Avatars help save QODE from coronavirus

Queensland's cutting edge technology conference has been opened up to the army of at-home workers, going virtual rather than close in the face of the coronavirus shutdown.

Queensland's cutting edge technology conference has been opened up to the army of at-home workers, going virtual rather than close in the face of the corona shutdown, and including a world-first avatar convention area.

QODE organiser Jackie Taranto said instead of having thousands of people at the convention centre on Tuesday and Wednesday, the event would be hosted online, streamed through YouTube and have a virtual networking space, where exhibitors and potential clients become avatars who can browse and interact as they would in the real world without hand sanitiser, masks or social distancing.

With a potentially massive audience captive with work from home, the number of eyes on the QODE could potentially grow from the crisis.

It's a huge achievement for the event, turning around a virtual world in less than a week when other tech and content conferences around the world have closed their doors instead.

QODE organiser Jackie Taranto said potentially thousands of people can now attend the event virtually. Picture: Mark Cranitch

In what’s believed to be an Australian-first, attendees will be able to visit exhibitor booths using virtual reality.

Ms Taranto said they teamed up with a Brisbane virtual reality company Visitor Vision to offer a new way for people to view the conference exhibits,” Ms Taranto said.

“One of the key reasons people attend conferences is to visit the exhibitor booths to gain further insight into the products and information available, and for those exhibiting, it’s a really important way to access that market,” Ms Taranto said.

“We wanted to ensure attendees could still have that experience, and now they can.

“Using virtual reality, they can walk through the exhibitor booths as though they’re at the convention centre and can even jump on a call to chat with the exhibitor as they would face-to-face.”

Exhibitors can access information about who has visited the booth, the company they are from and if they are interested in talking further – more information than they might be able to gain about a potential customer in a traditional expo setting.

Innovation Minister Kate Jones said moving the event online was in the best interests of all

Queenslanders.

“No one can think outside the box quite like an entrepreneur or a small business person,” she said.

“This festival is about showcasing our best and brightest to the world. What better way to achieve that, than by sending the world a message – we have the resilience and the brains to keep this show on the road.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was fitting that a technology-based solution would see QODE Brisbane proceed.