Exploring New Dimensions of IRL Entertainment

Event ID: PP1149071

Sat, Mar 14, 2026 | 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM

Venue: Salon E (JW Marriott)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

We’re in an age of experiences. More than ever, the proliferation of virtual connection has driven a hunger for IRL experiences that blend physical and digital to create “wow” moments and lasting memories. In this session, Bonnie Rosen, GM of the Disney Accelerator, will speak with the founders of Liminal Space and Haddy about how holographic displays and custom AI-powered 3D printing techniques can transform any space to create immersive moments, and how quickly these materials can be reconfigured, reused, and reimagined again and again for new audiences.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

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      "name": "John \"Jay\" B Rogers Jr",
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      "details": "John “Jay” B. Rogers, Jr., CEO & Co-Founder of Haddy, grew up a lover of woodworking, machines, and a student of industry; his grandfather owned the legendary Indian Motorcycle Company, founded concrete and steel giant Texas Industries, and was the first Cummins Engine Distributor in the United States. Jay’s grandfather is also credited with saving the Public Broadcasting System during the Nixon Administration and co-founding the Children’s Television Workshop, which is best known for Sesame Street. In embracing his family legacy of manufacturing and innovation, Jay has added his military leadership, entrepreneurship, and education, in order to hand-select a team of co-founders and set forth on a most ambitious plan: Creating Haddy – manufacturer of heroic, beautiful, durable furniture for retailers, to their design, built locally in the most resilient and sustainable manner.\r\rHe graduated from Princeton University, then joined a startup in China, and later joined Ewing & Partners, where he became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). After that, he went on to the US Marine Corps, where he served for 8 years in the infantry in the western Pacific and Iraq, to Harvard Business School, and to become a consultant for McKinsey & Co. Most recently, he founded and led Local Motors, a next-generation vehicle OEM. It was there that Jay first employed the basic technology of Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM), and in 2021 he handed over the reins of Local Motors to a new investor group and left to start Haddy full-time. Haddy is the world’s first microfactory to manufacture large scale products across many verticals from boats to furniture at scale, achieving full recyclability digitally.  The team is focused on changing how businesses support the people and communities they reside in.\r \rHe has spoken at BIF, PopTech, TedX, Picnic in Amsterdam, Do Conference in Wales, St Gallen Symposium, the White House Maker Faire, CES, CeBIT, IMTS, Singularity University, and many more conclaves. Additionally, the story of American innovation, co-creation and digital manufacturing has been shared on Discovery, PBS, Fox, CNBC, and Speed Channel. In 2020, he was awarded the honor of leading Local Motors to one of the top 10 global innovative transportation companies by Popular Science.\r \rJay is a director of the RBR Foundation, which gives annually to the cause of childhood education and development. He is the father of 4 boys who are growing up in a connected age and whom, he hopes, will take advantage of the incredible opportunity that the internet has given the world. He loves to learn languages, read widely, and to design and build projects of all kinds from leather to wood, and of course, 3D Printing.",
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      "name": "Nathan Huber",
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      "details": "Nathan Huber is an entrepreneur and technologist. He is the inventor of multiple issued\rLED based patents. After many years working in film, television and live events, Nathan\rco-founded LIMINAL Space, Inc., a company dedicated to innovating the LBE experience.\rThrough the invention of their next generation imaging hardware, LIMINAL Space has led\rin the development of a new visual language based in “Holographic/Spatial”\rCompositions. \r\rNathan has led the Liminal team through many Spatial/Immersive productions for\rclients: Netflix, Feld Entertainment, Disney, Dell, Budweiser, Six Flags Theme Park, and\rmore. He is a specialist in stereoscopic 3D content creation and augmented 3D LED\rdisplay optics. He is currently leading LIMINAL Space's team of engineers, software\rdevelopers, manufacturers and artists in growing an array of live shows, LBE\rexperiences, and theme park attractions that push the boundaries of immersive\rentertainment.",
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      "company": "The Walt Disney Company",
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      "name": "Bonnie Rosen",
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