Augment your reality at GDC Next!

Augmented Reality (AR) is maturing into more than just a neat tech demo; stop by GDC Next in Los Angeles (from November 5-7) to learn more about how to work with AR in games in the sessions and on the show floor. In a talk from the 'Future of Gaming' track titled 'Beyond the Box: Opportunities in Augmented Reality,' Experience Mars developer and Advanced Interactions founder Brian Cody will speak about the history of AR, his experience working with Vuforia, Qualcomm's Augmented Reality SDK, and how it integrates with Unity 3D, and AR's potential for future games. Meanwhile, AR hardware startup Technical Illusions, led by ex-Valve devs Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson, will be on the GDC Next show floor on special invitation from GDC organizers to demonstrate CastAR, their work-in-progress AR headset. Watch the "Let the Wookiee Win" video below to see a demo of a familiar-looking game using the CastAR that was built in Unity 3D. Also, those interested in virtual reality head-mounted displays ought to note that Oculus Rift dev Oculus VR will be taking meetings at GDC Next. GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with session tracks organized around 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks. Be sure to check out the GDC Next Session Scheduler to see these and other announced talks and begin your planning. Previously announced talks include including Animoca's Henry Oh on choosing your next game platform and D&D: Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios on avoiding pay-to-win in F2P MMOs. Online registration is in full swing for GDC Next and the co-located ADC; register now and save up to $200 on ADC, GDC Next, or a combined VIP All Access Pass. For all the latest news on GDC Next, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Also, check out ADC's recently announced design talks: Intel on building scalable and secure APIs for enterprise apps, and ChaiONE on pairing the latest wearable technology with smartphones. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.