The ultimate medium is here! Virtual reality has descended upon us and guess what: this time it’s here to stay.
Gamers have already been early adopters of VR – but what is there beyond games? How can we use VR in journalism? What do 360° documentaries have to offer? What skills are needed to develop experiential stories and scenarios? Oh, and last but not least, what business models & opportunities are out there?
We will tackle all these questions this September in Berlin. This is our plan:
- in the morning, there will be six half-hour talks (the list of speakers will be finalised by mid-July, if you are interested in giving a talk, let us know), followed by a 30 min. lightning talk round (if you have a project you want to share, you can do so)
- in the afternoon, we are preparing some hands-on sessions to try out VR and AR to learn more about software and technology.
Some organisational information
- the event will be held in English
- as this event is non-commercial, there will be a 20 Euro fee to cover all costs (conference space, catering, etc.)
- we can only house 80 participants, so please register in advance (if you are not comfortable in using the Eventbrite ticketing system, please get in touch with us)
- Press/media: please book a ticket.
Tickets are all gone.
Tentative schedule
9:30 am: Doors open
10 am: Words of welcome
10:15 am: Three 30 min talks
11:45 am: Break
12 pm: Three 30 min talks
1.30 pm: Lunch break
2.30 Lightning talks
3 pm Hands-on workshops (split-up groups)
4:45 pm: Words of goodbye
Venue
Wikimedia Foundation
(Tempelhofer Ufer 22-24, 10963 Berlin) Map
Organisers
Linda Rath-Wiggins (@Lynda420) Linda is a media researcher and VR-enthusiast, works for Lokaler and the Deutsche Welle Innovation team.
Frédéric Dubois (@fredericdubois) is the founder of the startup for interactive narratives Reportero and editor of the Internet Policy Review.
Lorenz Matzat (@lorz) is the founder of the software company Lokaler, works in data journalism and writes the blog VRjournalist.de.
PROGRAMME
TALKS
1. 360°, CGI and journalism
Introduction and overview to technology and formats. What’s going on in VR journalism and where it might be heading.
Speaker: Linda Rath-Wiggins
2. VR documentaries
Introduction and overview of some experiments already happening and thoughts on non-linear storytelling with 360° videos and hybrid formats.
Speaker: Sven Häberlein, Trotzkind
3. Presence, perception and VR
An introduction to the concept of ‘presence’ and the various perceptual phenomena involved when we invoke it in VR.
Speaker: Matthew McGinity, Morean
4. Building 3D worlds
Software tools for building 3D environments; insights in developing interfaces to engage in VR spaces.
Speaker: Stefan Gensch, VRagments
5. Experience as principle
What can we learn from games?
Speaker: Csongor Baranyai
LIGHTNING TALKS
1. Lauren Moffatt
Documentary: The Oculus Reason
2. Tom Kubischik, I-mmersive
Distribution
3. Jodi Rose
VR environments for journalists
4. Maren Demant
360° video production
5. Alexander Grobe
Audio for VR
WORKSHOPS/HANDS-ON
Viorama
Capture a 360° space in seconds, arrange it to your liking and publish it. Founders of Viorama will showcase their beta version of the Viorama.
BER VR
In cooperation with rbb and DW, Lokaler has developed a VR proof-of-concept of the BER airport in Berlin. You’ll see a walkthrough.
Fader
A project by CIR and VRagments, Fader is a dashboard in VR that will empower journalists to track shaming and ridicule online. Here you can see a first prototype.
Leap Motion
We have two leaps at the venue and you can try out some demos.
VR headsets
Oculus, Cardboards, etc – here you can try out some of the HMDs available.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
9:30 am: Doors open
10 am: Words of welcome
10:15 am: Two 30 min talks
11:15 am: Break
11:30 am: Two 30 min talks
12:30 pm: Lunch break
13:30 pm: Lightning talks
14:30 pm Hands-on workshops
16:30 pm: Words of goodbye