Ana Herruzo To Deliver Keynote Speech At 2022 SMPTE Media Technology Summit

SMPTE®, the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has announced that Ana Herruzo, an architect, interactive designer, and educator working at the leading edge of emerging and computational media, will deliver the keynote at the 2022 SMPTE Media Technology Summit, Oct. 24-27, in Hollywood, California.

"Emerging forms of media can be powerful tools for exploring the boundaries of entertainment, the arts, and architecture, and Ana has a rare depth of experience working with these tools across multidisciplinary projects," said SMPTE Executive Director David Grindle. "Through her academic research and her leadership of award-winning professional productions, she has gained remarkable insight into experiential design, extended realities, and other applications that leverage computational media in fresh, innovative ways. I'm thrilled that she is joining us as the keynote speaker for the 2022 SMPTE Summit."

Herruzo's presentation, "Enhancing Creative Disciplines Through Emerging Computational Media Tools," will focus on multiple immersive experiences and interactive environments and their ideation and production pipelines, which rely on emerging computational media tools including real-time graphics, computer vision, machine learning algorithms, and new XR tools. Her presentation also will highlight possible ethical incursions that can take place as people use new technologies in creative practices, providing a foundation for further discussion and development of ethical frameworks in the technological arts.

"In emerging media practices, the design and aesthetics of the digital experience are becoming paramount, which means that collaboration between engineers and designers is vital," said Herruzo. "Advances in technology and engineering significantly enable the creation, expansion, and diversification of creative and artistic practices. When applied to creative disciplines, these advances in computing and new engineering techniques can greatly enhance the public's engagement. I know that SMPTE has long been attuned to these connections across the arts and sciences, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge and perspective on emerging forms of media and their role in enabling future immersive and interactive experiences."

Herruzo has more than 10 years of experience working with new media tools, and her professional focus is the incorporation of lighting, audio, and video with the physical environment and human interaction. Synthesizing disciplines, she creates spatial experiences for a wide range of applications and audiences such as art installations, live music events, film, and architecture.

Herruzo is co-founder of the art collective NaiveLaser and of the interactive agency VirtuLabs, where she brings creative talent as well as technical direction and engineering skills to multidisciplinary projects. She previously worked as an interactive engineer at leading creative studio Obscura Digital, where she led the development of large-scale productions including immersive experiences, real-time visuals, audio-reactive event pieces, interactive multidisplays, and multitouch installations. Herruzo has worked directly with clients including NASA, Google, Nike, Spotify, and Warner Bros., and she has led projects that have earned awards and recognition on a global scale.

In her interdisciplinary research, Herruzo focuses on experiential design, extended realities, and emerging media ethics. She is an associate professor at Arizona State University within the new Media and Immersive eXperience (MIX) Center. She earlier served as director of the Applied Computer Science - Media Arts department at Woodbury University in Los Angeles and as an instructor at educational institutions such as University of Texas in Austin and University of California, Los Angeles. She holds a Ph.D. in architectural communication, a Master of Architecture from the ETSAM (Madrid, Spain), and a Master of Design Research with a focus on new media -arts from SCI-Arc (Los Angeles, California). She has exhibited and published widely on her research topics.

The 2022 SMPTE Summit, presented by title sponsor Blackmagic Design, will bring the best minds in the industry together to explore the most exciting advancements in media and entertainment technology. Drawing a select group of CTOs, chief engineers, content producers, and researchers — and even top students — from around the globe, the Summit will give attendees access to the change-makers leading the industry forward.

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