Follow StoryFutures' Amanda Murphy key takeaways from SWSX.

1. BEST OF SXSX 2019
BY AMANDA MURPHY
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, STORYFUTURES ACADEMY

2. WHERE THINGS ARE AT 2019
POST OCULUS, MORE STRATEGIC APPROACH
2019= YEAR OF USE CASES
5G= KEY TO BROADER ADOPTION. ITS COMING!
EDGE COMPUTING TOO. KEY TO BRINGING MEMORY AND COMPUTER POWER CLOSER
TO WHERE NEEDED AND WILL HELP ECOSYSTEM GROW
FOCUS IS ON GETTING RID OF FRICTION.
UNTETHERED HEADSETS WITH ARRIVAL OF OCULUS QUEST AND HP REVERB VR
HEADSETS,
THE RISE OF AUDIO WEARABLES- LIKE BOSE GLASSES WITH AUDIO/AR CAPABILITY
THE FUTURE: VR FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND FOR GOOD, AR FOR ENTERPRISE AND
ENHANCING LIFESTYLE. GROWTH OF AI..
MUCH DEBATE AROUND WHETHER DEMOCRATISATION OF TOOLS = GOOD OR BAD (IS
IT BAD TECH OR BAD CONTENT? NEEDS CURATING)
HAPTIC FEEDBACK BEING DEVELOPED
THE ARRIVAL OF THE MIRROWORLD IS NIGH

3. KEYNOTE:JESSICA BRILLHART, IMMERSIVE
DIRECTOR/PIONEER
TECH IS THE TOOL NOT THE GOAL
IT’S ALL GAME DESIGN
ITS STORY-TELLINGS (not storytelling)
NEED TO CREATE EXPERIENTAL FLOW TO HELP VISITOR NAVIGATE EXPERIENCE
HAS DEVISED A ‘101’ OF HOW TO MAKE VR
SAYS CREATIVITY COMES FROM CALAMITY (ref 2017 she left Google, set up VRAI PICTURES)
SHE DEVELOPED SPATIAL AUDIO APP ‘TRAVERSE’ FOR BOSE GLASSES – “From Elvis in Memphis” allows users
to experience the music of Elvis Presley by walking through a physical space, with Traverse’s app making it spatially
sound like they’re in the studio with the King of Rock and Roll himself.

5. WORLDS FIRST AUDIO AUGMENTED REALITY PLATFORM
BOSE AR
● WEARABLES WITH TOOLS
TO CODE AND CREATE
● Developer.bose.com
● BOSE ENHANCED APPS LIKE
ELVIS IN MEMPHIS
● POTENTIAL TO
COLLABORATE WITH YORK
ON AN AUDIO PROJECT?

6. NONNY DE LA PENA, PIONEER & CEO EMBLEMATIC
GROUP
EXCITED ABOUT HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE EMBRACING STORYTELLING
IN IMMERSIVE
THINKS ITS VITAL TO PUT PEOPLE ‘IN THE SCENE’, TO EXPOSE THEM TO
NEW SITUATIONS – TO GET NEW PERSPECTIVES
BELIEVES IN DEMOCRATISATION OF THE TOOLS
HAS DEVELOPED ‘REACH’ A NEW WEB PLATFORM THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO TELL THEIR OWN
STORY IN ROOM SCALE VIRTUAL REALITY – A SIMPLE DRAG AND DROP TOOL THAT ALLOWS YOU
TO MAKE FULL ‘VOLUMETRIC’ WALK AROUND CONTENT –WITHOUT UNITY!
https://www.reach.love
VERY INTERESTED IN JOURNALISTIC POWER OF VR FOR GOOD, FOR CHANGE AND FOR
EMPATHY

7. CATHY HACKL –Futurist & developer, Magic Leap
● Touch hologram with HoloLens 2
hand presence – will soon have
haptic feedback which will make it
real. Developments driven by real
world need (eg surgery)
● The ‘Mirrorworld’ is under
construction. It will reflect not just
what something looks like but its
context, meaning and function.
● Look out for ‘keecker’ (or similar
home robot) new centre of the
home.

8. ALEX MCDOWELL,
CREATIVE DIRECTOR &
DESIGNER. NI PANEL
IT’S STILL EARLY DAYS, USE CASES ESSENTIAL
CROSS DISCIPLINE IS THE WAY FWD FOR IMMERSIVE
NEED ‘TRANSLATORS’(LIKE SIMON OF THE MILL)
NEED TO LISTEN TO 9 YEAR OLDS
NEED TO LEARN FROM IMMERSIVE THEATRE
NEED TO ADDRESS WHAT THE NEW SCREENS OF THE FUTURE
WILL BE
& STREAMING INTO THEATRES

