Pico Velasquez is a computational architect, multimedia director and Metaverse visionary. She comes from a background in performing arts, professionally trained as a ballet dancer to studying architecture and mathematics, followed by a master’s degree with the highest distinction from Harvard University in computational design.

Pico has collaborated with esteemed artists, architects, and industry leaders designing experiences, buildings and master plans. Her data-driven designs span across multiple scales and mediums, including mega structures, brand experiences, buildings of the future, video games, blockchain/crypto platforms, and NFT art. These include Google’s new headquarters, the Elysium memorial with Cirque du Soleil, master planning for the Harvard Center for Green Buildings and Cities, creative direction for the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, game architect for the first environmentalist platform Superforest, and the founder of the immersive theatre, Ombiia.

Pico uses gamification with behavioral design to create immersive, interactive, and culture-centered experiences that envision the future of a sustainable ecosystem for the Metaverse, a hybrid model that seamlessly integrates our physical and virtual worlds. She is also an international lecturer, trusted advisor to art and entertainment institutions, and is currently working with selected clients on their upcoming virtual transformation that will impact the future of our built environment, our culture, and people's lives.

Krista Kim is a contemporary artist and founder of the Techism movement since 2014, promoting the confluence of art and technology, and technological innovation as a medium to further the development of digital humanism. She believes that artists must participate at the vanguard of technological innovation in order to contribute to the creation of future culture during this pivotal period of innovation and disruption.

Kim sold “the first NFT Digital Home in the world’ and hit an all-time high record sale on Superrare.

Forbes describes Krista Kim as the “new digital Rothko”, and she was chosen by LANVIN to collaborate on their 2018 fall/winter collection. Kim was the first artist in history to exhibit on the iconic square of Palais de Tokyo Museum and the Museum of Modern art of Paris for Nuit Blanche 2018. Kim earned her Masters of Arts Fine Arts from LASALLE College of the Arts / Goldsmiths, University of London in 2014. She completed her undergraduate studies in Political Science at the University of Toronto.

Krista was a keynote speaker for “Art for Healing” during Paris Healthcare Week 2018 for UIA - PHG, one of the working bodies of the UIA, the Union International des Architects or International Union of Architects, with members from all continents and a growing participation from more than 60 countries since 2012.

Melodie is the current Director of Architecture & Building Performance at ICON, a startup developing advanced construction technologies to shift the paradigm of home building on Earth and beyond. She is a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a Senior Research Associate with San Jose State University Research Foundation at NASA Ames, and an Associate Researcher within the UC Davis Center for Human/Robotics/Vehicle Integration and Performance (HRVIP). She teaches undergraduate and graduate design at Art Center College of Design. She is a 2019–2020 Future Space Leaders Fellow.

With over 20 years of combined experience as an automotive engineer and industrial designer, Safir has been able to leverage his strategic thinking and creative problem-solving skills to tackle a wide range of innovation challenges. Safir was an early adopter of 3D design and prototyping tools and carried his experience from the automotive world into the fashion and footwear industry. As Head of Innovation for the industry’s leading Action Sports brand, Vans, he oversaw several initiatives that spanned across product and experiences. In his new role, supporting VF’s Apparel, Footwear, and Accessories brands (amongst which Vans, The North Face, Timberland, Dickies and most recently Supreme) with their Digital Transformation, he aims to explore the opportunities offered by digital tools and workflows and imagine the future of digitally enabled product creation and experiences.

He is an Aspen Institute First Mover’s fellow, heads up the 3D Retail Coalition’s Education Committee and teaches Design and Innovation at Art Center College of Design as well as at University of Southern California’s Lovine and Young Academy (founded by Dr Dre and Jimmy Lovine). He sits on the board of advisors of several startups and is working on two stealth projects involving an experimental educational program for the unprivileged as well as an autonomous living technology.

An advocate of purposeful and responsible design, Safir believes that today's designers and innovators have an incredible opportunity to harness their collective creativity and today’s technological affordances to tackle the world’s social and humanitarian challenges.

Yves is an AI researcher and the director of the “AI & Neuroscience in Media” Project at USC’s Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), where his team is researching new methods and applications drawn from AI and neuroscience for the media and entertainment industry. ETC is the premier technical research organization focused on entertainment. It is funded by all 5 Hollywood studios as well as large technology companies such as Microsoft, Verizon, Cisco, and Amazon Studios.

Yves’ focus is on applying frontier AI tools to solve large problems in the development and marketing of media content. In addition, he is the co-chair of SMPTE’s Joint Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Standards in Media, where he helps drive the standardization of AI methods throughout the media industry. Yves is also the founder and CEO of Corto, an AI startup developing computational tools to help media makers and marketers understand stories as algorithms and use deep audience data to optimize their distribution across all formats including film, TV, and advertising. Corto is in Private Beta with a handful of studios and advertising agencies, and is already actively used to develop studio-scale film, TV and branded content. He is based in Los Angeles.