As in many other new developments, there is a mixture of technological fanboyism and dystopian view of the immersive technologies. Many of these views stem from ‘stupefaction by another new tool symptom’.
Therefore, we are either exposed to awes of the tech savvy entrepreneurs and ‘wanna-know every new thing’ experts or the pessimist traditionalists. Yet, we hear very little scholarly and structured discussions around more pressing questions, such as the future direction in immersive field, how these tools serve to enhance the storytelling experience, and what their physical, emotional and psychological effects are on us and our realities.
A recent event explored some of these big questions in the frame of Game Developers Conference 2018. ILMxLAB partnered with the British Academy of Film and Television to host a conversation about the future of immersive storytelling, at Lucasfilm headquarters. The event attracted all sorts of industry representatives, including Uncharted creator, Amy Hennig, and members of the Lucasfilm Story Group.
ILMxLAB executive in charge, Vickie Dobbs Beck started her opening talk by explaining how at ILMxLAB team sees the future of immersive storytelling. “Some day, it’ll be a living world, where stories unfold — story-living. It’ll be dynamic, personal, social, and maybe even transformational,” Beck told.
Then, another speaker, the executive producer of experiences at Oculus, Yelena Rachitsky emphasized on importance of producing more emotionally moving contents. She also mentioned their new project that will link live actors, from a studio, with people being at home, by using the Oculus headsets.
Some day, it’ll be a living world, where stories unfold — story-living. It’ll be dynamic, personal, social, and maybe even transformational
– Vickie Dobbs Beck
What Rachitsky emphasized in regards to the emotionally moving contents was in align with the previous statements of John Gaeta, the creator of the Matrix trilogy. During the Media Convention Berlin in 2017, Gaeta stated he believed that the interactions with other humans (other users) and the stories with powerful human emotions will be key for the immersive storytelling to really take off.
In the same debate, Aaron Luber from Google’s AR/VR team, on the other hand, pointed out the significance of doing things rightly this time, by finding a socially responsible balance in using the technology. His idea was supported by Cliff Plumer (CEO of VR company The Void):
“We are dealing with a very powerful piece of technology across all these different mediums. It’s very responsible for us right now to be thinking down the road about those sorts of things and how we can hopefully do more things for good,” Plumer said.
I want the future to be mostly reality, with a little bit of everyday adventure added to my life
– Graeme Devine
Also, in the discussion, Magic Leap chief game wizard Graeme Devine insisted to take this balance seriously and not to do the same mistakes done with other mediums and technologies. Devine believes immersive storytelling technologies, such as AR and VR can enhance our lives in more subtle ways. He also notes that he doesn’t want a future where AR and VR overloads people with even more information and entertainment.
“I want the future to be mostly reality, with a little bit of everyday adventure added to my life”, Devine notes.
These expert voices promise a balanced approach to the future of immersive storytelling. They also give a very significant reminder about the core of all these technological tools. They exist, first of all means, to tell better stories, provide better life experiences and connect us with one another. We hope we will not forget this core idea, behind all these tools… not this time.
