Amazon today announced it has opened general registration for its re:MARS event, to be held June 16-19, 2020, in Las Vegas. The event, which includes topics around machine learning, automation, robotics and space, will include demonstrations and learning sessions and workshops for business leaders.
Robotics and AI luminaries
Last year’s inaugural event included an appearance by actor Robert Downey, Jr., as well as robotics luminaries such as Ken Goldberg, Andrew Ng, Kate Darling, and Marc Raibert. The company made several news announcements around its delivery drone plans and new robots, as well. For this year’s event, Amazon announced the following speakers:
Robert Downey Jr. discussed Iron Man and other robotics-related topics at the re:MARS 2019 event. Image: Amazon
- Director, producer, writer and actor Jon Favreau. Favreau, who directed Downey in the first two Iron Man movies, is the executive producer of The Mandalorian TV series on the Disney+ streaming service.
- Cynthia Breazeal, professor of media arts and sciences, and head of the Personal Robots Group at MIT.
- Bethany Ehlmann, Caltech professor of planetary science and research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
- Maja Mataric, USC professor of computer science, neuroscience, and pediatrics.
- Sara Seager, MIT planetary scientist and astrophysicist.
- Ayanna Howard, chair of the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing
- Boyan Slat, CEO and founder of The Ocean Cleanup
- Eric Topol, executive vice president of Scripps Research, and founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute.
- Ben Grossman, CEO of Magnopus, and mixed reality director.
- Kate Darling, leading expert in social robotics and MIT Media Lab research specialist
Amazon also announced it will host a Developer Day before the main conference kicks off, where builders can learn from Amazon product leaders across five technical tracks, including Alexa and AWS technologies. Like the first re:MARS event, the 2020 version will be held at the ARIA Resort & Casino. The re:MARS event is an extension of the MARS event, an invitation-only event hosted by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.
Registration is now open at this site — a full conference pass costs $1,999. Like last year’s event, astronauts can attend for free. The company is also offering discounts for academics and students (those with a .edu email address).
