WELCOME TO THE DC CHAPTER OF THE GLOBAL ASSOCIATION FOR VR AND AR
VR/AR Association (VRARA) is the global industry association for VR and AR, connecting major industries with the best of the best in the fields of AR/VR. The Washington DC chapter of VRARA aims to harness the DMV’s unique power and influence to propagate these technologies across all industries, promote the best use cases and progress our community’s awareness and connectivity within the VR/AR industry. VRARA Washington DC connects the DMV to the top global organization for thought leadership and industry access in this immersive and rapidly developing space.
UPCOMING EVENTS
MEET THE TEAM
Chapter President: Emma Valdes
Emma Valdés serves as in-house counsel to leading mid-Atlantic investment firm, Knollwood Investment Advisory, where she manages private investment operations and early-stage deal term review across such key verticals as enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, spatial and web3.0 technologies. Dual-trained in business and law, Emma excels at making industry jargon accessible to non-legal stakeholders, offering clear, actionable guidance on regulatory risks, potential liability pitfalls, ecosystem readiness, and ethical product design.
A trusted voice and demonstrated thought-leader with the D.C. deep tech ecosystem, Emma has contributed robust research to academic, standards, and professional publications across the gamut of Metaverse technologies. To date, she has completed work at the intersection of data privacy, cognitive liberty, decentralized governance, and cyber speech rights, as well as a forthcoming book on virtual personhood. Moving forward, her ambitions aim to enhance neurological and situational accessibility, as well as cultural sensitivity, through the power of immersion.
As VR/ARA Washington D.C. Chapter President, Emma looks forward to hosting industry events, expert panels, founder pitches, and resource sessions for XR-industry and adjacent-tech builders, buyers, and investors in and around the Capitol region. Uniquely attuned to the policy posture and partnership potential around AI-XR innovation, she is excited to marry her legal-tech knowledge and early-stage network to showcase the exceptional companies and novel technologies propelling deep tech ecosystem growth in D.C. and across the globe.
Executive Producer: Trista Pierce
Trista Pierce, Business Development Lead at Niantic, combines her expertise in emerging technologies with a focus on crafting strategic partnerships and deploying spatial computing solutions across enterprise verticals.
Trista has been immersed in the XR industry since 2020, initially as a Senior Digital Strategist at Booz Allen Hamilton, where she specialized in spatial computing and digital transformation for public sector clients. In this role, she aligned XR, 5G, IoT, and Digital Twin technologies to deliver optimized, data-driven solutions that supported mission-critical objectives.
Now at Niantic, Trista leverages her extensive experience to identify impactful use cases, drive revenue, and transform how businesses adopt and integrate Niantic's Spatial Platform. Her foundational technical skills, developed as a US Navy Nuclear Reactor Operator, and her MISM degree from Carnegie Mellon University with a focus on Data Analytics, position her as a leader in bridging cutting-edge technologies with practical enterprise solutions.
Join Tyler Gates and Sophia Moshasha in the Everything VR & AR weekly podcast, hosted by the VR/AR Association, as they talk with technologists, enthusiasts, and companies with real-world deployments of immersive technology. Learn from leaders in gaming, entertainment, enterprise, education, military and government, healthcare, software, hardware, and more!
The podcast is recorded at Brightline Interactive in Ashburn, Virginia. It is engineered and produced by Ryan Scott and Vicki Sweet is the Head of Operations & Guest Coordination.
NETWORK
Connect and build strong relationships with key players in the VR/AR ecosystem through VRARA or partner-hosted events.
COLLABORATE
Work with innovators in the VR/AR ecosystem across all verticals, from original content creators to innovative hardware companies.
RESEARCH
Gain unlimited, exclusive access to VRARA research and publications, or, when applicable, receive discounts to third-party reports.
