Matthias Wittmann, Visual Effects Supervisor, Digital Domain: Matthias Wittmann is a multi-award-winning digital human pioneer, and innovator with over 19 years of experience in the visual effects industry. Matthias has worked as an animator, supervisor, and developer on groundbreaking digital human projects across features, experiential and special programs at Digital Domain, where he has been an integral part of the team since 2004. Matthias brings his work a unique blend of artistic and technological expertise, including extensive body capture experience and deep knowledge of developing believable interactive autonomous virtual humans in real-time engines. Matthias’ work has garnered recognition from the industry, including a Visual Effects Society award for “Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture” for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a Grand Clio for “Virtual 2Pac – Coachella”, and a VES nomination for the character Thistlewit in “Maleficent.” In 2014, Matthias briefly left Digital Domain to explore his passion for real-time engines. He worked on creating interactive virtual celebrities for augmented reality and highly detailed interactive virtual humans for VR, first with MPC and later with Method EXP. Matthias returned to Digital Domain in 2019 to join the Digital Human Group and New Media department as a VFX Supervisor. In this role, he applies his skills to the development of the most advanced autonomous virtual human in the world, Zoey, utilizing Digital Domain’s proprietary tools and his extensive knowledge of Unreal Engine. Additionally, Matthias supervises projects involving interactive digital humans and is responsible for overseeing facial capture and scanning for features, episodic and more. Most recently, Matthias oversaw the facial scanning of actors for Supermassive Games’ and 2 K’s The Quarry, Tatiana Maslany (She-Hulk: Attorney at Law) and Corey Stoll (Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania). Despite his passion for art and a master in the arts of Kung Fu, Wing Chun, and Krav Maga, Matthias is constantly pushing the envelope in his field by embracing new and emerging technologies with the goal of creating life-like behaviors and appearances for digital humans. Matthias’ role at Digital Domain is integral to the company’s mission of making the impossible possible.

Susan Schneider, Founding Director, Center for the Future Mind., Florida Atlantic University (FAU): Susan Schneider writes about the nature of the self and mind, especially from the vantage point of issues in philosophy, AI, cognitive science and astrobiology. Before opening the Center for the Future Mind she held the NASA Chair with NASA and the Distinguished Scholar Chair at the Library of Congress. In her recent book, Artificial You: AI and the Future of the Mind, she discusses the philosophical implications of AI, and, in particular, the enterprise of "mind design." Schneider recently completed a three year project with NASA on the future of intelligence. She now works with Congress on AI policy. She is delighted to be the founding director of the Center for the Future Mind and co-director of the MPCR Lab at FAU's new Gruber Sandbox, a large facility which builds AI systems drawing from neuroscience research and philosophical developments. She also appears frequently on television shows on stations such as PBS and The History Channel (see below for clips). She writes opinion pieces for the New York Times, Scientific American and The Financial Times. Her work has been widely discussed in the media (see "media" above). She is currently working on a book on the shape of intelligent systems (for W.W. Norton). 

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, ViacomCBS: Ted spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the entertainment industry. Ted works across the leadership and the technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality and Web 3.0/ MetaVerse pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling, Ted was part of the creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes and Predator VR experiences at Fox, and at his current home at Paramount Pictures, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease Mixed Reality experience, the Light as a Feather mixed reality experience and the Quiet Place Virtual Reality experience to life. Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made a significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are now being shot with these ultra high resolution digital movie cameras. Ted is one of the founders and creators of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As one of the most recognized brands in that industry, they are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema, episodic television, sports and news production. In his role as Chief Creative Officer at Barco Escape, he spearheaded an experimental immersive cinema project for movie theaters worldwide. Titles include Paramount Pictures Star Trek Beyond and 20th Century Fox Maze Runner & Maze Runner 2. Before being part of the founding teams at Red Digital Cinema and G-Tech, Ted was on the team that developed and launched the Macintosh desktop video division of AJA Video Systems, creating professional video products in tandem with Apple. These products are used on a massive scale worldwide for video production and post at the highest levels, on many of the world’s biggest movies, TV series and sporting events. Ted has presented worldwide at numerous conferences on the advancements in next generation visual experiences for the movie, television and, interactive entertainment industries. He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Studio Daily, Videography, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and countless other publications discussing his areas of passion and exploration. In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame event with the Variety Innovation Award.

Hyperreal.io CEO and Chief Architect, Remington Scott, is known for his work on Academy Award winning VFX for blockbuster films and the biggest selling video games. His achievements include creating Gollum / Sméagol for Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy; he created the first photo-real digital humans in film for the Academy Award-winning VFX for Spider-Man 2; and the first motion captured theatrical feature film. Scott was named to The Wrap’s 2022 “Innovators List” for, among other efforts, “giving the Metaverse a soul.”  He is currently building the platform for ownership of digital identities of the worlds most recognized celebrities to monetize across Ai opportunities.

LORI H. SCHWARTZ is a true technology catalyst (‘Tech Cat’). As a leading advisor and speaker in marketing and tech innovation, Lori collaborates with executives of multiple brands, tech, and content companies to ensure their understanding of emerging content models. Los Angeles-based, Lori is a CNN Technology contributor. Lori’s StoryTech initiative facilitates communication between storytellers and technology companies. Their trends briefings, curation, and tour products have become well known globally through the work @CES, @NAB, @NATPE, and @IBC. Previously Lori was a Governor for the Television Academy’s Interactive Media Peer Group, driving thought leadership for the future of interactive media. She was Chief Technology Catalyst for McCann Worldgroup, North America where she drove tech and content innovation and was the key principle to launching the highly regarded IPGLAB where she facilitated emerging media upfronts for Microsoft, Intel, General Motors, Nestlé, and Sony. She has been profiled as one of the “30 Executives Shaping the Evolution of Media and Technology” by Variety and “100 People to Have Lunch With” by MediaPost Publications. An active spokesperson, Lori launched Digital Hollywood’s ‘Women’s Entertainment and Technology Mentor Program’ and is a recipient of the Lucy Hood Digerati Award for her contributions to the Television Academy.