The Mars 2030 Experience is not just a video game, but a highly detailed and accurate simulation of the surface of Mars, based on data and photographs from the Mars Rover and a European satellite orbiting the red planet. It's part of a larger effort to determine the feasibility of establishing human habitation on Mars.

Mr. Robot stars Rami Malek and Christian Slater joined series creator Sam Esmail at SXSW film panel “Coding on Camera: MR. ROBOT and Authenticity on TV.” SXSW was the site of the show’s premiere last year. This year, participants in the Golden Globe Award-winning series came back to celebrate and discuss the show’s success.

More sophisticated augmented reality applications can scan your environment, for example, a living room, and place virtual objects on walls and flat surfaces. The user can interact with these virtual objects to play games, or solve puzzles or mysteries.

“Voter Technology: A Reimagined Future”, a presentation at SXSW, focused on bringing election technology into the 21st Century. The speakers included Diego Bernal, a social worker and member of the Texas House of Representatives for San Antonio, and Peter Jackson, Public Sector Strategy Lead at IDEO, a design and consulting company based in San Francisco. Their goal: Use modern technology to facilitate the registration and voting process. They covered the motivations, possibilities and issues surrounding technology and voting.

At this year’s South by Southwest film festival Seth Rogen debuted, as a work-in-progress, his new animated feature 'Sausage Party.' It is the first foray into the “R-rated world” for an animated feature. If you have no problems with watching food have sex, it’s really funny.

J.J. Abrams joined SXSW attendees and writer/director Don Coscarelli for the debut of Phantasm – Remastered at the Stateside Theatre in Austin. The debut was part of the SXSW Midnighters series which is billed as “Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.”

'The Bandit' documents the story behind the making of 'Smokey and the Bandit' and of the relationship of star Burt Reynolds and his close friend, stunt double, and creative force behind the film, Hal Needham.

The bad boy son of a West Texas preacher, returns to his hometown to become its preacher and to keep a promise to his father. His past and a variety of bad things, including a mysterious cosmic force, an ex-girlfriend, and a psychopathic vampire complicate this for him.

Sometimes, when a movie plays at SXSW, it’s not just a screening, it’s a celebration. Last year, that was true about 'The Breakfast Club.' This year, the celebration was for the opening night premiere of Richard Linklater’s 'Everybody Wants Some.'

'The Trust', starring Nicolas Cage and Elijah Wood, is a crime drama which combines the world of 'CSI: Las Vegas' with the violence and dark humor of a Quentin Tarantino film. Pretty good for beginners.