City obsessives — you who can't get enough information about anything related to the history, growth, culture, nature, or future—and maybe even the death?—of cities will have no shortage of offerings at the SXSW 2016 Interactive conference.
Here are our picks for Monday, March 14:
Personal Rapid Transit: Available NOW for Austin
Monday, March 14, 12:30pm-1:30pm, Westin Austin Downtown, Continental 3
Yet, it's Richard Garriott (online gaming mogul, spaceman, Austin resident), and it's the pod cars: personal, high-speed, individual electric vehicles that take people point to point. They're already being built, and Garriott proposes an Austin version that can be realized without taxpayer support.
High Tech and High Design: A Fab New Way
Monday, March 14 2:00pm-3:00pm, Courtyard Marriott, Rio Grande Ballroom, 300 East Fourth Street
Fab General Manager Renee Wong, PCH Lime Lab Co-founder Kurt Dammermann, and XO CEO Benjamin Males discuss the future of tech products, including furnishings and other home-related designs.
A Model Home for the Internet of Things
Monday, March 14 5pm-6pm, Austin Convention Center Room 6AB 531 East Fourth Street
How cool is this? The presenters are with Casa Jasmina, a fully functional "testbed" (whatever that means) for a home designed to integrate traditional Italian design skills with emerging open technology. It's in Italy, of course. But maybe they'll have a cool demo of some sort as well as a fascinating talk.
Monday, March 14 5pm-6pm, Austin Convention Center Room 9ABC, 531 East Fourth Street
Bolt Motorbikes' Chief Scientist, Dr. Nathan Jauvtis, and CEO, Josh Rasmussen, will speak on key technologies created in improve public transit, reduce carbon emissions, and decongest city streets.
Monday & Tuesday, March 14-15, 10am-6pm; Wedneday, March 16, 10am-2pm, Austin Convention Center, Exhibit Halls 2, 3 & 4
No SXSW visit is complete without a tour or two around the trade center floor, where you find freebies, demos, silly fun, and impressive innovation still in the making.