A Digital Artist Meetup was held at the Internal Operations Center (450 Esat South Street Orlando Florida). Those who attended were encouraged to help shape the future of the digital landscape in Central Florida. Since I am an Analog Artist in a Digital World, I was curious.
After introductions from everyone in the room there was a presentation by Kunal Patel, Orange County’s Innovation Manager. Kunal’s background was as a game designer. He spoke about how he thought outside the box to promote his games. At a conference He wore a suit and handed out information about the game he was working on to everyone in the room. He used to believe in converted into a digital workspace. People will be able to use the space to learn about projection mapping, augmented reality, digital painting, 3D modeling, animation, vector art and other mediums. I made sure to sketch digitally to document the meeting.
The Innovation Center is scheduled to open on March of 2026. Kunal showed those gathered on the room a virtual walk through of the space. Creative lighting was being considered and there was plenty of blank wall space the could feature art. He likes the idea of presenting that art via projections. He feels that physically hanging art is a cumbersome process, but with projections, the art could be easily changed out.
Orange County’s investment in this project must be sizable. Digital tech becomes outdated quickly, so that investment will have to keep growing. It seems like the large studio areas could be a fun place to experiment. I plan to stop by the Innovation Center when it opens. I like the idea of a limitless digital playground.