lab3

Lab3 cofounder launches AR-focused meetup in Orlando

marcosantana77@gmail.com (Marco Santana) — Mon, 23 May 2022 19:52:23 GMT

Lab3 cofounder Kyle Morrand hosted the first-ever meetup of a group in Orlando that will focus on augmented reality and creating a Central Florida group for those working in and enthusiastic about the Metaverse.

AWE Nite Orlando's Metaverse Mixer drew dozens of tech professionals for its first event, which was hosted by Graffiti Junktion in downtown Orlando. The event marked one of the first for Orlando's tech community since the coronavirus pandemic essentially shut down meetups. High-profile technology companies that have been growing their presence in Orlando, such as Unity and Red 6, were represented at the mixer. They attended alongside representatives from smaller tech companies in Central Florida, a goal of Morrand's in creating the group.

In the leadup to the event, Morrand highlighted Orlando's strength in Metaverse-related businesses and industries.

"Healthcare, tourism, simulation, attractions, gaming, and more - Orlando is home to amazing industries that drive their growth and innovation through the use of game engines, XR Hardware, AI and other frontier technologies."

The group has three goals as it develops and establishes a regular meetup:

Educate on the metaverse and the core technologies that will bring it to life ✨
Explore practical applications and innovations that our region is well-equipped to build ✨
Shine a light on all of our wonderful gaming and XR talent that have been building in XR for years ✨

Keep your eye on this site for more.

Steamroller Studios Names Hollywood Veteran CEO

Thu, 21 Apr 2022 20:24:26 GMT

Hollywood veteran Aaron Gilman, who worked with acclaimed effects studio WETA Digital on films like Iron Man, The Hobbit and Avatar, named CEO.

You may not know Aaron Gilman personally. But you'd almost have to have actively tried to avoid his work to have missed it. The Hollywood veteran's credentials match up against any in the industry's recent history.

Hellboy. The Avengers. Iron Man. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. The Hobbit.

Now, he adds CEO of Steamroller Animation to his resume. The Mt. Dora-based studio announced Gilman's promotion from chief creative officer to CEO this week. Cofounder Jalil Sadool will shift roles, as well, moving into Gilman's former position.

"Steamroller got to a point where I did feel we were growing so fast and I could see we were going to get to the vision, but we were weakening ourselves as we were going," Sadool said in a video the company shared announcing the news.

"I felt we needed to bring in somebody who could fulfill the role of making sure our foundation is really strong."

Steamroller hired Gilman about a year ago.

"I love the talent on our teams in this company," he said in the video. "I'm just really excited to grow it and develop it and find awesome ways for it to be incredibly successful."

Why We Started lab3 in Downtown Orlando

Wed, 20 Apr 2022 20:24:26 GMT

If you launch a startup in Orlando but don't tell anyone...

Does it make a sound?

It's an ages-old saying: "If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

I'm here to answer that question with a resounding, "Yes."

Take Orlando's tech community, for example. In recent weeks and months, we have seen successes that have made this one of the hottest tech communities around. Coverage of Stax, Home Lending Pal and Fortress Information Security has been extensive. However, even as great news outlets like Orlando Business Journal trumpet our victories with its relatively new "Orlando Inno" product, there still are some news items that fall under the radar.

I'm here to say that is a good thing.

It's not that news outlets are not constantly connected to the community, doing what they can to learn of the latest news. Heck, I have been doing that under the radar for my own news outlet. But when an ecosystem starts to flourish and news seemingly comes at 1,000 miles an hour, it'll definitely take more than a couple of outlets to keep up. In fact, the best tech ecosystems are those that have so much good news happening that the outlets can't keep up.

It's why we want to throw our Lab3 blog into the mix as an outlet that shares the community's wins. We want to be a resource for the community, as well, with future plans that we will announce soon. It would be counter-productive for a community our size to position something like this as even 0.1% competitive with the ones already doing the work.

No, instead, this is an unofficial partnership, as far as we are concerned.

In the near future, we'll highlight the principals that launched this in the interest of transparency. You might know Kyle Morrand, John Laster, and Troy Murray from their involvement in Orlando tech. But, for now, we want to hear about and share your wins. We want you to join us as we build this into a community-driven effort.

There is more news ahead in the coming months about Lab3, how you can get involved, how we plan to integrate ourselves seamlessly into the community and how we hope to grow the volume of our tech community. For now, however, let us know how we can help amplify your story.