As 2016 kicked off the noise being made about VR was at a fever pitch. The topic of VR was far and away the most buzzed about at the Consumer Electroncs Show held in January, and with the Game Developers Conference fast approaching, AMD was looking for to make an entrance into the VR market in a big way. Working with Willis Collaborative, AMD planned and executed the first in a series of major events dubbed “Capsaicin”, pairing phenomenal content and speakers with a big post-event party.
The inaugural Capsaicin event was held at the famous Ruby Sky nightclub, just a short walk from the Game Developers Conference. A packed house heard from top AMD executives, including CEO Lisa Su and Radeon Technologies Group head Raja Koduri, and a roster of partners about every facet of the VR landscape and AMD’s involvement at each point.
Gaming companies including Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA DICE, Crytek, Square Enix, Stardock Games and Creative Assembly discussed their work in bringing games and VR applications to consumers harnessing AMD technology. The Associated Press talked about their efforts to tell stories through VR. Practical Magic and FOX discussed their efforts to bring extend the world of movies into VR for fans to experience. And HTC, Oculus and HP talked about the state of VR hardware in enabling these companies to do the great work they’re doing, while AMD launched the world’s fastest graphics card in the Radeon Pro Duo to power new VR content creation and consumption.
The event was attended by media, analysts and developers from around the world, culminating in thousands of stories highlighting AMD’s leadership in VR. It also set the tone for future Capsaicin events, events that soon followed in Macao in the summer, and at SIGGRAPH in August, with the same potent combination of compelling content and post-event party.
Willis Collaborative played an instrumental role in planning and executing all content for the event, including event content and stage graphics, and media materials around the event.
Willis Collaborative played an instrumental role in planning and executing all content for the event, including event content and stage graphics, and media materials around the event.