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Hurricane Katrina and VR Journalism

Tech has always been dorky. Long before Google Glass, nerds were looking like geeks in the name of innovation.

I’ve done my share of looking foolish, but I do it in the name of journalism.

This week marks the start of my latest innovative, hackathon style course… this year it’s Virtual Reality Journalism. (Last year it was Glass Journalism and Augmented Reality Journalism before that.)

This week also marks the 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

There are a lot of things to remember and reflect on, especially in regards to journalism. I remember the amazing work done by the Times-Picayune/NOLA.com, that literally saved lives.

But, perhaps because I am a dork, I mostly remember this photo:

VR is something that I’ve always kept my eye on. My experience began with Apple’s QuickTime VR Studio and I managed to work that tech (paired with ambient sound) into some multimedia coverage I did at the Seattle Times.

Those links are pretty much dead, but the Bering Sea and the Olympic Sculpture Park were two projects I did this with.

That said, the first time I saw 360-degree video in news was ten years ago when MSNBC’s special Katrina project Rising from Ruin.

I saw the video and was blown away (video no longer works… they killed it, I think, for their year anniversary).

But they kept this page… a page I looked at in awe.

Direct link: http://risingfromruin.msnbc.com/2005/11/you_write_the_c.html

It never occurred to me to reach out to the guy in the photo (Ashley Wells / @DangerWells), but I did today:

He replied:

While impromptu and we both don't have the time, I asked him for an interview. I'll keep you posted.

#Katrina #MSNBC #VR Journalism

First tests of our VR rig

In connection with my VR Journalism course I am teaching at USC Annenberg this fall, we got a Freedom 360 mount, six GoPro HERO4 Black cameras and our new journalism building at University of Southern California.

Here is a test / draft of an immersive, virtual tour we plan to produce of the new Wallis Annenberg Hall.

Using Vrideo:

Direct link here: http://www.vrideo.com/watch/rh1QaJM

Using Kolor Eyes:

Direct link here: http://eyes.kolor.com/video/6989aec3d8b9e7e9c69104c8fa645529

#VR Journalism #USC Annenberg #Jovrnalism #VR

Web VR Starter Kit: Making VR creation accessible to everyone

This amazing project by Brian Chirls empowers anyone to create VR experiences fast and easy… it’s browser based and produces experiences across ALL platforms: desktop, mobile and head-mounted displays like Oculus.

The GitHub is here: https://github.com/povdocs/webvr-starter-kit

THE WEB AHEAD’s Episode 96

The podcast had a great interview with with Josh Carpenter and Vladimir Vukicevic exploring "Reinventing the Web in Virtual Reality."

I highly recommend a listen... it will be required for my students.

http://www.thewebahead.net/96

#VR #Web VR #MozVR #The Web Ahead Podcast

Draft: Syllabus for VR Journalism

This is my working draft for the VR Journalism syllabus. In all honesty, this syllabus is a placeholder because the students determine the schedule based on our projects and our pacing.

But, like the Glass Journalism syllabus, this begins to outline the framework for the class.

http://bit.ly/vrjournalism-syllabus-fa15

#VR Journalism #USC Annenberg #Syllabus #DRAFT

USC Annenberg's VR Journalism course

Scheduled and ready to go! Here is the flier for my Fall course exploring and developing VR Journalism. It's open to all students, not just Journalism major and it is a D-Clearance, which means I have to approve each student.

#USC #VR #VR Journalism #Journalism

USC Annenberg's (growing) VR headset collection

While Oculus is the most known developer of VR head gear, it is by no means the only one. Here are a sample of different options, that range in price.

There are others, including the Homido ($80): http://www.homido.com/en/shop/products/homido-hmd

#VR #VR Headset #VR Journalism #USC

A pioneering journalistic experiment puts you in the middle of NYC's Millions March

VR 101

Everything you ever wanted to know about VR in one great site. Produced by The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/a/virtual-reality

#VR #History #The Verge

" Oculus announced Story Studio, its in-house production team dedicated to producing virtual reality movies," reported The Verge. http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/26/7919177/oculus-lost-virtual-reality-film-sundance

#VR Storytelling #VR films

VR look. 8-)

#VR Journalism

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