With E3 so dangerously close, it is hard to remember that it is one of many gaming and tech-related conferences. And this year, DualShockers took a trip to a new one for us: AT&T Shape 2018. While other conferences tend to focus either primarily on technology, gaming, filmmaking, or the eSports scene, AT&T Shape merges those concepts together. What does emerging tech mean for all three of those markets?
This is the third year for AT&T Shape; the first Tech & Entertainment Expo occurred in 2016 with Director Kathryn Bigelow and Actress Kate Hudson taking center stage. This year, set to the backdrop of Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, California, Ready Player One was a key draw with a ton of the film’s talent — both in front of and behind the camera — making an appearance.
Even more interesting than the actual panels was the technology that supports them. While many people reading this obviously saw Ready Player One, AT&T Shape 2018 put a spotlight on both the tech in and behind the film. While virtual reality may seem like 2017’s buzz word, there was more than a few major developments in the field we got to explore on the scene. Even more interesting to core gamers was the exploration into motion capture — i.e. mo-cap — technology that fuels most of the cinematic experiences we see in gaming.
Also in the gallery below, you will see some of the newly-revealed tech that has been revealed pre-E3. Namely, the Razer Blade 15 which is a beautiful reimagining of the already gamer-friendly line of gaming laptops. Oh, and some Fortnite — this is a more mainstream convention overall, do you have to feature what’s popular.
While we work on our hands-on experiences from attendees like Razer, Samsung, and HTC, check out the gallery below of our weekend excursion into the current tech scene for filmmaking, eSports, and everything in-between:
On Scene Reporting: Greg Contaldi, Contributor