For the final We Are Wearables Toronto event of the year, WWTO founder and BetaKit Senior Editor Tom Emrich ended 10 months of discussing the hottest wearables with a bang. Octoberâs We Are Wearables was an appropriately-named Big VR event, focusing on how the emerging technology is eventually going to change the world. Featuring guests like the Toronto-based creative director of Secret Location, one of the first content agencies to win an Emmy for its VR use, it wasnât surprising to hear that Emrichâs monthly events just reached 5,000 members.
“Are we prepared, as we build these metaverses, to create that public commons?”
âIt feels like weâre in the calm before the storm right now, the same kind of feeling I was getting before the iPhone launch,â said Ben Unsworth, co-founder of Globacore, about the future of VR. âCome early next year, when the Oculus becomes actually commercially available and the Samsung Gear is out, itâs going to be a completely different ball game.â
But as VR technology becomes adopted by mainstream audiences, itâs difficult to know what kind of world will be created with such a technology. Ana Serrano, chief digital officer of the Canadian Film Centre, raised these concerns as she talked about why VR matters.
âThere will be experiences where tracking biodata and eye movement will be critical to making the experience as pleasurable as possible. But we need to make sure that we donât give VR over completely to commercial interests. âRight now we have a web thatâs totally commercial,â Serrano said. “There are no spaces on the web where we can say something without fear of someone overhearing. Are we prepared, as we build these metaverses, to create that public commons? I want to ensure that it doesnât end up living in a Matrix-like environment. And I think if we donât design with intention, then we could fall into it accidentally.â
With a varied group of presenters across industries that will likely be hard-hit by a wave of interest in VR, some guests talked about how coming from a tech perspective, rather than a traditional film perspective, will help their companies reinvent the wheel.
âWe donât have the burden of knowledge and because we donât have this baggage of facts to have to hold onto,â said Josh Farkas, the âstrategy ninjaâ at Cubicle Ninjas. âWhen people approach this from a completely fresh canvas, they can do innovative and interesting things.â
The early adopters that came from the film industry attested to the struggles of adjusting to new technologies. âAs a director, itâs funny that I talk to others and some of them are like, âwhereâs the front camera?â,â said J. Lee Williams, a VFX and animation director, and co-founder of OccupiedVR. âThe biggest thing they donât understand is that itâs something totally different. And thereâs so many different tools to do this and itâs part of being a director. Weâve created a new medium.â
âWith VR weâre talking about healthcare, tourism, architecture, history, geography and all these cool things,” Farkas continued. “Oftentimes when people talk about VR theyâre talking about narrative or games, and it limits VR to these boxes. But VR doesnât have to end where our perceived ideas on VR end.â
So while people are on the lookout for their favourite games or movies to become immersive virtual reality experience, the panelists agreed that the technology has the potential to change more than that.
âI think anybody that has an idea and has something they wanna portray, how I see it is just as a limitless canvas, and you can do whatever you want to do,â said Milan Baic, founder of PinchVr. âIf it makes sense for your story and your content, then do it. Thereâs no conventions.â