Frontiers Day

Experience cutting edge interactive demos by some of the region’s top immersive and CreaTech businesses. Meet the teams behind Coventry and Warwickshire Exchange (CWX) and CreaTech Frontiers, and discover more about the £3.8m grants available to businesses for CreaTech, immersive and games.

Welcome to Frontiers Day: Hayley Pepler (Frontiers Executive Director) and Karen Newman (Frontiers Creative Director)
Opening Remarks:
Richard Billingham, Chief Operating Officer at Aston University
Kim Leary, TechWM Board & Founder, Squibble

Amelia Kallman is a leading London futurist, speaker and author who speaks regularly about AI adoption and the tech trends shaping the future. Named one of the Top 20 World-Leading Futurists, as well as one of the Top 25 Women in the Metaverse, she is a mentor and activist in the responsible tech movement, currently writing her third book.

15 minute break.

Panel: Future Content (Altered States)

What does the future of Extended Reality (XR) look like? How will tech alter our sense of reality, and change how we experience together? This panel discusses the mind altering tech changing the way we think, feel and remember, and its creative future applications for leisure, love and life.

Karen Newman (Moderator), Founder of BOM / Frontiers Creative Director

Blake Kammerdiener, Director of XR, SXSW

Tre Azam, Founder of MyndPlay

Ravi Deepres, Artist / Professor of Moving Image at BCU

Michael Candy, Artist

With £11m investment into the West Midlands CreaTech, immersive and games sectors (£3.8m of which is available through grants), the region has an unprecedented opportunity to grow its capability and position itself as a stand out centre of excellence, competing like no other. But what’s needed to build an ecosystem for long-term, equitable growth? And what does success (and failure) look like? This question time with businesses from across the region will set out the change we want to see.

Speakers:

Asha Easton (Moderator) Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network

Miriam Beresford, Lead for CWX

Lamberto Coccioli, Lead for CreaTech Frontiers

Mark Ashfield, Founder, Engage Lime

Malcolm Barnes, Director, Hollywood Gaming

A 1 hour lunch break.

Panel: Future Places (World Building)

With the blur between virtual and real world building, how do we design spaces for future generations to play and connect? How is a city’s identity shaped by its culture, and how does content such as video games contribute to a city’s evolving narrative?

Speakers:

Mikayla Sinead (Moderator), Executive Board Member of Create Central

Melodie Leung, Director, Zaha Hadid Architects

Amahra Spence, Founder and CEO of Hood Futures Studio

Pauline Roche, Journalist and open data advocate

15 minute break.

How do we unlock new green and blue spaces in a city entrenched in its industrial past, and reverse engineer a city’s dormant assets to create a vibrant new cultural offer? From a proposed SkyPark to a sustainable transport system along the canals creating access between Digbeth’s burgeoning creative industries and underserved communities, this panel explores how clever engineering, green tech and data could help us decarbonise the city and create a world class destination to drive tourism.

Speakers:

David Milton (Moderator), Entrepreneur in Residence at Warwick Manufacturing Group

Henriette Breukelaar, Director of the Canal and River Trust

Simon Delahunty-Forrest, Director of Planning at Birmingham City Council

Bob Ghosh, Architect, BG Projects

Professor Francis Pope, Environmental Scientist, University of Birmingham

Rachel Jackson, Managing Partner, NOKAMO

As Birmingham prepares to host the Invictus Games in 2027, this session explores how pioneering innovation in robotics and adaptive design is helping disabled competitors take part in sports. Hear from paralympic athlete and COO of the Invictus Games Sonia Howe, and discover the human exoskeleton robot created by Canadian company Human In motion, as it goes through clinical trials.

Speakers:

Rachel Farrer (Moderator) Creative Industries Consultant

Sonia Howe, Paralympic Athlete / COO of Invictus Games

Siamak Arzanpour, Founder, Human in Motion

Signposting towards Mixer Drinks Reception and Water Bots performance.

BOM has commissioned Australian artist Michael Candy to create a trio of illuminated, swimming sculptures that take inspiration from the Victorian canal systems of the West Midlands. The Water Bots respond to their environment with colour changing lights and steam, as they navigate the region’s waterways. This series of captivating public events will debut with a special premiere on Frontiers Day. Their maiden voyage promises to be a magical spectacle and a highlight of the Tech Week programme, celebrating the region’s innovation blending art, engineering and technology.

See more info on the Water Bots here.