The ever-famous TED conference kicks off on February 15th in Vancouver, Canada and this year will feature The VOID mixed reality VR experience, including the latest hardware from the company.

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See Also: The Void’s 2K ‘Rapture’ VR Headset with Curved OLED Displays

We’ve seen The Void in action several times over the course of its development, but it’s stop at the TED 2016 conference will be the debut of the experience with the company’s custom-built ‘Rapture’ hardware in action, including the Rapture Haptic Vest, Rapture Tracking and Rapture HMD (co-developed with Optimal Design).

The Void, which merges virtual reality experiences with a large physical stage, has created a stage and experience that will be deployed at TED 2016 conference next month where several thousand attendees will have the opportunity to step inside. The company teases the experience: “TED attendees will be able to feel the mist of ancient caverns, use a torch to light their way through mystical puzzles and discover a legend all while exploring the dangers and mysteries of an ancient temple.”

TED, an annual conference series focusing on technology, entertainment, and design, brings influential speakers to the stage to convey powerful ideas in short presentations. While the starting ticket price is a whopping $8,500, the non-profit conference makes presentations available for free online.

See Also: First Hands-on: The VOID, a Mixed Reality Experience That Blends Real and Virtual
See Also: First Hands-on: The VOID, a Mixed Reality Experience That Blends Real and Virtual

“THE VOID is pioneering a new form of cinematic virtual reality,” said Katherine McCartney, Director of Operations at TED’s Vancouver office. “We’re excited to bring them to TED’s annual conference and give our attendees an early opportunity to experience this bold new form of entertainment first-hand.”

Among a diverse group of speakers at TED 2016, from scientists to musicians to dancers, the conference will also feature presentations focusing on virtual and augmented reality. Chris Milk, the founder of VR production studio VRSE, will take to the stage as well as Meron Gribetz, CEO of augmented reality company Meta.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • marijneken

    This is the second time now that I’ve seen the term ‘Mixed Reality’ used to describe the experience of The VOID. Please stop doing that. It’s wrong.
    This term was coined a little over a year ago (at least that’s when I became aware of it), and its purpose was to distinguish between Augmented Reality and this new form of mixing reality and the virtual world, that we see in devices like the Microsoft Hololens. Mixed Reality means you can see reality (through see-through glasses) with a projected virtual world on top of that, which aligns with the real world. Augmented Reality on the other hand, just means you see information superimposed with no real relation to the real world (like Google Glass).
    What The VOID is offering, is pure and simply called Virtual Reality. They’ve added a physical component to it, but you’re still closed off from the real world as far as your eyes are concerned.
    I was glad we just gained another term to easily distinguish these new technologies, so please don’t muddle it up so soon! ;-)