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.

Most people don't put the words "engineering" and "fun" together in the same sentence.

But for Air Rocket Works Co-Founders Rick Schertle and Keith Violette, the two always go together.

With a shared passion for creating rockets and launchers, they first connected over some articles Rick wrote for Make Magazine.

Keith wound up sending Rick a working prototype of his compressed-air rocket launcher, which Rick describes as "the coolest thing ever".

The rest is history.

Rick and Keith, who live in California and New Hampshire, respectively, have only seen each other in-person a handful of times: at maker fairs! But their small business, Air Rocket Works, has been capturing the imagination of kids and "big kids" since its founding in 2014.

And their air rockets, compressed-air launchers and free templates--including four contributed by NASA!--continue to be a hit.

"I've always wanted to include the fun side of engineering, and keep things interesting," Keith says.

While their products have a sense of joy built right into them, Air Rocket Works' launchers and templates are also teaching kids--and "big kids"--a lot about science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Both Rick, who teaches at Steindorf STEAM Magnet School, and Keith, a mechanical engineer by profession, have implemented maker fairs at their local schools.

For Rick, a long-held dream of hosting a school maker fair ultimately led him to evolve the school's traditional open house to a mini-maker event. With music, a rocket launch and maker stations, the event was a huge success, and grew proportionately. Rick says he thinks 2025 will mark their fourth year!

(Like to give a favorite maker or rocket enthusiast a gift they'll enjoy? Here’s a link to Rick’s book “Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets: Simple Flying Things Anyone Can Make” on Amazon!)

Meanwhile, while his own son and daughter were in school, Keith volunteered to teach engineering sessions. These involved building water rockets and doing rocket launches. After meeting other parents with similar engineering background, he and his wife Tanya organized a three-hour maker fair, with fifty exhibits, at the local high school, for students from first grade through high school.

"(We made) all kinds of just really fun hands-on things, to show that science, engineering and the arts all work well together," he explains.

And both Rick and Keith want to keep right on creating cool "flying things", teaching and inspiring kids (as well as big kids!) to explore, be confident and see themselves as makers.

Rick and Keith shared the story of Air Rocket Works, talked about some of their favorite experiences and discussed what they'd like to do next!

Would you like to help an incredible community uphold a tradition of more than a century?

And in the process, have a lot of fun, and help to create a work of art?

If you're in the Southern California area, that's the invitation which South Pasadena Tournament of Roses would like to extend to you.

South Pasadena Tournament of Roses President Ed Donnelly and his team are building their 2026 float, "The Great Picnic Heist", for Pasadena's 137th Rose Parade® on New Year's Day--and they need volunteers from now through December.

"There's plenty to do, for any skill set," Ed says.

1893 history, 2026 creativity

South Pasadena Tournament of Roses' "The Great Picnic Heist", a whimsical depiction of a snoozing bear whose picnic has "grown legs", is likely to evoke smiles, laughter--and a considerable sense of pride in their legacy.

That's because South Pasadena Tournament of Roses is the oldest "self-built", or noncommercial independent float builder, in the parade. They've been participating in the Rose Parade since 1893--and Ed says they've had a float in the parade, continuously, since 1911!

Ed, who is a professional musician and audio engineer, sees considerable creative parallels between performing live music, and building award-winning Rose Parade floats.

"We're creating art," he explains, of both experiences.

"If you look at the Rose Parade floats, they're works of art.

"...How are we connecting with people? What does this say? What will they think when they see this?

"...It's very much the same sort of approach and philosophy." (Check out Ed's website for his recording studio, Barber's Basement, to hear a demo of some great Americana, country and folk music!)

Additional opportunities

In addition to the volunteer opportunities, South Pasadena Tournament of Roses invites you to their "Crunch Time Party and Auction", happening December 29th.

And if you don't happen to be in the Southern California area, but would like to support them, there are several ways.

You can donate directly on their website, purchase a raffle ticket or souvenir merchandise or check out their Amazon wish list, for "The Great Picnic Heist"!

Ed talked about his background, offered a closer look at "The Great Picnic Heist", and shared some of his favorite stories of working with South Pasadena Tournament of Roses.

What might Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol look like, in virtual reality?

Performer, director and mixed-reality artist Kevin Laibson has an innovative answer.

As Experience Director for New York immersive design studio Agile Lens, Kevin is the producer of A Christmas Carol VR, now in its fifth year and offering free live performances on Meta Quest!

The goal of Agile Lens, as stated on their website, is to "redefine storytelling through immersive technology... to create transformative spatial experiences."

They accomplish this goal with their nontraditional interpretation of Carol.

With some reimagined characters, A Christmas Carol VR maintains the magic of the timeless story. A talented two-actor team brings the show to life, in under an hour, amid some "magical" VR elements.

And incidentally, earlier this year, the show received a nomination for Best Immersive Theatre, during a special run at the Raindance Immersive Festival!

How to attend

Performances begin with a matinee on Saturday, November 29th, and run through weekends up to Sunday, December 21st. Here's the link for information.

There will also be an all-day "stream-a-thon" on Agile Lens' YouTube channel, on December 24th!

In addition, Kevin will be performing his solo show, "The Harmnf", in New York and Los Angeles! Here's the link for tickets.

Kevin talked about his background, offered a preview of what A Christmas Carol VR Audiences will see, and shared some guidance for fellow educators and theatre professionals who might like to take their work into virtual reality.

"I thought, this is a good way to motivate and inspire students to learn," explains VictoryXR Co-Founder and CEO Steve Grubbs.

He's recalling both his first VR experience--and the genesis of his Iowa-based educational technology company, founded in 2016.

VictoryXR, now used by educators in more than 30 countries, is transforming education through virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence.

In real-world-based immersive settings, students become interactive, rather than passive, participants: encouraged to explore, be curious and create content.

Applications are available for learners of all ages, from kindergarten to postgraduate and technical/career training.

Hands-on and virtual

Among VictoryXR's applications is the VXRLabs platform, which is free to download. Simulations on VXRLabs include an interactive field trip to Egypt, a virtual biology lab and a "create space" for students to input their own content.

There are also more than 140 fully-immersive field trips on the "Victory XR: Global Traveler" app, which takes students all over the world.

Without ruining the fun, let's just say that these approach travel destinations from some highly imaginative perspectives, while teaching.

"Because you're immersed, students retain dramatically more information," Steve explains.

AI for all learners

One of VictoryXR's newest offerings is HOLOTUTOR: an AI student tutor, available, 24/7, that can tutor students in virtually any subject. (It's also free to download.)

Steve talked about his background, shared the story of creating VictoryXR and offered a closer look at some of the ways his company continues to transform the ways we learn--and teach.

Just one more week till Immersive X!

For three days, starting Tuesday, November 11th, this free all-virtual festival will explore the ways XR will transform the future.

The arts, academia, health, and society will be among the areas covered in ten different tracks.

And in addition to exploring the exciting innovations happening with VR and XR, the event is all about connecting in the metaverse.

"We always look for people that want to contribute to the development of this community," says Immersive X Organizer and Curator Thomas Zorbach, who is the Founder and CEO of Berlin-based full-service agency vm-people..

While the sessions are popular, and space may be limited, prospective visitors are still welcome to apply for an invitation--just with the warning that some sessions may already be full.

Thomas says there will be a training day on Monday, November 10th, and then, sessions start on Tuesday, the 11th, with his opening remarks at 6 am, Pacific time.

In this interview from September, 2025, Thomas shared the story of creating both vm-people (check out their YouTube channel, for past IMMERSIVE X sessions!) and the IMMERSIVE X festival, as well as offering a preview of this year’s events.