Check out the Schedule of Daily Panels and Panelists at FIVARS 2018 available to all wristband holders

FIVARS 2018 | Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories

CANADA’S ORIGINAL VIRTUAL REALITY + AUGMENTED REALITY STORIES FESTIVAL

VRTO (Virtual Reality, Toronto) and Constant Change Arts and Technology Initiative present the critically-acclaimed International Festival of Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Stories for its fourth year, bigger and better than ever. The 3-day experience took place at the historic Matador Ballroom–a venue that will be reopening after a decade long rest for this exclusive engagement!

Who should come: Film enthusiasts, families, travelers, adventurers, programmers, philosophers, punks, activists, experimenters, students, teachers, journalists, and technologists will all find something to inspire, motivate and experience.

Tickets are CAD $42 and $50 at the door + HST
There are 3 Days from Which to Choose:
Friday, Saturday and Sunday September 14th-16th, 2018

Tickets are sold for 2-hour blocks for total 80 minutes of viewing, to be selected by you, in person, at the event.

Your ticket gets you a colored wristband, and an 80 minute RipTix paper ticket that includes 8x 10-minute squares to be redeemed in exchange for programme material of equivalent value. That is DOUBLE the viewing time as previous years for the same price!

For example:
– A 14-minute VR experience will be worth 2x 10-minute squares.
– An 8-minute VR experience will be worth 1x 5-minutes squares
– A 3-minute VR experience will be worth 1x 5-minute square

Please arrive at least 15 mins early or on time, as your ticket will expire at the end of the hour for which your ticket was purchased. You will not be allowed access to VR exhibits for hours for which you do not have a ticket.

Separately, your wristband will also grant you access to General Panels and presentations for ANY day during which FIVARS is happening from 4-5pm EST, on a FIRST COME basis, so long as there is available space (Panels will be limited to 50 person audience) but will also be recorded for later viewing.

Due to the carefully timed system, created to minimize wait-times, there are NO refunds for latecomers. No exceptions.

PLEASE PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE DAY & TIME BLOCK ON YOUR TICKET NAME BEFORE AND AFTER PURCHASING. TICKETS MAY APPEAR AS A THREE DAY EVENT BUT YOU WILL ONLY HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR 2 HOUR BLOCK PURCHASE AND THE DAILY MIDDAY TALKS. NO EXCEPTIONS.

YOU MAY PURCHASE TICKETS FOR ADDITIONAL 2 HOUR BLOCKS SEPARATELY IN ADVANCE OR AT THE DOOR.

This event is for ages 10+. Some experiences are 18+ or require the consent of a guardian.

ps. FIVARS is pronounced FIVE-are-sss

The Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories focuses on curating the best immersive story-driven content from around the world with the aim of exploring and nurturing this platform for new narrative forms. FIVARS is the first Canadian festival of its kind featuring many world premieres and in our preview screenings and events, audience responses are consistently full of contemplation, surprise, delight, controversy and wonder.

As with the modern cinema experience, through Virtual Reality, we can explore truth, happiness, sadness, and the science fiction that will be tomorrow’s science fact. 

The difference is that, unlike modern cinema where you explore these worlds through a window, with Virtual Reality you can now transport into the center of the action, standing inside of the world you wish to explore. Just like real life, if you try to look away from what is in front of you, you will now see what is behind, below, above, to the right or left of you. 

The real-time response of your head’s movement creates a powerful sense of physical immersion that allows you or your intended audience to connect to the content on a deeper, more visceral level.

FIVARS (Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Stories) openly encourages viewers to enjoy and connect to stories in this newly emergent narrative form, while challenging content creators to showcase ideas that defy and transcend the status quo.

At the festival, there is also an opportunity to share conversations both with our team and other industry members in attendance to discuss how to take part in this snowballing revolution in tech, entertainment, research and information sharing.

The Festival is directed and curated by Keram Malicki-Sanchez ( IMDB, Wikipedia, LinkedIn). The production manager is Chrissy Aitchison. Stephanie Greenall of Mothership Inc manages community outreach, partnerships and event production. Josh Miles Joudrie covers audio-visual responsibilities.

FIVARS grew through the hard work of many people. Some of those include Joseph Ellsworth, Jessy Blaze, Candace Steinberg, Meg D’acosta, Sarah Bradley, Elvira Sanchez de Malicki, Toya Sanchez Jankowski, Marek Malicki, Adriel Malicki-Sanchez, Gibrian Malicki-Sanchez, Melanie Smith, Corina Death, Rory Wicks, Yoka Makaewa, Jason Spanu, Jeffrey Lynn Damon, Laura Bunce and our many wonderful volunteers.

FIVARS 2018 Owl art created in VR by Vladimir Ilic. All rights reserved.

FIVARS is a presentation of VRTO – Toronto’s virtual reality meetup group and think tank.