I recently spent two weeks on the road – one in China and the following in New Orleans attending the Collision Conference.
When I was younger, two weeks on the road was a piece of cake. But at 66, two weeks on the road is much tougher. Thankfully, I felt great the whole time and amazingly did very well during this trip. Of course when I got home, I crashed for two days since the recovery time from a trip like this takes a bit longer these days.
Since my triple bypass four years ago, I have traveled much less than in the past. To be honest, I was somewhat afraid of being away from good medical care for any length of time because of health issues. I did make a couple of trips to Europe, but kept them relatively short. But once you get the travel bug, it gets in your blood and eventually you want to see the world as long as you can physically do it.
The key statement, however, is “as long as you can physically do it.”
Now I know that most of us, though we are aging, are doing it gracefully and in most cases our health is fine and world travel is not a problem. But even in our older years, hitting the road as we did when younger may be a bit more challenging. That is why the idea of virtual reality as a substitute for travel continues to be of interest to me. So while I was at the Collision Conference, the one session that really stood out to me focused on virtual reality as a new platform for storytelling and travel substitution. The panel included two executives from Samsung: Daniel Eun of Samsung’s Global Innovation Center and Marc Mathieu from Samsung Electronics America. Also on the panel was Jacques Methe of Cirque Du Soleil Media.
All three focused on the fact that virtual reality is set to become one of the most important tools for telling stories, whether by professionals or regular consumers. In fact, Mr. Methe of Cirque du Soleil said that virtual reality “is inventing a new way to tell a story.” He referenced KURIO, Cirque Du Soleil’s 360 degree virtual reality app that is available in the Oculus Store, and said “they put the 360-degree camera in the center of the performance and performers come up and say hi, putting you in the center of the action.” I have played with the KURIO app and it was one of the first virtual reality videos that made me realize how virtual reality will someday revolutionize many forms of entertainment. If you have a Samsung Galaxy VR headset and a Samsung smartphone 5, 6, or 7, I encourage you to download the Cirque Du Soleil KURIO VR app to see for yourself how this could change story telling within the entertainment industry.
Mr. Mathieu of Samsung said that, when the caveman went out to hunt and returned, they told the story of the hunt in pictures in a cave on all of the walls around the cave. Eventually, this kind of storytelling was moved to a frame in paintings and pictures where it has stayed for the centuries. Even today, our HD video is shown within a frame whether it is on a TV, PC, tablet, or smartphone. According to Matheiu, 360 degree virtual reality breaks us out of that frame and delivers the scene or video as if one was at the event and viewing it from the center of the action. He went on to say that “this my be the closest to teleportation we will ever have in our lifetime” and I kind of agree with that view. The really good virtual reality apps put you in the center of the story and or a location anywhere in the world and tells and shows it to you in 360 degree views. Or, in essence, it puts you at the top of the Eiffel Tower and lets you get a 360 degree view from there. Or sets you down in the Roman Coliseum and lets you roam through it. As Matheiu says, it is a form of teleportation that we can have now and apply it to storytelling and arm chair traveling.
Daniel Eun agreed that professional storytelling like the content from Cirque Du Soliel would be big, but he added that he felt that normal consumers may actually create the greatest amount of content over time for themselves and their friends. He said to imagine capturing your child’s first steps in 360 degree video camera and, using the proper goggles, going back to relive this anytime you wish. Virtual reality puts you back into the experience so that it is always there to view in the future. One could imagine putting a 360 degree virtual reality camera on the table at kids birthday party and being able to share that experience with the parents who were not at the party. Or using a 360 video camera at a wedding and placing it at the center of the ceremony so friends and relatives who did not attend could view the ceremony as if they had attended.
It could be a boon for grandparents too as you could use this type of camera at a grandchild’s baseball game and let the grandparents watch if even it they were not physically at the game.
I am, however, really fascinated by the potential of traveling anywhere and seeing everything through virtual reality teleportation. While my health allows me to travel now, I am realistic that someday it may not be a possibility. But with virtual reality, I could still travel the world as I get older and continue to experience one of the real joys of my life that comes through traveling to new places and learning their culture and enjoying what each location has to offer. All that’s missing is jet lag and heartburn.
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