CEO & Founder of Emblematic Group, Nonny de la Peña, Named 2018 WSJ. Magazine Technology Innovator of the Year - Second Woman in History to Receive Prestigious Award
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Emblematic Group, one of the world's foremost producers of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, is proud to announce its Founder and CEO, Nonny de la Peña, has been named 2018 WSJ. MagazineTechnology Innovator of the Year. The annual innovator awards ceremony was held Wednesday, November 7 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City with other category winners including Jonah Hill, Agnes Gund, Ruth E. Carter, and others.
This year marked WSJ. Magazine Innovator Awards' eighth year of hand picking outstanding individuals who are breaking new ground within their respective fields and celebrating their invaluable impact on society. Former award recipients in multiple categories include Melinda Gates, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Ford, and Angelina Jolie. Lena Herzog, recognized photographer and visual artist whose first piece in VR was created with Emblematic Group, presented de la Peña with her award.
"It is an incredible honor to receive such a prestigious award and to be amongst such an esteemed group of honorees, both past and present," says Emblematic Group Founder and CEO, Nonny de la Peña. "As a pioneer and impassioned believer in the power of VR, AR and mixed reality, I'm thrilled to be recognized as the Tech Innovator of the year. I humbly accept the award on behalf of women in tech and the leaders in VR/AR whose unwavering dedication towards positively impacting the creative ways we experience and see the world continue to inspire me. Of course, none of this would be possible without the depth of expertise, unbelievable talent, continuous hard work, and innovative thinking my team continuously demonstrates."
As a widely recognized pioneer in the field, de la Peña has been called the "Godmother of Virtual Reality" by Engadget and the Guardian and is a recent recipient of the Hedy Lamarr Award, presented by DEG (Digital Entertainment Group). She was selected by Wired magazine as a #MakeTechHuman Agent of Change; won the Distinguished Leadership Award, presented by the Advanced Imaging Society; has been twice named a New America Fellow; a Yale Poynter Fellow and has been honored as one of the 20 most influential Latinos in technology by CNET, amongst dozens of other awards she's received over her long and successful career.
Since its inception in 2007, the Company has solidified its reputation for pushing the boundaries of technology and the medium as a whole forward by producing award-winning, immersive experiences for notable clients including AT&T, Amazon, Cartier, The New York Times, and more. Soon, Emblematic Group will unveil REACH, the first web platform for creating and sharing volumetric VR using real people and places. REACH offers an html-friendly drag-and-drop interface that lets users access a library of hi-res locations, easily add videos or simple volumetric captures of real people and 3D assets, then share the results via a web link. Pieces produced using REACH can be viewed on any device, from smartphones to laptops to high-end VR headsets.
REACH makes the immersive power of volumetric VR available to anyone and can be used for all varieties of content: entertainment, journalism, online education, training and more: think volumetric YouTube.
"I've always believed people can get more from media by experiencing it in diverse and immersive ways," continued de la Peña. "REACH will embody that vision and be the most powerful form of interaction with volumetric VR anyone has ever seen. We're looking forward to sharing it with the world and exposing this type of experience without the walled garden of dedicated apps, downloads, or portals."
ABOUT EMBLEMATIC GROUP:
Emblematic Group is one of the world's foremost producers of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Our team of award-winning filmmakers, journalists, designers, and veteran game developers leads the industry in creating fully immersive environments that place users inside the scene, allowing them to move through, interact, and play with the story.
Founded in 2007 by Nonny de la Peña, known as the "Godmother of Virtual Reality," Emblematic Group pioneered walk-around virtual reality with the first ever VR documentary, Hunger in Los Angeles, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
Media Contact: Nicole Rodrigues, NRPR Group, 650-815-5059, nicole@nrprgroup.com
News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com
SOURCE Emblematic Group
