"'Wow' doesn't happen by chance," explains tech pioneer, human-centric AI consultant and author/speaker/podcast host Elizabeth Bieniek, in her book Cake on Tuesday: 25 Lessons to Unlock Corporate Innovation.

And, Elizabeth says, "corporate" or not, we're all innovators.

Elizabeth built and led the team that created the groundbreaking Webex Hologram holographic collaboration system, in 2021. In Cake on Tuesday, she shares the lessons she learned, along the way. And while these are about leading a pioneering team of technological innovators, the principles could every bit as easily be applied to your next creative project.

Getting started, keeping the project going, and especially, building in the "wow!" element, for anyone who experiences what you've created, are all areas Elizabeth explores in Cake on Tuesday.

So are the elements of playfulness and fun.

"Do we (have to be serious)?" she asks, at one point, as we discuss focusing a team on a project.

(Indeed, the title of her book and podcast come from exactly that principle!)

And one of her own latest creative projects is her new podcast, Cake on Tuesday, in which she and her guests discuss tech leadership and entrepreneurship! (Be sure to subscribe.)

In this discussion we apply some of the principles from Elizabeth's book to a hypothetical educator's experience of creating a mini maker faire!

What are some of the best ways XR could transform your life? And how might you be an active participant, driving these innovations to create a better world?

This November, that's exactly what IMMERSIVE X 2025 will be exploring.

From November 11th through November 13th, the fifth edition of IMMERSIVE X: The Next Reality Festival takes place. The festival, hosted entirely in virtual space, will feature presentations, activities, performances and various other events across multiple immersive platforms.

The focus will be on community, as IMMERSIVE X brings together creators, educators, businesspeople, activists and anyone else who'd like to share new perspectives and interact in fully immersive 3D environments. Admission is free, but is by invitation--and you're encouraged to request an invite! Here's the link to apply. However, be sure to do so early. These events may book to capacity.

Thomas Zorbach is the Organizer and Curator of IMMERSIVE X, as well as the Founder and CEO of Berlin-based full-service agency vm-people.

However, describing vm-people as "an advertising agency", doesn't do them justice.

Marketing for the 21st century

Thomas explains that he and his team help brands to find and tell better stories. And he jokingly offers that vm-people started with "witchcraft"--his work on a thesis on The Blair Witch Project was the catalyst!

In researching the popularity of this 1999 film, Thomas came up with the concept at the core of vm-people. In the age of digital and interactive media, marketing would go beyond advertising announcements, to having companies tell their own stories through immersive experiences.

Thomas's exploration of the Metaverse, since the pandemic, has led him to host events, give lectures, runs theater courses, and throw parties in virtual space, as he assists others in exploring the potential of XR for their purposes.

Thomas shared the story of creating both vm-people (check out their YouTube channel, for past IMMERSIVE X sessions!) and the IMMERSIVE X festival, as well as offering a preview of this year's events.

"In art, it's OK to fail," says iBoda CEO Professor Sunah Kim.

"You can draw a different way, next time. "

Continuing to draw and learning from "failures", she explains, is how students learn to draw well.

"If you stop there (after failing), you will never draw, and you will say, 'oh, I'm not that creative.'"

And her South Korea-based personalized art education platform encourages everyone, both to keep practicing, and to enjoy exploring, their creativity.

In the process, students get to harness AI as an implement, self-evaluate their work and receive guidance from art education experts from Hanyang University in Seoul.

AI for the individual creative

With programs for both art students and teachers, iBoda assesses a student’s artistic tendencies, as well as the art styles they prefer. Then, based on these findings, the platform customizes art lessons to that individual’s interests and abilities.

It also tracks a student's learning journey, by automatically generating a portfolio of their work. Finished art can be uploaded to a virtual gallery and students are encouraged to self-assess, as well as receiving feedback from instructors.

And it's all about having fun, while learning and creating.

Professor Kim, who holds multiple art-education credentials, has been an artist for as long as she can remember. She is a Professor in the Department of Art Education at Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea. She chairs three art-related graduate programs at HYU, as well as serving as Director of the university’s Art Gifted Education Institute. In addition, she is the Director of the Hanyang Education in Art + Design Lab.

Professor Kim shared the story of the iBoda platform, offered a look at the ways it works and discussed the ways she’d like to expand the platform in the future.