Session: Shifting the Mindsets in XR & Cybersecurity
Type: Panel
As the world grapples with the unprecedented circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic, it also presents an opportune time to actively address the human-side of what’s been brewing beneath the surface of our very existence - the impact and dire consequences of the lack of inclusion, equity, and accessibility in all facets of our lives.
When we look at the tech industry, we see its obsession to blindly continue down the rabbit hole of the rush to create the next best killer app in VR and AR. Oftentimes, dismissing the bigger picture that Extended Reality is a human journey and it brings along the human-centered challenges.
The same biases displayed in the headlines covering the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor cases are in fact the same biases that go into data sets and moderation tools that put people of color and historically marginalized populations at risk in immersive environments as well.
In this panel, the CyberXR Coalition discusses their unique approach to helping build safe and inclusive environments in XR and Cybersecurity, while shifting the mindsets to create awareness of these very issues and draw a baseline via standards and frameworks to potentially provide solutions coupled with strategic collaboration.
Video
See the video on Vimeo from APF.
Presenters
April Boyd-Noronha (she/her)
Lead - CyberXR Coalition; Global Diversity & Inclusion Advisor and Board Member, XR Safety Initiative
April Boyd-Noronha is the Executive Lead for the CyberXR Coalition, launched by the XRSI to address the need for diversity and inclusion in both the cybersecurity and XR domain and to address social and technical biases in emerging technologies to build safer and inclusive ecosystems for all. She has over 20 years of experience in academia and advanced technologies as a global keynote speaker, thought leader, and advisor on emerging trends and the future of work on equity, diversity, and inclusion. April also is a Professor of HIM and Cybersecurity.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cyberxr
Sanchari Das
Global Privacy Advisor, XRSI
I am an Assistant Professor at the department of Computer Science in the Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science at University of Denver. I received Ph.D. from Indiana University Bloomington. My research focuses on social media privacy, privacy policies, the economics of security, IoT device security, electronic waste security, the security of AR/VR/MR devices, and others. I am also working as a User Experience Consultant for the secure technologies at Parity Technology . I am also a Global Privacy Adviser at XRSI.org where we work towards building safer and privacy preserving XR tools.
Rodrigo Tamellini (he/him)
Co-founder and CEO of GamerSafer
Rodrigo Tamellini is the co-founder and CEO of GamerSafer, in a mission to scale online safety, positive and fair play experiences to millions of players. He has 20 years of experience leading product, marketing and business strategy teams with global technology companies. A product expert (with over 100 products launched globally) who climbed the corporate ladder and land an executive position at Intel, LG Electronics and Asus. A lifelong gamer and a proud father of 3, he holds an engineering degree, an MBA in strategic business management.
Joel Scharlat (he/him)
Funding and Cybersecurity Advisor, XRSI
Joel Scharlat brings over 20 years of leadership and management experience in Information Technology focused on leading-edge, emerging technology concepts, ideas, and products. He's currently the Director of Operations for Cyber Bytes Foundation, a cybersecurity nonprofit. In this role, he works closely with the Board of Directors to set the strategic vision and strategy of a start-up nonprofit organization focusing on education, innovation, and outreach programs. He holds a Masters degree from the Naval Postgraduate School where he wrote his thesis on using immersive virtual environments to influence people’s behaviors. Joel is a retired Marine Corps Officer and XRSI Cybersecurity Advisor.
Alina Kadlubsky (she/her)
Chair, Cyber XR Public Working Group
Art Director WebXR Developer and Director of Communications and Lead of the Accessibility and Safety Working Group of Open AR Cloud as well as chair of the Cyber XR Coalition public WG, With a passion for immersive Tech, Spatial Computing, Spatial Web and creating a human-centred future of Computing.
