The document discusses how virtual reality may be able to trigger empathy by allowing users to experience the perspective of others through 360 degree videos. It also covers the current state of virtual reality, how its diffusion differs from other technologies, potential applications of VR in education, social augmented reality, and mixed reality. The presentation aims to start a discussion around the unknowns and collaborative opportunities of emerging technologies from a social impact perspective.
12. Google’s Mission
“To organize the world’s information, and
make it universally accessible and useful.”
“To organize the world’s experiences, and
make them universally accessible and
useful.”
21. Visit my site to learn about the social impact of emerging
technologies:
juliekrohner.com
Editor's Notes
Around the same time, we may have heard that FB purchased Oculus, but few of us knew what that meant. So what…FB buys everything – there wasn’t enough knowledge about VR at the time for the purchase to make sense to the general public- how many of us even now are discussing VR among friends, bringing our headsets to show newbies an experience? Some yes, but nowhere near the majority of us have done this. So while we haven’t yet created much buzz in our social networks, VR has gotten the attention of industry and investment! Stakeholders in news, entertainment, education and social media have all eyes on VR, and adoption has gone into a sort of frenzy.
Very recently, we have Samsung offering a bundled VR headset with its latest Galaxy phone, and Google created Daydream – just released at Google IO earlier this month - an ecosystem of VR-ready phones with built-in hard and software to give the average smartphone user a pretty sophisticated VR experience on their mobile phone.
I recently heard a thought provoking comment in a VR podcast -- a Google Daydream developer said that Google may need to redefine its mission, from Organizing the world’s information and making it accessible to all,” to “Organizing the world’s experiences, and making them accessible to all.” That ONE operational word change – from information to experience - carries so much weight. And when Google messes with their mission, it’s a big deal in the tech landscape, and a big deal for us a society.
So the tipping point is STILL debatable! Is it still here (EARLY ADOPTION) where we need more buzz from our personal networks to make a decision?, have we arrived at a tipping point (HERE?) or is there a chance VR could still fall away as a fad that never reached full adoption? It’s a land of I don’t knows, but I’m excited to find out.
Take education – those of you with younger siblings, or with kids yourself, will hear stories of what they learned that day from lessons like this:
This is augmented reality from Magic Leap– in this case a computer-generated whale overlaid in the natural environment of a school gym. There are also huge strides being made in medical training, psychotherapy and fieldtrips – totally redefined.
Social VR, including newer platforms like SnapChat have added augmented reality features, like the puking rainbow and this especially disturbing face swap.
In AltSpace, a mixed reality social network, you can hang out with your friends, or new friends around the world to watch Reggie Watts do a comedy show. AltSpace was designed to share a space on the web to play games, host or attend an event or build your own world with others. The opportunities are far-reaching – not just for empathy and immersion, but for social change on a much larger scale.
To me, big idea number 3 is the most exciting. It’s the observation I’ve had that VR is an open, collaborative community. It’s another difference that sets this medium’s diffusion apart.
Unlike many of the other technologies I’ve studied, where the intellectual property was so protected and guarded, VR is wide open. I’ve connected with countless VR developers, producers, founders, film makers, coders, and artists, and quickly found that we all have similar questions about the medium, and the best part is - it’s totally OK to say I Don’t Know! In fact, there’s an alignment and a comfort in the I Don’t Knows. There are online asset stores where anyone can go for code, how to build your own development kit, games and 360 videos. Industry pioneers like Unity and Unimersiv are there to help people at all levels become virtual reality developers – they actually give much of this knowledge away.
WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS?
I believe we are coming at VR with such openness because we realize how far reaching its potential is. Of course there is the capacity for evil with this medium, and I think in our hearts we know we need to come together to start the journey as one that has a greater good mission.
So it comes back to empathy, and the chance we’ve been given to have an intertwined world where the emphasis is on similarity, not difference. We are being offered an opportunity to engage with each other at a level we’ve not yet experienced.
As you take a deep dive today, think of the ways VR will redefine presence for you. What will your future look like, with VR in it?
