The future - Virtual Reality

Forbes magazine estimates that the VR industry will generate $150 billion by 2020 and it will have a huge impact on media industries.

Clouds over Sidra - a 12 year old Syrian living in a refuge camp in Jordan

Explore the technology by finding out about the following;

• Oculus Rift
• Google cardboard
• Samsung Gear
• HTC Vive

How will it affect the following areas/industries. Find an example of its use in the area that you choose;

• Film
• Music
• Computer Games
• Art
• Documentary
• News 
• Architecture

Is it 'the ultimate empathy  machine' due to the level of immersion in the medium?
Is 'rectangle cinema' going to turn into 'spherical cinema'?
How will it aid activism and documentary making?
How will it aid teaching? For example history or geography?
What are the darker sides to this new technology?

Solitary confinement Virtual reality


Apply your theorists to the development of this new technology.

Wider reading

Tan Pura - Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Mike Tucker
THe Displaced - documentary by the New york Times
Hunger in Los Angeles - waiting at a food bank
Raby - a military coup in Pinochet's 1973 Chile
Millions march - Spike Lee documents a day of protest linked to the 'Black Lives Matter' movement
Waves of Grace - A UN documentary about a Liberian Ebola survivor
First Life - Attenborough nature documentary
Chris Milk - TED lecture about spherical cinema
Article in Sight and Sound magazine in the library

Oculus Rift was a success of crowdsourcing - Clay Shirky, Wikinomics

The Future - some key points to engage with in any response about the future of media in the online age

• Projecting a version of yourself
• Internet safety
• Rise of the new 'gatekeepers'
• Activism e.g 'Black Lives Matter'. Bringing people together, providing a voice
• Immersive experiences - learning a language, overcoming social challenges, Construction and building, holidays.
• Living in the stream
• Digital Natives
• Network personalised around you
• Participants not audiences