Entertainment and Emerging Technologies

A group of people are seated at a long table, engaged in conversation and enjoying a meal. The atmosphere appears to be a formal dinner or gathering, with place settings and drinks visible on the table. The lighting is dim, creating an intimate setting.

Stanford Frontier Technology Lab hosted a dinner salon at the private dining room of Nari in San Francisco. The dinner salon centered around lively discussions on the intersection of entertainment and emerging technologies. Leaders from entertainment, technology, and academia shared their thoughts on questions including:

Will the emergence of generative AI technologies outmode visual effects workers, or will it make VFX workers and computer-generated content even better than before?
What are the dominant trends and applications of wearable computing (e.g., VR/AR) that will emerge in the next five years?
How will NFTs be leveraged to create more engaging gaming experiences and to possibly share content across games?
What are the biggest barriers for consumers to adopt emerging entertainment technologies, and which new technologies are most likely to gain mass-market appeal?
What essential elements of the creative artistic process must be preserved in the face of these emerging technologies?

The event featured Stanford Frontier Technology Lab Faculty Co-Director and Professor of Electrical Engineering Gordon Wetzstein as a keynote speaker. Professor Wetzstein underscored the vast potential of wearable technologies like VR/AR and how these can impact entertainment.

Attendees included entertainment leaders and artists from UTA, Starz, Art Basel, Rotten Tomatoes, Bearcat Content, and Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment. Venture capitalists and technology leaders focused on VR/AR, web3, and generative AI were also in attendance.