IQTVRA & VRMAG JOIN FORCES IN NEW ALLIANCE
by Michelle Bienias
The VRMAG/IQTVRA Alliance
The IQTVRA (International QuickTime Virtual Reality Association) and VRMAG are excited to announce that they have recently joined forces to better serve the VR community and work together to broaden the audience for VR media. The goal is to work together towards a higher profile of VRs in general, as well as giving members and the association another venue for communication and showcase for their talents.
As part of this alliance, the IQTVRA will now publish a regular column in VRMAG and VRMAG will create two areas on its site where association members can showcase their work in slightly different formats:
 The IQTVRA Gallery will be a listing of individual VRs submitted by members. Viewers will be able to quickly scan thumbnails and one line descriptive headings before clicking on the link to the VR, hosted by VRMAG.
The IQTVRA Showcase will be a repository of members? VR Tours, or groups of VRs linked together by common theme, map or hotlinks. Here, viewers will find thumbnails and a descriptive paragraph about the VR Tour. The links in the Showcase will be directly to the Tour on the members? websites.
Interested members can send their submissions, with descriptions, to: contact@vrmag.org
An Overview Of The IQTVRA
The IQTVRA and it's new board of directors are working to establish a platform under which it's members can benefit from the increased exposure of VR through various channels. A new mission statement and tag line were recently adopted to better represent the current state of the industry and the association?s goals.
Why join the IQTVRA?
Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of membership is the E-mail List, where members exchange ideas, receive tips and new product information, and ask technical or other questions. If there?s breaking news in the VR industry, you?ll hear about it here. Members are incredibly supportive, helping newbies with technical questions, supporting each other with legal advice on copyright issues, and discussing new VR websites and developments throughout the world. And with members in countries throughout the world, opinions and perspectives are never stale or boring.
Members enjoy lead referral from the IQTVRA website, as well as product discounts of up to 15% on QTVR-related products from leading companies such as Kaidan, Panoscan, Peace River Studios, Price/Western and VR Toolbox.
The IQTVRA also sponsors events where leading developers are given the opportunity to demonstrate their tools, members can network with others within the industry, and where everyone has a grand time. In addition, there?s an exclusive Members Only section of the site containing streaming video of technical demonstrations, marketing opportunities, and other resources.
Companies look to our members for feedback as they develop, refine, and market products. As a member, you are encouraged to help shape the future of QTVR.
Committees
The association is currently conducting member surveys and making preparations for upcoming events and membership promotions. Committees have been established and invitations to all members have been extended to participate.
Marketing Committee - Chaired by David Wagner
This committee's goal is to craft methods by which IQTVRA members can implement marketing efforts within their respective industry segments and to expand the overall awareness of interactive imaging and it's uses globally.
Education Committee - Chaired By Louise Kraniewicz
This committee's efforts will be to interface with educators and students to interject interactive imaging into curricula and provide a means in which to expose the uses of the technology in a variety of applications.
Conference Committee - Dennis Biela
This committee will assist Dennis in the planning and execution of our second International Conference to be held in October.
Exhibit Committee - Landis Bennett
This committee will oversee the panoramic print exhibit. See the IQTVRA web site for more details.
Membership Committee - Greg Downing
This committee will oversee the member retention and recruitment efforts of IQTVRA.
International Expansion - Jan van der Woning
This committee will undertake efforts to expand awareness and establish IQTVRA presence outside of North America.
Events - Michael Quan
This committee will oversee the participation of IQTVRA in trade shows, expos etc. We typically reserve space to exhibit and in some cases conduct seminars and/or provide speakers.
Those interested in participating in a specific committee or becoming a member of the IQTVRA are encouraged to contact Mike Price, IQTVRA president, at mike@sitetraffic.com
Print Gallery
The IQTVRA has launched a Panoramic Print Gallery that consists of panoramas from around the world, photographed by our diverse membership. Several of these panoramas are currently being exhibited at industry trade shows such as Photokina and Macworld Expos.
