A conference focusing on innovation, imaging and optics is one of the events bringing people to downtown Rochester this week.
The Light and Sound Interactive Conference (LSI) is attracting an eclectic mix of people involved in multimedia, gaming, education and technology to the center city.
It’s the second time the Light and Sound conference has been held here; the first time was in 2017.
A lot of big names are involved in this conference, including staffers from Facebook, Microsoft and the Department of Defense.
Tracy Armstrong is Director of Logistics and Events for the conference.
“Bringing together technologists, and research folks that fall within the disciplines of AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), games and interactive media, optics, photonics and imaging, audio and sound and cinema; bringing them into Rochester, introducing them to the wonderful things and companies that we have here and vice-versa,” Armstrong said.
Niantic is one of the gaming companies represented at the conference, they are known for the game Pokemon Go, among others.
Trinidad Hermida is Niantic’s first Diversity and Inclusion Program Manager.
She notes that customers of the company’s games come from all over the world from all kinds of cultures.
“Because our player base is so diverse, we want to make sure that the people who are creating our games are able to really capture their desires; and so this is definitely top of mind, if the focus is something that we’re very excited about,” Hermida said.
The Light and Sound Conference is presented by a number of organizations including the University of Rochester, RIT, Empire State Development and the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. It runs through Thursday at Parcel 5 and in the Sibley Building.