9. SARAH ELLIS
DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT RSC
WORKING WITH MAGIC LEAP
THE POTENTIAL FOR THE COLLABORATION OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THEATRE TO ENHANCE THE
EXPERIENCE IS VAST AND EXCITING.
POWERFUL WHEN GET TO SEE THINGS WE DID NOT GET TO SEE WHEN WE WERE LEFT ‘OUTSIDE’. WE
ARE BROUGHT ‘INTO’ THE PRODUCTION.
91% OF THOSE WHO EXPERIENCED SHAKESPEARE VIA VR OFTEN FELT THEY WERE PRESENT IN THE
THEATRE.
TO DEVELOP, NEED TO LEARN TO WORK WITH PEOPLE AND METHODS WE DON’T KNOW -REFERENCES
HER WORK WITH MAGIC LEAP. WORKING WITH UNREAL, AND WORKING WITH UNIS ON DATA AND INSIGHT.
FELLOWSHIPS ARE ONE WAY OF DOING THIS.

10. IMMERSION AT SCALE
WILL CHANGE
EVERYTHING
PANEL: Steve Kroenig CTA/Tony Parisi, Unity /Julia Sourikoff Tool of America/
Kevin O Malley-tech talk/studio
ACRONYM SOUP STILL!
ARRIVAL OF A NO OF TOOKITS REFLECTS MOMENT OF CHANGE (REF
TORCH APP/Nonnys REACH etc)
NEED A BROADER SET OF PEOPLE (not just creatives) TO BOTH BUILD AND
POPULATE EXPERIENCES
RECKONS IT IS 2-3 YEARS FROM MAINSTREAM
TALK OF THE MIRROWORLD, EDGE COMPUTING AND 5G - ALL AROUND
THE CORNER
AR WILL SCALE. QUICKLY. IN RETAIL, MANUFACTURING, TRAINING etc
VR WILL ENHANCE ENTERTAINMENT. VR FOR GOOD WILL GROW.

11. INTERESTING NEW VR PROJECTS
● ELEVEN ELEVEN
● NBC UNIVERSAL (Dir:Mehrad Noori)
● A sci-fi adventure which is a multi-
linear narrative set on the planet of
Kairos. You can choose to follow any of
the 6 characters/stories while
investigating the island
(teleport/walk/run/jump on different
levels/gaining different perspectives) all
while deciding who to save and get on
the space ship with- in 11 minutes and
11 seconds before kaboom-extinction!
● Its very sophisticated, very clever.

12. INTERESTING NEW VR PROJECTS
● MECHANICAL SOULS
● Digital Rise, France & Seredipity Films
● Director: Gaelle Mourre
● A science fiction film about humanoid
robots hired to assist with a fancy
Chinese wedding.
● Technically accomplished uses AI driven
narrative engine to deliver one of a kind
tailored view experience, high cinema
production images, smooth to watch,
tracking shots in VR first I’ve seen.
● Gaëlle Mourre took inspiration from L.P.
Lee’s short story “Reflections in a
Mechanical Eye.

13. INTERESTING NEW VR PROJECTS
● NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN
● BBC VR HUB/ 59 PRODUCTIONS
● Lysander Ashton/ Anna Meredith
● Inspired by the Five Telegrams
commission by the BBC Proms, this
takes Anna Meredith’s music to create a
7 min VR piece around the multiple
choice postcards sent home by WW1
Soldiers. One is rendered in Unity so you
can touch, rotate it.
● The home and trenches environments
are beautifully linked.
● It’s a lovely emotional piece.
● https://canvas-
story.bbcrewind.co.uk/sites/virtual-
reality-prom/

14. INTERESTING NEW VR PROJECTS
● SOL ROGERS TOP 5 AT SXSW
● http://rewind.co/news/sxsw-2019-
our-top-five/

15. FOLLOW UPS
TALKING TO VARIOUS KEY PLAYERS ABOUT COMING TO DO TALKS OR SESSIONS AT
SFA LABS.
EXPLORING THE POTENTIAL TO BRING OVER NEW TECH LIKE BOSE AR WEARABLES,
UNITY AND VIVE LATEST TECH AND SET CHALLENGES IN LABS.
BRAINSTORMING WITH KEY PLAYERS IN VR AND AR ABOUT HOW TO BE AS INNOVATIVE
AS WE CAN IN TRAINING TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES, DEVELOP SKILLS AND NEW
CUTTING EDGE PRODUCTIONS.
FOLLOWING UP WITH A COUPLE OF VENTURE CAPALIST/ FUNDERS.
CONTINUING TO EXPLORE CO-PRO OPPORTUNTIES VIA THE BEST PRODUCERS AT SX.
ASSISTING AHRC IN PITCHING FOR FUNDS FOR THIS TO BE AN ANNUAL EVENT!
CLUSTERS AND DELGATES-LOTS OF OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE. SEPARATE
NOTES OVER NEXT FEW WEEKS.

16. PROJECTS RECOMMENDED BY OTHER FOLKS AT SXSW
ALEX MCDOWELL
- “They shall not grow old’ using AI / flatscreen with animation but felt ‘alive’
-FELIX & PAUL ‘TRAVELLING WHILE BLACK’