The XConf

XConf is Thoughtworks annual technology event created by technologists. It is designed for technologists who care deeply about software and its impact on the world.

Last year, I presented on the topic of AI Assisted Content Pipeline for XR. This year, we took it a step further by hosting an immersive experience booth. We featured cutting-edge AR/VR devices and engaged in in-depth discussions about various industrial applications. It was truly enriching to interact with participants, share our insights, and absorb their perspectives. The event was brimming with informative talks, hands-on workshops, and captivating experience zones focused on AI, ML, Software Defined Vehicles, and XR.

Now, let me summarize the key takeaways and highlights from this remarkable event.

Top tech trends

Jyothi Pijari set the stage for the event, introducing its overarching theme: “Bringing Together Business x Technology.” The event then gained momentum as Bharani Subramaniam and Vanya Seth delivered an engaging session on intriguing tech trends.

The session covered diverse tech trends, from product development challenges to cost-effective observability strategies like tail sampling. It stressed the importance of secure data storage with automatic encryption, recognizing data’s role in product development and purchasing decisions. The session also highlighted the significance of developer experience in measuring productivity and explored emerging trends like zero trust security, web assembly, synthetic data, and self-hosted LLMs in the tech landscape.

Kishore Nallan, CTO & Co-Founder, Typesense & Wreally, continued the discussion with very informative session “The unreasonable effectiveness of showing up every day”

Tech tracks

The event offered attendees the opportunity to explore three distinct tech tracks: Emerging Tech, Digital Transformation, and Data & AI, each featuring fascinating sessions.

Arijit Debnath captivated the audience with a captivating session on Spatial Interface Designing, skillfully weaving in the intriguing story of Flatland to illustrate his points.

The event boasted numerous other exceptional sessions, promising a wealth of knowledge and insights for all attendees.

Experience zones

The event went above and beyond by showcasing immersive experience zones where we demonstrated cutting-edge AR/VR devices and their industrial applications.

Lenovo’s ThinkReality Enterprise XR platform took center stage, along with ThinkReality XR devices like A3 and VRX, garnering significant attention within the tech community. These devices seamlessly integrated with the OpenXR using Qualcomm Spaces SDK. The developer community was particularly impressed with ThinkReality VRX’s passthrough feature and wider field of view.

The experience zones didn’t stop there – they also featured devices from Microsoft and Meta, in addition to standard mobile-based XR and webXR experiences. These zones provided a valuable opportunity for participants to engage with us, share their insights, and gain a deeper understanding of these cutting-edge technologies.

Furthermore, the Software Defined Vehicles experience zone proved to be a major attraction, allowing participants to get a firsthand look at the future of mobility.

Ashish Patil showcased the capability to host ML models on the edge devices. More work from him can be found at ashishware.com

Author’s Corner

One noteworthy addition this year was the “Author’s Corner”. The booth proudly featured books authored by ThoughtWorkers, offering attendees a unique opportunity to engage with the authors themselves. Visitors could have their books signed and take advantage of special discounted offers.

It was a delightful experience that brought together literature enthusiasts and the authors behind these insightful works.

Workshops

The event hosted fantastic workshops that provided invaluable learning opportunities.

Raju Kandaswamy led a workshop on “Unleashing the Power of Generative AI with Self-Hosted LLMs” while Harish Kumar Balaji, Janani Ramanathan, and Gnana Ganesh conducted a workshop on “Reinforcement Learning for the Real World: A Gamified Approach with Deepracer.”

The hands-on experiences in these workshops left participants with a profound sense of knowledge and a rewarding learning experience.

Full of life

The event was brimming with vitality, excitement, and enjoyment, complemented by delectable food and snacks.

Wishing everyone continued joy in their learning journeys!

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