Last weekend, on June 8 & 9, the first ever Miami VR Expo took place at the new Magic City Innovation District.
The Magic City Innovation District is a new 17-acre area in Little Haiti that includes the Magic City Innovation Center, a huge warehouse space for events.
According to Martin Bravo, Marketing & Research Manager at Metro 1, one of the development companies (along with Dragon Global, Plaza Equity Partners and Groupe Lune Rouge) behind Magic City Innovation District, the idea for the district is to revitalize the Little Haiti area, providing ground-breaking entertainment & art programming that focuses on sustainability, health & wellness, and the most innovative technology. Check out their video above.
One of the first events hosted at the new Magic City Innovation Center, the Miami VR Expo showcased upcoming Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) technology, and Mixed Reality (MR) connecting local leaders in various fields including the arts, education, entertainment, and even security.
The Moksha Family Arts Collective had a walk-in booth that guests could enter. Inside there were trippy paintings from the gallery and a VR experience of one of their parties. Ray Orraca, Director of the art collective in Litte Hait, gave participants a VR headset with a simulation of one of their events. One felt as though they were among a dancing crowd watching a live concert.
Artist Alissa Christine, Founder of LUVR, Worldwide VR and 3D Art Services, also presented her Virtual Reality innovations at a booth sponsored by Moksha. Attendees were able to experience walking through one of her paintings, which was full of colorful, psychedelic patterns including chakras. She also mentioned that she could take a body scan of an individual and he or she could walk through their own energetic fields. Pretty cool!
Technological leaders are also using innovative VR applications to make improvements is the fields of therapy and education. A group of students from Miami Senior High School along with their teacher Rudy Diaz created Social VR, which provides therapy for autistic kids. One of the students mentioned that the technology allows autistic students to be desensitized to certain environments like supermarkets so they can function in society and the classroom. 
Aside from the arts, entertainment, and education, VR technology is also being implemented in the use of drones for security, investigations, and even real estate. Jorge Cortes from Drone College explained that drones compliment many industries and that by “2025 there will be 100,000 new jobs servicing industries through drone application solutions.” The next frontier, Cortes mentioned, involves merging the technologies. “It will be a 100 billion dollar market over the next five years,” he said. Students can get their drone flight certification at the school, and the next courses begin in July. “It is great for people who want to start their own businesses or careers and an excellent way to position yourself with new skills for jobs in the 21st century.”
There will be a lot more to come in this exciting, emerging new field. It’s only getting started. Stay tuned for a photo gallery and videos of the event.
Miami Chronicles 