GPU technology is changing the world by redefining what is possible through massively-parallel and power-efficient GPU computing. The 2016 NVIDIA GPU Technology Conference (GTC) is the place this year where the experts and innovators in the global GPU ecosystem unveil what is next as this wave of incredible technological innovation continues to bring ever more powerful artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and self-driving vehicles to the masses. You too can join their ranks and change the world.

GTC is designed so you can connect with both people and technology through a variety of fun and informative venues. Attendees from over 84 world-recognized companies, academics from around the world, and national scientists and engineers from Asia, Europe and North America make GTC 2016 the premier technology venue to see and shape the future. All you have to do is attend by registering at http://gputechconf.com.

This year there are thirty-five topic areas at GTC 2016 ranging from algorithms to video and image processing with special highlights in three key areas: (1) artificial intelligence and deep learning, (2) virtual reality, and (3) self-driving cars.

Powerhouse keynotes with be given by NVIDIA’s CEO and Co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang, Gill Pratt – one of the world’s leading figures in artificial intelligence and CEO of the Toyota Research Institute, plus Robert High, IBM Fellow and CTO of IBM Watson.

Connect, Learn, Discover, and Innovate during GTC events that include Talks and Hands-on Labs, Special Evening Receptions, and Dinner with Strangers to mix it up and facilitate networking. Relax and have fun with friends and colleagues during the Posters and Beer Welcome Reception, and Lunch plus Happy Hour in the Exhibit, all topped off with the closing GTC Party.

Focus on AI

GTC 2016 has become a showcase for extraordinary advances in deep learning by global companies such as Alibaba, Baidu, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Twitter to name but a few. The common denominator is that all the speakers are using GPUs to solve enormous real-world problems.

For example, presentations at last year’s GTC 2015 demonstrated that deep learning could perform facial recognition with better than human accuracy. Biadu demonstrated a deep learning neural network that exploited the computational resources afforded by GPUs to train on thousands of hours of speech data to improve on the state of the art in speech recognition – especially in noisy environments.

This year’s GTC 2016 promises to be even richer with 154 sessions, posters, panels, and hangouts listed in the deep learning and artificial intelligence topic area.  Stanford’s Apaar Sadhwani will describe how a deep learning network with millions of parameters can be trained to act as a primary care triage method for eye disease by screening high-resolution medical images. The application of deep learning for visual search and recognition at Alibaba will be discussed by Xian-Shen Hua, while Twitter’s Clement Farabet will discuss the use of deep learning to classify live video streams. Olexandr Isayev will explain how they use deep learning for computational drug discovery at the University of North Carolina. Algorithm sessions include working with both feed-forward and recurrent neural networks.

There will be hands-on labs to get you working with the latest technology such as Google’s TensorFlow or work in the IBM Watson Developers Lab to use the IBM Watson cognitive platform. Similarly, there will be a hands-on introduction to Microsoft’s Computational Network Toolkit (CNTK) and, of course, in the use of NVIDIA’s DIGITS Deep Learning GPU Training System (DIGITS), a complete, interactive system that helps decrease the time required to train deep neural networks, along with a hands-on lab to setup an NVIDIA TX1 for deep learning and to use models trained by DIGITS.

GTC 2016 is the place to be where you can speak with the experts, work hands-on with the latest deep learning technology, and give yourself the opportunity to mingle with colleagues who are shaping the future of deep learning and its application. Every advance starts with an idea. GTC 2016 is the venue where people and technology are joined to create and refine those ‘Ah Ha!’ moments.

Focus on Virtual Reality

Headlines about virtual reality (VR) often focus on how it’s redefining the interface for computer gaming, but VR is also revolutionizing fields across everyday life — areas like entertainment, medicine, architecture, product design, product retailing, and sports training. VR — which couples a new generation of thin, light, high-definition headsets with new kinds of content — is unleashing new kinds of immersive experiences. And it will be one of the main themes of GTC.

There will be 44 sessions, posters and hangouts in the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality track with presentations by Epic, ILMxLAB, Oculus, Audi AG, EON Sports VR, Jaunt VR, Surgical Theater, Unity Technologies Lab and many others.  And to make things a bit more interesting, eight teams will compete for $30,000 in cash and prizes as part of the VR Showcase.  You’ll also want to check NVIDIA’s VR Village at GTC 2016, where you can explore the latest advances in VR technologies and learn about the visualization power they demand.   Relax and join the virtual world in one of the many demos powered by NVIDIA GPUs and featuring Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets. Make sure to stop by VR Village during happy hour (5 PM to 7 PM) to see featured artists from Pixar and The VR Fund showing off their TiltBrush™ skills.

All the content you’ll find at GTC will help you rethink old ways of looking at digital media, and get you ready to take advantage of what virtual reality can do.  Participate in the GTC 2016 virtual reality track because it’s the insights that spring up when people from so many disciplines come together — both formally and informally — that will spark a new generation of digital experiences. You won’t want to miss discovering how virtual reality promises to change the way we experience everyday things.

Focus on Self-driving cars

For the car-inclined, GTC 2016 has an automotive track with a keynote and 42 sessions, posters, and hangouts on autonomous driving, driver assistance systems and next-generation human machine interfaces.  NVIDIA partners from around the globe — including Audi, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Eyeris and Elektrobit — will describe how the automotive industry is being transformed, and how GPUs and deep learning are leading the way. In particular, get hands-on demonstrations of what happens inside DRIVE PX 2, the brain of self-driving cars and how VR is changing product marketing.

Audi’s Marcus Kuehne and Thomas Zuchtriegel will talk about the Audi VR Experience as a sales tool for the automotive industry. See how the Netherland’s self-driving vehicle, a WEpod, operates on a public route without steering wheel or pedals. Ford will provide an overview of sensor fusion, localization, mapping, object detection and object classification for self-driving cars. Richard Membarth of DFKI and Christoph Lauer of Audi will talk on safety-critical functions with high reliability that are only possible now by taking advantage of recent developments in embedded GPUs. Elektrobit’s Karsten Hoffmeister will discuss modern vehicle functions like advanced driver assistance systems and the rapidly growing demand for high performance computing power.

In addition to self-driving cars, GTC sessions include a discussion by UFRGS covering four years of neutron beam tests and how to mitigate GPU soft-errors – a topic of interest to the HPC exacale computing efforts as well as self-driving cars. Audi will discuss the techniques they used to design a virtual cockpit display plus the GTC 2016 automotive track includes sessions covering heads-up displays, and cartography for navigation. Modar Alaoui, CEO of Eyeris, will provide a live demo of a deep learning trained vision software that reads facial micro-expressions in real time for use in driver monitoring systems. GPU powered cloud computing will be discussed plus you can attend a panel discussion on virtualized 3D workstations and NVIDIA GRID technology.

Tutorials will be presented on solid-state LiDAR for 3D sensing and how to handle large amounts of point-cloud data in real-time. Delve down into the performance optimizations that matter for these real-time automotive systems in the NVIDIA tutorial, “Performance Optimizations for Automotive Software”. Hangout with NVIDIA experts to discuss the intricacies of this technology – including NVIDIA’s DRIVE PX – and why deep learning has to become a key focus for every car manufacturer.

Register today as time is running out.

Start now by registering at http://www.gputechconf.com.