When Pasadena's 137th Tournament of Roses® Parade happens on New Year's Day, the students of Cal Poly Universities will be upholding a long-standing New Year's Day tradition.

However,they'll also be showcasing cutting-edge innovation, as their 77th Rose Parade®float, "Jungle Jumpstart', goes by.

This particular float is both a whimsical story, in accordance with the 2026 parade theme, "The Magic in Teamwork", and a reflection of the various skills and talents of the students on two separate campuses.

Unique to the parade

Since 1949, Cal Poly Universities students have built and entered a float in the Rose Parade®. Not only is theirs the only student-built entry--their organization is one of only six noncommercial groups, or "self-builts", participating in the parade.

Cal Poly Universities' float's chassis is created by students on the Pomona and San Luis Obispo campus. Then, in October, the San Luis Obispo team drive their half down to the Pomona campus, where the two halves are joined.

And from there, the two teams work as one.

Because the students are learning by doing, their freedom to experiment often results in some unprecedented innovations.

A 1968 hydraulic-powered animation system and a 2017 engineering system which changed colors of flowers, are among their inventions.

And on New Year's Day 2026, parade viewer will again get to see some unprecedented technological use, on "Jungle Jumpstart"!

Introducing: 2026

Aubrey Goings is President of Cal Poly Rose Float, San Luis Obispo, and Amelia Atwell is President of Cal Poly Rose Float, Pomona. Both Aubrey and Amelia are architecture students, using their passion for design to create something magical.

Aubrey and Amelia talked about their experiences with Cal Poly Rose Float, their work so far on "Jungle Jumpstart" and the lessons they've learned from their experience.

(Would you like to support the Cal Poly Universities students as they craft "Jungle Jumpstart"? Here are links to their Amazon wish lists, for both decorations and operations!)

Artist and technologist Dulce Baerga empowers others in the metaverse.

One of her current projects, Avatar Gods, uses artificial intelligence to generate avatars which reflect each user's individuality. These will be platform-agnostic, extending that person's presence across multiple metaverse platforms.

In addition, Dulce says, her avatars will retain a user's individuality, when they're not on the platforms!

As a pioneer in mixed reality, augmented reality, and immersive technologies, Dulce has created multiple . XR experiences. She is the CEO of creative technology studio Dulce Dotcom, and has more than 25 years' experience in blending creativity with technical expertise to take XR innovation beyond its current boundaries.

Dulce says Avatar Gods is currently in prototype stage, and a matter of months from its first release, pending funding.

The artist as mentor

In addition to Avatar Gods, Dulce is currently building, and preparing to launch, her Dulce XR Creator Lab! This is a hybrid AI/WebXR education program, which will teach creatives how to build immersive experiences using the pipelines she has developed.

She also builds worlds for her clients, and consults on avatars and immersive projects.

And expect her to break new ground, in the process.

"in 2018, I really focused in on WebXR and have been really passionate about it ever since, and pushed its boundaries as much as I can," Dulce explains.

Dulce talked about her creative journey, explained how Avatar Gods will work and offered a preview of what's next!

"We are so not ready," says anthropologist, futurist, AI ethicist, broadcaster and educator Dr. Lollie Mancey.

She's discussing AI--and the challenges its high-speed adoption is presenting to society.

Dr. Mancey, who is Programme Director at University College Dublin’s Innovation Academy, sees multiple problems with the way AI is infiltrating our lives. Among them: the ways artificial intelligence excludes some segments of the population; the perception that it will make humans "obsolete"; and a general blind acceptance, without questioning, of the ways it's being presented by technology companies.

Since AI is inevitable in all aspects of life and future industry, she adds, we need to explore, experiment and ask questions. And most of all, see it as a supplement to our talents, as opposed to supplanting them.

"You can play with it as a tool, but it must never replace us," she says.

The challenge--and the "why"

As an award-winning storyteller and keynote speaker, Dr. Mancey likes to challenge her listeners to explore new ideas. Within the next three to five years, she says, ninety percent of us may have agentic AI involved in our lives. Consequently, she explains, all of us need to imagine the ways we can have “a place at the table” as artificial intelligence evolves.

Dr. Mancey talked about her background, some of her research in AI and the directions she recommends everyone take, to stay proactive and collaborative with artificial intelligence in education and the future workplace.