The document outlines the evolution of media from one-way communication to interactive and experiential media, highlighting key innovations such as the Gutenberg press, radio, television, and virtual reality technologies like Oculus Rift. It emphasizes virtual reality's potential as a new communication platform that allows audiences to immerse and interact with stories in innovative ways. The document also discusses future possibilities in storytelling and provides guidance on starting virtual reality projects.

1. Virtual Reality:
From Storytelling to
Story Experiencing

2. A brief history of media
Chapter 1: One-Way Communication
• 1436: Gutenberg Press. Text.
• 1919: Radio broadcast. The
spoken word.
• 1937: Television broadcast.
Images, live video.

3. A brief history of media
Chapter 2: Interactive Communication
• 1988: CD-ROM. Words, images,
audio. Interact with content.
• 1994: Internet. Find what you
want, interact with people!
• 1999: Internet capable phone.
Anytime, anywhere access.

4. A brief history of media
Chapter 3: Experiential Media
• Now, 579 years after Gutenberg, the next chapter
is being written: experiential media.
• Jump inside a story and interact with the
environment in full 360 degrees.
• Transport your consciousness to another place,
feel physically present in a story.

5. Like in a Star Trek Holodeck

6. What this means for journalism …
• Don’t stop at writing or showing a story of what
happened. Transport someone into the scene.
• Move from taking 2D photos of 3D objects to
scanning their structure to experience in a virtual
reality headset.
• Let people interact within a scene where something
happened, and make their own choices.

7. Merging of technologies across industries
Film
Motion capture
Gaming
Interactive environments
Storytelling
Factual storytelling

8. Nonny de la Peña
Engadget: “The Godmother of Virtual reality.”

9. Oculus Rift
Palmer Luckey, USC lab
assistant, launches
Kickstarter campaign to
mass produce the
prototype he built. The
name: Oculus Rift.

10. First version for sale now
Samsung GearVR, in
partnership with Oculus.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
phone that works with a
$250 headset.

11. How Oculus Works
• A screen overlaid with
two lenses focus a
stereoscopic image to
make it look 3D.
• Tricks the brain into
thinking it’s physically
present elsewhere.

12. On Your Facebook?
$2 Billion acquisition
“… we're going to make Oculus a
platform for many other experiences.
Imagine enjoying a court side seat
at a game, studying in a classroom
of students and teachers all over the
world or consulting with a doctor
face-to-face ...” – Mark Zuckerberg

13. In other words …
Virtual reality isn’t just a
gaming platform. It’s the
next communication
platform, which makes it a
new media platform.

14. In other words …
“Just like we capture photos and
videos today and then share them
on the Internet to let others
experience them too, we’ll be able
to capture whole 3D scenes and
create new environments and
then share those with people as
well. It will be pretty wild.”
4/14/2015, International Business Times: http://bit.ly/1zieWZU

15. More platforms on the way
Valve / HTC Vive
Easy to set up,
faceplant-proof
walkaround VR.

16. On the horizon: Augmented Reality
Microsoft HoloLens

17. Augmented Reality
Magic Leap - backed by
hundreds of millions
from Google and
Andreesen Horowitz.
Possible future for
Google Glass?

18. Depth cameras
• Depth cameras can see physical
structure and movement through
physical space.
• The photo or video of the future
may contain 3D structure.
• Down the line: potential for live,
“transferred reality” of an
environment.

19. What you look
like to a depth
camera

20. Structure: the future of photos?

21. Structure Sensor

22. My summer at Gannett
• Hired as a consultant to
help with Google Glass
and smartwatch projects.
• After trying Oculus Rift
they caught the VR bug.

24. Two approaches
1. Virtually recreate the
scene of a story to
use as the primary
navigational aid.

25. 2. Transition into 360
videos of the same
place. (Partnership with
Total Cinema 360).
Two approaches

26. Notice how
there’s no
“behind the
camera” in 360!
Completely
different way of
filming.

27. Impeccable attention to detail
“Transferred reality?”

32. Now, let’s look at Harvest of
Change from the inside out.

33. What other stories could be experienced?
• Environmental stories. Import topography of
coastal areas, dial in sea level rise. Experience
your future flooded city.
• Science and medical stories. See how the new
cancer drug works at the cellular level.
• 3D Data visualizations. Walk through the Polar
Vortex on a 3D map.
• Enter the crime scene. Examine the evidence.

34. OK, so how do you get started?
• Spent a year learning the ins and outs of game
design in Unity, with pointers from Nonny.
• Started new Virtual Reality Storytelling class in
January. 15 students made it through.
• Class materials are at http://vrstorytelling.org

35. OK, so how do you get started?
• Spent a year learning the ins and outs of game
design in Unity, with pointers from Nonny.
• Started new Virtual Reality Storytelling class in
January. 15 students made it through.
• Class materials are at http://vrstorytelling.org

36. ENOUGH TALK
LET’S MAKE A VR SCENE!

37. Part 1:
Download the tools
http://www.vrstorytelling.org
(Click Downloads under Resources)

38. Part 2:
Create a simple scene
Find and place assets
Scan objects from your environment
Add some interactivity

39. Part 3:
Shoot 360 video
Stitching (broad overview)
Placing multimedia in a VR scene

40. THANKS!
DAN PACHECO
Chair of Journalism Innovation,
S.I. Newhouse School, Syracuse University
Principal, FutureForecast Consulting, LLC
drpachec@syr.edu | dan@futureforecast.com | 303.465.5560 | @pachecod