About _ Places

About _ Places

The Places _ Virtual Reality Festival is Germany’s first and largest freely accessible and free festival for virtual reality. The festival will enter its third round in 2021.The Places _ VR Festival is aimed equally at a professional audience, but especially at a broad public audience, and has been taking place in Gelsenkirchen-Ückendorf since 2018. The festival is a meeting point for the German and European VR industry as well as a contact point for many people interested in VR.

We make VR and AR technologies accessible to anyone. At the same time we are a place to test, learn and discover, exchange and network.

A wide-ranging programme awaits you in extraordinary urban locations: from Experience _ Places to speakers, panels, talks, workshops and the Creative _ Places art-in-residence programme, the Places _ Hackathon to the DIVR Science Award. All this is waiting to be discovered at the Places _ VR Festival 2021.

Programme highlights

A diverse programme awaits you in extraordinary locations:

places-2021-pfeil-unten

Review: Check out the 2020 edition

Why Places _ VR Festival?

Extended Reality technologies offer more than entertainment and gimmicks these days. After the hype comes the added value – and this becomes visible and tangible at the Places _ VR Festival.
The Places _ VR Festival 2021 makes VR and AR technologies experienceable, shows trends and offers a place for creative exchange and discussion in the middle of the Metropole Ruhr.
Since 2018, the festival has been an important platform for the German and European VR industry.

(c) Places _ VR Festival / Medienmalocher, Ravi Sejk

In 2020, we had to break new ground and were able to organise a festival under strict hygiene regulations. That’s how we finally hostet one of the year’s most highly attended hybrid VR events. We will continue on this path of a community-driven festival in 2021 and invite active and diverse networks and communities from all over Germany to Gelsenkirchen.
The third Places _ VR Festival will take place from 16 to 18 September 2021 – we look forward to seeing you and are excited for you becoming part of the Places _ VR Festival!

Freigeist at the Places _ Start-Up-Pitch

Freigeist at the Places _ Start-Up-Pitch

The Places _ VR Festival in 2020 offers new events in the whole city quarter, in addition to the well-known program parts such as the VR _ Hackathon, the DIVR-Science-Award or the Experience _ [...]

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The idea of a community driven festival

The idea of a community driven festival

When we talk to possible partners, sponsors or supporters about the festival, the explanation of what we are actually doing here always starts the same way. For one thing: We are not a fair, the [...]

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Understanding clinical depression using VR

Understanding clinical depression using VR

What do the approximately 4.5 million people suffering from clinical depression in Germany feel? What do the approximately 10,000 people who take their own lives each year think? With the Virtual [...]

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