Companies and labs from across the world at the forefront of rapidly developing disruptive technologies will present their latest breakthroughs and explain potential applications. This is a unique opportunity to understand and interact with the current cutting edge of technology and place the future in the context of the present.

Venue: Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Atrium

Can the vast potential of Artificial Intelligence be safely harnessed? Or do the risks outweigh the rewards?

Panelists Include:
Andrew Critch - Researcher at Machine Intelligence Research Institute
Riva-Melissa Tez - Co-Founder at Permutation Ventures
Robin Hanson – Professor at GMU and Research Associate at the Future of Humanity Institute
Roman Yampolskiy – Director of Cyber Security Laboratory at University of Louisville
Susan Schneider - Associate Professor at Cognitive Science Program at University of Connecticut

Venue: Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Taylor Auditorium

Three 15 minute presentations followed by 5 minutes of Q&A on three pioneering technological applications that will radically change the way our world will look like in the near future.

Confirmed Case Studies:
Cosmo Scharf: Virtual Reality - What if we could live in the Matrix?
David Williamson: The Future of Materials Crafting via Biotechnology
Andreas Mershin: Nanotechnology - Unlocking the Nanoscale

Venue: Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Taylor Auditorium

Participants will have the opportunity to interact over dinner with the Conference Speakers as well as Princeton professors who are active in the technologies of the conference.

Venue: Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Atrium

As we work to develop solutions to global challenges, VR offers an unprecedented space for design and collaboration. This workshop at StudioLab will provide an overview of ways to use VR for design, exploration, research and simulation. In addition to highlighting what’s on the cutting edge in the industry of commercial VR headsets and their potential applications, the workshop will feature a full-motion virtual reality (FMVR) system -- the Vizmove Walking Virtual Reality System – which combines the Oculus Rift with motion trackers to allow physical motion in 50 square meters of real space. Participants will be able to try out the system and experience some of the benefits it offers in terms of greater immersion, a more natural ability to engage in VR, reduced risk of motion-sickness and an increased sense of realism.

Princeton’s Nuclear Futures Lab (currently working in StudioLab) will also demonstrate the potential of VR for design and simulation by sharing its work on the use of VR to support innovation in nuclear arms control. The research team is using FMVR to develop facility architectures and verification protocols for treaties that do not yet exist. VR allows researchers to engage with questions that are otherwise impossible to address in an open environment, for example, inspecting nuclear warheads stored at military facilities while offering greater flexibility for design and brainstorming and eliminating the risk of experimenting in dangerous environments.

Audiovisual Piece for Fulldome and Virtual Reality

Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê ‘’shape'' and genesis “creation” literally, "beginning of the shape") is the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape. As a fulldome and virtual reality piece, which is inspired by the phenomenon of emergence in self-organized systems, Morphogenesis consists of the continuous transformation of fundamental geometrical patterns and uses them as the building blocks of an immersive space and a visual notation for the sound, during an audiovisual journey through different aspects of the physical and biological universe. As the common characteristics of emergence that can perceived universally, the audiovisual experience intends to emphasize the systemic interconnectedness over space and time of all natural dynamics and how these dynamics result to create novelty.

Credits:
Visual Artist: Can Buyukberber: www.canbuyukberber.com
Sound Artist: Yagmur Uyanik: www.soundcloud.com/yagmuruyanik

In this talk hosted by the Princeton 3D Printing Club, we will discuss the past, present, and future of 3D printing. Our focus will be on affordable desktop fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers, especially in regards to challenges that educators and entrepreneurs face when using these empowering (and occasionally frustrating) tools of manufacturing.

Is there some principled way to assign probabilities to conjectures written in PA or ZFC before they are proven or disproven? This workshop led by Andrew Critch will introduce a new algorithm for doing this, which satisfies a criterion called Garrabrant induction that has many nice asymptotic consequences. In particular, the algorithm learns to “trust itself” in that it assigns high probability to its own predictions being accurate (it can refer to itself because ZFC and PA can talk about algorithms). It also assigns high probabilities to provable statements much faster than proofs can be found for them, as long as the statements are easy to write down. More generally, the algorithm was developed as a candidate model for defining “good reasoning” when computational resources are limited. This talk will given an overview of the algorithm, the Garrabrant induction criterion, and its currently known implications.
Excellent choice for mathematically and computer science inclined participants.

Why should you care about having an impact? What are examples of good tech companies? How does impact evaluation fit into the startup process?

All these questions and many more will be answered by Richard Batty and Michael Peyton Jones, founders of the Good Technology Project. In this workshop, Richard and Michael will show participants how to search for an important problem to solve by modelling and measuring their impact. He will discuss the mechanisms, difficulties and counterfactuals involved in the process.

Do you want to lead a high impact venture? If so, this is the workshop to start with!

Technology can extend human capabilities - for better and for worse. For example, nuclear physics enabled a new source of electricity but also the means to destroy cities full of people. Future technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and nanotechnology could bring enormous benefits or extreme global catastrophe, depending on how they are designed and used. So what does that mean for us? This workshop will cover how to assess the risks and potential benefits of future technologies and how to shift them from risk to benefit.

Each breakout group focused on applications of one keystone technology, students will receive a simulation problem--involving both innovation trajectories and risk prevention involved in real-world tech integration--and will work collaboratively to draft a resolution. Resolutions will need to take into account technical aspects as well as social, economic, political, and industry implications.

Venue: Friend Center Library, Conference Rooms

Princeton Envision was founded to inspire our generation to pioneer a brighter future through the responsible and innovative use of rapidly developing disruptive technologies, and this requires a sustained effort. A three-day conference can only scratch the surface of the revolutionary impacts of these technologies on our future.

Our goal is to build a global network of bright and talented young pioneers. Build a Vision will explain how participants can set up Envision chapters at their universities to gain more in-depth exposure to the technologies and their implications as well as to instigate action.

Activities of Envision chapters may include but are not limited to: inviting guest speakers; hosting trips to relevant companies, institutions, and conferences; innovation competitions; and discussions.

Venue: Friend Center, Auditorium 101

The Closing Ceremony will wrap up Envision Conference and tie together the many issues discussed into a single thread: the future is going to be drastically different from the present as a result of technology, and we can act now to harness its full potential.

The Closing Ceremony will include:
Announcement of the winners of Envision Entrepreneurship
“Pioneering a Brighter Future” - President of Princeton Envision
Keynote Address: Julia Bossmann, President @ Foresight Institute

Venue: Friend Center, Auditorium 101

We will provide you with a venue to network with participants you have not yet had the chance to meet.

Venue: Campus Club