The Alternative Top 45 VR People to Follow
Back in 2016 we released our top 40 people to follow in the VR industry. For 2018, we thought it was about time we did an update!
There are always lots of lists that are shared online, normally those pulled together by how many people use #VR in their tweets or other metrics that are open to abuse.
Not our list. This list is based on our personal experiences and the people who we look up to in the industry.
So, without further ado, this is our alternative top 45 people/companies to follow on Twitter. (There is no specific order. This is not a ranking!)
Ricardo Laganaro
Ricardo is the director behind “Step to the Line”, a VR documentary from the Oculus VR For Good initiative. When he’s not making films, Ricardo is a partner at ARVORE Immersive Experiences, one of Brazil’s leading immersive content studios.
Dan Tucker
As curator of Sheffield Doc/Fest Alternate Realities, Dan has helped many creative VR projects gain exposure by giving them access to Doc/Fest and beyond. Previously, he was part of the team behind BBC’s critically acclaimed VR experience “Easter Rising: The Voice of a Rebel”.
Rob Yescombe
One the writers behind the stunning VR murder mystery, “The Invisible Hours”. When he isn’t writing stories for virtual reality, Rob also works on non-VR games like the emotionally masterful “Rime”.
Alex Rühl
Alex is the creator of “Keyed Alike”, a 360 romcom/drama. She is a pioneer of the 360 medium, unafraid to try new genres and create new IPs for immersive tech.
Francesca Panetta
Exec Editor for Guardian VR, Fran is behind VR experiences such as “6×9”, “Sea Prayer”, “First Impressions”, and more.
Becky Gregory-Clarke
Becky is Lead Technologist for Digital Catapult. She is part of the team behind the Creative XR fund and the immersive technology labs that are being installed in Digital Catapult centres across the UK.
Lisa Golden
Lisa is another explorer who has ventured into the VR landscape. Currently working at the Guardian, who recently shared their latest VR piece: “Sea Prayer”.
Grace Boyle
Grace is the Director of The Feelies – a creative team utilising multisensory elements to enhance virtual experiences. If you’ve been to any of the leading VR festivals recently, you might have seen Greenpeace’s “Munduruku” featuring a huge “multisensory pod” that allows users to smell and feel the Amazon Rainforest in addition to experiencing the Munduruku 360 video.
Owain Rich
Producer at NBC Left Field, Owain is a innovator experimenting with the use of VR in flat media. Check out his latest video!
Owain is also one of the creators of the BBC’s “Trafficked”, an animated documentary based on interviews conducted with ‘Maria’, a victim of human trafficking.
Sally Kellaway
Sally is one of the leading voices in the field of audio for immersive technology. Often an oversight to creators, it’s great to see Sally pushing audio to the forefront of conversations.
Becky Benett
Becky is one of the main faces at Dreamsail Games – a team of creators working on awesome stuff with mixed reality, physical buttons, and more!
Edward Chizhikov
Head of VR at RT, Edward’s team have created some fantastic 360 video content including a whole library of 360 videos from the International Space Station.
Harvey Ball
Harvey is the creator of VRTK, one of the most popular tool sets for VR developers and enthusiasts. He provides a valuable service to the industry.
Ollie Lindsey
Ollie is the Founder of All Seeing Eye and creator of the critically acclaimed VR experiences “Draw Me Close” and “Seed“. A super talented creative, keep an all seeing eye out for him.
(He also lent Bertie a portable phone charger which he’s still got. Ollie, please get in touch so we can post it back!)
Kim-Leigh is a Creative Interaction Director investigating new storytelling experiences in AR + MR + VR. Some of her work includes the amazing, “Alternate Reality” – an experience which showed dementia-sufferer, David, painting in 3D (in response to emotional stimuli). An experiment in combining neuroscience with art, the piece is hard-hitting but playful. We can’t wait to see her artistic practice develop across 2018.
Mary Matheson
Mary is a one of a kind VR explorer. She has created some fantastic VR productions (most recently “The Female Planet”, in collaboration with Surround Vision).
Becky Jones
Founder of Bektio – a mixed reality studio specialising in creating experiences for HoloLens. Becky is also prominent face in the Liverpool immersive technology scene.
Jonathan Nafarrete
Co-founder and Editor-In-Chief at VR Scout. He’s an expert in all things VR, and he’s great fun with a keen eye for kooky VR stories. He also often shares VR Scout’s amazing video content. Well worth a follow!
Emily Savage
If you go to events at the Digital Catapult then you might have bumped into Emily. If you haven’t, make sure you do! Emily is one of the lovely faces who is helping the UK grow in the immersive sector.
Nicola Rosa
AR & VR Strategist at Accenture and member of BIMA’s Immersive Technology Council. Nicola is a fantastic person to know if you’re interested in the impact of immersive technology in the business world. He’s equipped at all times with the latest info in a slide deck on his laptop!
Coming from the agency world, James is a member of the BIMA Immersive Technology Council. In his career, James has been involved in projects such as the Jaguar’s I-Pace and F-Pace. In his day job, James is Chief Marketing Officer at Immerse: who make VR easy with their industry-leading virtual reality training platform for enterprise.
