NEED TO KNOW SXSWi in Austin Mar 9, 2012 7:00 PM

On March 9, 2012, PSFK, in partnership with discovery engine Bing, will host an evening of inspirational talks and discussion about the future of interactivity. The PSFK: NEED TO KNOW: SXSWi event will feature commentary from five thought leaders addressing the 2012's emerging trends as identified by PSFK. Please see specific event details below.

Agenda:

7pm - Doors Open

7:30pm - Talks start

8:30 - Drinks & ConversationOpen cocktail bar and hors d' oeuvres.

TOPICS & SPEAKERS

Social PairingPeople with similar interests, hobbies and needs can get to meet today through smart services that use a mix of social, location, and demographic data to match profiles. Networks are looking at their members' profiles on their site and across the social graph and link people based on interests, needs and location. Speaker: TBDPeer-to-Peer CommunicationToday, a growing number of people are trading items and favors between each other. Digital technology allows anyone to find an object or service they need when they want it, where they want it. Rather than finding them at retailers and corporations, these items are often found in the hands of other people-sometimes neighbors, sometimes likeminds a great distance away. Speaker: TBDPersonalized Entertainment ChannelsViewers are suffering from content overload and there is a growing need for services that help curate people's entertainment libraries. By identifying and analyzing the preferences pulled from an individual's interest graph, the topics trending within their social networks and direct recommendations from their peers, new platforms are creating personalized entertainment channels that streamline the process of managing existing content, while aiding in the discovery of new music, videos, books, and other media. Speaker: TBDVoice and Sounds As InterfaceThe next evolution of natural user interfaces sees voice and audio recognition technologies capable of reacting to spoken commands and audio cues, enabling people to perform a wider variety of instant, hands-free operations from searching for information to surfing the channels. Future advances in this technology point to emerging applications in areas ranging from security to personal health. Speaker: TBDGaming For GoodFueled by the ability to connect and gather players from across the world and motivate them to participate by injecting competitive aspects and rewards into structured play, games are growing up and being seen as agents of change. The ability to scale enables these platforms to prompt positive action and overcome challenges on both an individual and societal level with implications for a growing number of areas from science and medicine to education and the environment. Whether improving health, fundraising for charity or solving previously unsolvable problems, games are encouraging personal and social good. Speaker: TBD