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Mesmerise to Power Virtual Reality Experience for the 2022 Morningstar Investment Conference

For the third year in a row, Morningstar will work with Mesmerise to create a virtual reality experience that will include interactive games, networking, and live discussions with speakers

LONDON, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Mesmerise, a company that helps global enterprises make the best use of virtual reality, announced today it is working with Morningstar Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research, to deliver a cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) experience as part of the annual Morningstar Investment Conference in 2022.

The conference will take place on Monday, May 16 through Wednesday, May 18 at McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, along with a simultaneous digital and virtual reality experience. For the third year in a row, the VR component will be hosted by Mesmerise's platform, Gatherings, accessible with an Oculus Quest 2 device.

Mesmerise's programming will allow attendees to participate from anywhere in the world, with conference VR experiences mirroring the in-person event. Virtual participants can network, attend live-streamed presentations, join "Meet the Analyst" sessions with panelists, and more, all within the Morningstar virtual ecosystem.

The conference's most anticipated discussions and presentations, including those from Mike McFaul, former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, and Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, will be live streamed within the virtual ecosystem. Select speakers, including Karla Paxton, SVP of Business Development at Morningstar, and Yubin Kim, Quantitative Behavioral Analyst at Morningstar, will also hold exclusive virtual sessions after their in-person discussions, allowing virtual attendees to join in live Q&As.

In-person attendees can also access on-site headsets to try out Gatherings and to play two VR games, Sustainable City and Bee Game. These games, developed by Mesmerise, teach players about sustainability and climate change. The Bee Game allows players to earn points which Morningstar will then convert into monetary donations from the company to conservation causes.

"We're grateful to continue our work with a tech-forward industry leader like Morningstar," said Andrew Hawken, Co-Founder and CEO of Mesmerise. "What we're achieving with the 2022 Morningstar Investment Conference is a blending of the physical and virtual worlds, which we believe is the immediate future of conference and work environments."

"In 2022, it's more important than ever to educate the financial community about the metaverse and its expected impact on our industry," said Leslie Marshall, Head of Experiential Marketing at Morningstar. "By working with Mesmerise to create a seamless hybrid event, we can open up our event to attendees from all over the world to experience our conference both in-person and from home."

The conference programming will also feature two panels that discuss the impact of the metaverse on investing and the future of work. These include Reality May Evolve Into the Metaverse, but Should Investors Care? and Software Has Eaten the World. What's Next? The full agenda can be found here.

About Mesmerise
Mesmerise helps leading enterprises, including Morningstar, Well Fargo, and Allianz, host immersive meetings, conferences, training sessions, and events in virtual reality. Through Mesmerise's proprietary Gatherings platform, global companies can bring their teams together to host bespoke virtual experiences for any occasion. Mesmerise was founded in 2016 by Andrew Hawken and Daglar Cizmeci.

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SOURCE Mesmerise