, a showcase of art, technology and experimentation in the heart of Texas.
This year our CEO Rob Hifle and Creative Technologist James Pollock went to demonstrate some of the recent work we’ve been doing with a particular focus on AI and its development. Here are some of their highlights from a great week across the pond.
UK House showcase
On Tuesday 12th March James took part in the ‘From experimentation to impact – Creative uses of AI in the wild’ session at the Downright Austin Hotel, where he stressed the importance of conscious decision making when working with cutting edge technology, and finding ways to constrain and control such an enabling technology to put it back in the hands of the artist.
Rob also had a busy day taking part in the ‘Pioneering the future of creative technologies - from AI to XR’ session where he spoke how we have been utilising MyWorld funding for research and development, helping us to explore new opportunities and grow as a company. Joining Rob on the panel were Jessica Driscoll, Andrew Chitty, Mark Leaver, and Sarah Ticho.
Immersive Futures Lab
Rob and James had a great time taking part in the Immersive Futures Lab showcase and were able to have lots of interesting conversations with folks from across the creative industries and beyond explaining about the UK VFX industry. Rob spoke about how Lux Aeterna have implemented the funding and support from MyWorld to create a dedicated research and development team.
AI
Unsurprisingly one of the big topics at this year's SXSW was the development of AI and its uses in creative industries and beyond. Rob and James caught some of the many talks on AI, with there being lots of focus on how to approach these technologies in a safe, responsible way.
James and Rob were excited to hear about how other creative studios had been working with AI and what their experience had been, including Target3D, who had combined conversational AI with a digital human to create an interactive "composite metahuman" named "Kai".
Cultural Highlights
Alongside the innovative technology and latest research, SXSW is also full of great films and music, with a particular focus on emerging artists. Some of the Lux Aeterna highlights were Rob attending a screening of the excellent Kneecap and then bumping into the director Rich Peppiatt for a chat.
There was some amazing poster artwork on display at Flatstock '92, with James picking up a few pieces for his flat. They also saw loads of incredible bands, more than a few from the UK. James really enjoyed seeing Dream Nails, Hot Garbage and Dry Cleaning. Rob's music highlight was seeing The Beatbox Collective, he enjoyed seeing The Manatees and Ash too. And most importantly they both had some amazing local food; enchiladas, quesadillas and tacos.
Want to find out more about our work? Check out our services or contact us.