Journalism may be completely changed by virtual reality

Instead of telling stories, they put the audience into the story and let them be there. This could be a dramatic change in the news industry from virtual reality.

"I was sitting in a car and the person next to me was talking to the police. On the grass beside him, a teenager in a hoodie ran, behind him, and police urged the teenager to stop. ”

This is the February 26, 2012 shooting in Florida, the story of the 17-Year-old black teenager Trevonn-Martin (Trayvon Martin) was 28-year-old white George Zimmerman was shot to death.

Martin bought some food and drinks at the store and went to visit his father. Shortly after Martin entered the neighborhood, Mr Zimmerman, the community keeper, saw him and thought he was suspicious. Zimmerman then contacted the police station and reported that he had a suspicious whereabouts in the neighborhood. Soon after the spat between Martin and Zimmerman, Martin was killed by a gun shot by Zimmerman near his chest.

After the police arrived at the scene, Zimmerman explained that he was defending himself, and the police took his word and did not arrest him. Many people think this is the tragedy caused by racial discrimination, the case is also in the United States Gome (micro-blog) speculation.

Since Martin's death three years ago, Twitter has become an international sport, #blacklivesmatter more unjust killings. This is a sad story that Americans are already very familiar with.

But it was still a bit overwhelming to be there when Martin was killed.

At the SXSW show at the River VR Accelerator, "I was wearing a Samsung gear virtual reality headset, watching Martin buy food drinks at 7-11 convenience stores, a highly granular video from the surveillance camera." Then my perspective was transformed into the animated reconstruction scene of Martin and Zimmerman's initial encounter. When the two men ran out of sight, the real 911 alarm audio began to play and I was switched to the eyewitness's angle. The gun rang and I shuddered. "Higne Brewster, a leading American tech-media man, Signe Brewster to describe its feelings.

Immersion News

The story is the work of emblematic Group, a start-up company in Los Angeles. The company was founded by senior journalist Ronnie Drapena (Nonny de la Pe?a) and game designer Mike Richter (Michael Licht). Drapena said they had produced the Martin film in just a few weeks to show how the company could handle major news with gear and other devices. Devices like gear need you to stay stationary in virtual reality.

Emblematic virtual reality head wear equipment

"I think this story represents a major problem in America right now," Drapena said. "I've always wanted to do this story since the case happened," he said. Now I have a very powerful team that can make such a story. ”

Emblematic was founded in 2007 and has developed its own equipment because of the lack of an off-the-shelf interactive virtual reality head-wear device. You can't walk around the room using ready-made head-and-wear equipment on the market.

This is changing. The Vive, developed by HTC in collaboration with game company Valve, and Sony's project MORPHEU allow the wearer to interact with the virtual world while walking. Drapena said emblematic would not exclude any platform. Vive is particularly exciting, she says, because it opens up a whole new space for people to interact with the virtual world as they move around.

Rocket attacks in Syria

"Wearing a headband, I entered the animated reconstruction scene of the Syrian city streets. A little girl sang, but then the rockets hit and the people and things around me were knocked down. Then the scene switched to the refugee camp. ”

Drapena said the media has caused some controversy. When breakfast was recently shared with other filmmakers, opinions diverged, and some thought that virtual reality was a good tool for journalism and that others thought it was whimsical. But Drapena says people will be convinced just try it.

"I personally feel a little uneasy about this kind of media, and the reason is related to storytelling skills." I felt really terrible when I heard the bombs and gunshots, and I felt sorry to see the surrounding camps being filled with ghostly figures, and I was so worried when Zimmerman chased Martin. But after I read it, I didn't get a better understanding of it. The media man Brewster expressed his feelings.

Emblematic chose to present Martin's story in part because its audio recordings were complete and rich. On the day of the Florida shooting, the police received a lot of calls, including the one that Zimmerman made. Emblematic is nothing more than a witness to the 911 alarm from the perspective of this incident. That's what journalism is all about.

Become a witness

For some types of stories, inserting comments may be essential, Drapena says. Virtual reality has the potential to bring viewers into any scene, or even put the audience in the position of a certain party. The storyteller can completely let us look at the whole thing through Martin and even Zimmerman's point of view, which is when virtual reality is on a new level.

Previous emblematic budgets have been very limited. Now that money is available, it will be able to create more realistic animation reconstruction scenarios. The company will provide more types of stories and try to shoot live video. This makes it possible to make longer stories to give play to the true potential of the media: to make you feel the same way. The reader wants to understand Martin and Zimmerman's thoughts and actions at the time, and emblematic is close to the goal.

"Since I've been in this field, I don't want to change careers," he said. It's really breathtaking. "Drapena said. "Whether it's news or fiction, when you make a story, you try to use your inner feelings to show people what you're experiencing in your mind." There is nothing more than virtual reality that allows me to do this. ”