Ben Wood is a mobile/wireless industry analyst at CCS Insight. His ability to quickly synthesise new information about the tech world means that he is one of the best people in our industry to follow for up-to-date news. His Twitter is a gold mine of content which can help you get up to speed on everything from ‘checkout-less tech’ to Doro. He’s not laser-focused on VR, but his wider interests are very useful as a way of contextualising the kinds of things going on in our niche.
George is an analyst at CSS Insight covering wearable technology, AR, and VR. You can follow him to get blow-by-blow insights into the VR industry, arranged in well-researched, easy-to-digest reports, infographics, and more.
Head of marketing at Blend Media – proud owners of the world’s largest library of 360 videos and VR films (available to license for brands/companies).
Carrie is one of the driving forces behind Immerse UK, working extremely hard to make sure that the industry has the best opportunities and that we know about them.
Resh Sidhu is Digital Creative Director of VR, MR, AR at Framestore, based in London. She is one of the most well-regarded names in Virtual Reality, driving the medium forward with her creativity and innovative approach. Her projects include “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – VR”.
Catherine Allen
We first discovered Catherine when she posted about her piece, “Small Talk”, with the BBC. Since then she has been cooking up a storm in the industry. She works mainly as a VR consultant and curator, helping companies utilise VR technology. She’s fearless, dedicated, and we can’t wait to see what she gets up to in 2018!
Digital Catapult
We love attending events at DigiCatpult across London and Brighton. It’s a great location to network and to see how all different kinds of immersive tech are being approached in the UK. They have also been opening new labs across the UK. Another great reason to follow!
One of the nicest people you will ever meet. Heather works at Ultrahaptics – a Bristol-based company focused on touch.
The team behind VR World Congress have built the amazing Bristol VR Lab – a workspace designed to facilitate VR development. Bristol is a fantastic developing location for VR. We cant wait to see more of the lab this year!
Unrest VR
Unrest VR is a virtual companion piece to the multi award-winning film, Unrest. It follows the story of Jen who suffers from ME – a condition that has no cure, and that many doctors believe does not exist. An important and moving piece, Unrest VR has quickly established itself as a VR must-see.
Luke Sanders
Are you fan of Windlands? Then you should follow the Community Manager at Psytec Games, Luke. He’s incredibly supportive of the industry and an all-round VR superstar. Go follow!
Bright Side Studios
The brilliant studio behind AbstrACTION (Edinburgh Fringe 2017). Bright Side Studios specialise in experiences which connect with audiences – whether that’s through finding new ways of using more traditional art forms, or playing with new kinds of audience-interaction. One to watch.
Jessica is a VR producer working at Connected Studio – a team dedicated to working with the digital sector to create new experiences for the BBC.
Mitch Turnbull is an award-winning factual TV & film producer and director with over twenty years experience in the US and the UK. She has made films, live shows, and media content for a variety of broadcasters, studios, and organisations including, BBC TV, BBC Worldwide, Disneynature, National Geographic, PBS, Discovery, NHK, Channel 4, Channel 5, UN, and The Royal Foundation. She’s a great person to follow to widen your knowledge of VR beyond the world of gaming, covering topics like nature/geography/zoology.
Tom is the CEO of Coatsink. His company has grown at an astronomical rate across the last year, creating some amazing content and expanding to a fully-fledged dream team of developers. July 2017 saw them release the pioneering Samsung Gear VR game “Augmented Empire” – a cyberpunk RPG widely regarded as one of the deepest and most accomplished games on the system. Moreover, “A Night Sky”, released free on Samsung Gear VR in June, quickly became one of the platform’s most popular downloads and currently receives new monthly content.
We love bumping into Faviana at events! Energetic and happy, Faviana is the Founder/CEO of the incredible, kooky company, SVRVIVE studios. Their games include: “SVRVIVE: The Deus Helix” and “Kartong”.
One of the nicest guys you will ever meet. You will find Simon leading great conversations on co-op in VR. Find out more about his creations at Cooperative Innovations.
We have all seen how the BBC have been venturing into VR. BBC taster is a great platform to share it.
A fellow VR-company based in Brighton, Curiscope are dedicated to changing the way we think about the world around us – whether that’s helping us to understand our own anatomy via the Virtuali-tee, or plunging us into the depths of the ocean in their gorgeous new VR experience, “Operation Apex”.
Keith is one to keep an eye on. Changing the way patients and doctor interact, Dr Keith Grimes has been experimenting and exploring the impact of emergent technology on the medical/healthcare industry on his vlog “The VR Doctor”.
An adventurer in the VR space! Often sharing pictures from behind the scenes of her VR work, her feed is an amazing way to get to know the people behind the magic.
Jessica was one of the first people to work with the Google Jump camera. She’s now a pioneering VR filmmaker and a driving force behind the VR industry.
Liz is a well-known VR artist, having illustrated the VR story “Sea Prayer”. We have loved seeing her work develop and grow. Bring on 2018!
The dream team behind VRUK Festival. Their energy and fierce dedication to innovation is the life-blood of the VR events-scene.
Honourable mentions: @ArlanWasHere (She came up with an amazing fund for underrepresented founders 5 years fo from a blowup bed on the floor of a nearly empty bedroom in Houston, with a negative balance in her bank account. They now have over 64 investments!), @Hero_Kvatch, @vr_sam, @ImmersiveRehab, @GenericRobotics, @RyanBousfield.