Imagine this is a typical day in your life:

Instead of waking at your normal time of 5:50 a.m., you can stay in bed 30 minutes longer. Why? Therapy for your recently diagnosed torn rotator cuff can be conducted from your TV with an augmented reality program — no need to go to PT today.

Then your IoT app lets you know which pod at work has an open space available. Another IoT application at work will let you know how the space in your entire 100,000-square-foot, multi-office building is being used.

The daunting challenges of authenticating financial transactions for your new trading platform have disappeared because blockchain has been integrated into your business. You can focus your time on finding new investments, but maybe you don’t even have to look because AI will do it for you.

Internet of Things, blockchain, artificial intelligence and virtual reality are the technology trends jamming our inboxes, populating our LinkedIn feeds and making headlines, but they are a negligible part of our lives and businesses — for now. The typical day in the life described above is not yet ours. This won’t change for us or anyone else in the tech community until we figure out where the rubber meets the road and move in that direction.

That’s why law firm Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld (RCCB) and Drexel Ventures have teamed up to put together an amazing group of tech experts who are commercializing cutting-edge technologies. This can’t-miss panel on May 1 will help you navigate how tech trends become realities in our businesses, careers, futures and lives. We’re calling it, simply enough, Hot Topics in Tech: Blockchain, IoT, AI & AR/VR.

Our panelists hail from startups, large enterprises, universities and law firms where they are responsible for getting tech into the market.

Let’s break it down by field:

IoT

• Bryan Witkowski is the head of products for Comcast’s MachineQ, a service that leverages connected sensor, network and software technologies to transform business. MachineQ is being deployed across the country, including in Philadelphia at Drexel where two pilot programs addressing parking and soil moisture management are in progress. Comcast is committed to enhancing Philadelphia’s technology footprint and Witkowski will talk about the technology, the progress Comcast is making and what you can expect as a local entrepreneur or integrator of IoT.

Blockchain

• Ed Zabar is the CEO at Verif-y, a blockchain digital identity platform providing users control over their personal data. Imagine being able to control your personal data and manage who you share it with, such as when you are applying for a job. Businesses can use Verif-y’s technology in HR and facilities access management, educators can provide a digitally protected degree certificate, and in the financial services sector it allows banks, platforms and ICOs to comply with Know Your Customer and other requirements. Doug Park, a securities and ICO lawyer with his own firm, will discuss the latest with ICOs and cryptocurrencies and bring a perspective from the west coast.

Edtech

• Thomas DeChiaro, CIO of Drexel University, will discuss the relationship between new technology trends and enterprise adoption. Drexel is continually striving to connect IT to other operational issues that affect their enterprise such as space, building maintenance, online learning and web communication.

Virtual and Augmented Reality

• Joe Reilly, the CEO of eNable Games, will share how the Drexel nursing and digital media faculty teamed up to apply AR/VR technologies to rehabilitation therapy games and how he is getting this revolutionary healthcare IT solution into the marketplace.

AI

• Dr. Jichen Zhu, Associate Professor of Digital Media and Computer Science at Drexel, will explore with us how artificial intelligence-based game design is creating new forms of computational media at the intersection of behavioral science, design, aesthetics, and computation.

We will kick off the evening with a panel discussion moderated by RCCB attorney Ian Polonsky, a leader in the firm’s tech law group, then break into small groups for more in-depth conversations with each panelist, followed by cocktails and networking.

Philadelphia is a special place for tech entrepreneurship. The presenters on May 1 are the best evidence we can offer. We hope you will join us — learn about tech, give some good advice, get even better advice, meet new friends and catch up with colleagues. Space is limited, please RSVP.