You can purchase high-quality prints of the panoramas that range from $200-305, plus shipping and handling. For example: William Donelson?s stunning Taj Mahal panorama ($230), Jan Van Der Woning?s twilight in Antartica ($230), Denis Gliksman?s Bora Bora ($230).
IQTVRA Board Members
Mike Price, Director/President.
Location: Houston, Texas
Mike is the new, recently elected President of the IQTVRA. He and his wife Laurie are partners at Sitetraffic.com, a 5-year-old interactive studio located in the Houston area. Mike has been involved with web technology since 1994, as the CEO of an Internet Service Provider and a real estate software applications service provider. His involvement with VR began in 1995. He joined Laurie full time in 2001 and has worked with her to expand the studio to include a wide base of service offerings for Travel, Tourism, Corporate Imaging and more.
Michael Quan, Director/Vice President Location: Somerville, Massachusetts
Michael has been a board member of the IQTVRA for several terms. He is president and founder of Interactive Tactical Group, Inc. of Boston, a security consulting firm. Michael got his start in VR when he produced the VR content of Harvard University's virtual tour.
Greg Downing, Director/Secretary
Location: California USA
Greg Downing has been photographing panoramas for six years. He worked at REALVIZ, where he contributed to the development of Stitcher 3.1, Image Modeler 3.0, and Sceneweaver 1.0. His specialty is travel panoramas and the convergence of 3D technology and panoramic photography. Greg has traveled to four continents on assignments and has developed techniques for creating 3D models of environments from panoramas. He has also been published in several major 3D animation magazines
Landis Bennett, Director
Location: Petaluma CA, USA
Landis Bennett has been exploring the realm of immersive imagery for 7 years, combining his two passions -- photography and computers. Landis enjoys the ability to show more of a location with a panorama than a traditional photograph and has been taking panoramas of his travels across North America. His website, 360Geographics, has hundreds of panoramas from all around the United States and Canada, showing tourist destinations as well as places off the beaten path.
Jim Anders, Director
Info to come.
Jan Van der Woning, Director
Location: Amsterdam, Holland
Jan van der Woning knew he wanted to become a photographer when he made his first picture at age sixteen; he became a professional at the age of 25 when he completed his studies at the Dutch Fotovakschool. He also studied at Hans Götze, now the Academy for Photography. Most of his work is commercial but in 1999 he started to make 360-degree panoramic images and the work shifted more to editorial and interactive photography for websites, CD-ROMs and DVDs. He speaks six languages, which has proven useful during his travels to Europe, North Africa, Central and South America. Jan likes to shoot landscapes and people. His favorite moment of the day is twilight and many of his pictures are taken in this short but beautiful period. His last big expedition was to the Antarctic as part of an art project, where the sunsets last for hours and Jan was in his element, having found his legendary El Dorado, city of gold.
IQTVRA Corporate Sponsors
Content Arts, Inc. is a New York City based digital imaging and VR production facility. Our combined total of 18 years of experience, along with state of the art digital panoramic cameras, allows Content Arts to meet the emerging need for advertising quality digital imagery and interactive production.
Early Productions specializes in producing superior traditional photography and immersive content for the automotive advertising industry and other commercial clients.
PawPrint360 provides Virtual Tours & digital photography for web, print, and media distribution. Our In-house production facilities include Web Design, Audio Recording and Post Production, and Interactive Media Production - we based in Vancouver BC Canada - but provide services world-wide.
Realitysmith provides immersive imaging photography and production services to innovative businesses and institutions worldwide. We serve as a resource for multimedia projects and interactive web content. Realitysmith creates high-quality, interactive object movies, panoramas and cubic VRs. We have extensive experience working with Internet and multimedia developers. We are well versed technically in the end-use of this technology, delivering images that are optimized for their intended use, whether on the Internet, CD-ROM or in kiosks.
Email: michelle@vrmag.org
Visit IQTVRA
official site
|  | |
| The purpose of this banner is to raise funds for a new VR community project VRMag will launch in a few months.
| |
