Emerging Trends & Market Opportunities in Storytelling - part 1
The following was updated January 2021
Welcome to an experiment. I’m teaching a New Media Producing Class at Columbia University and I’ve decided to open the teaching process. Over the course of the semester myself, the class, and a number of guest speakers will be sharing thoughts, projects, tech, and ideas that explore storytelling in the 21st Century. You can follow along here on medium, via the class tumblr and/or the living breathing syllabus on hackpad.
Last week I gave a lecture on Emerging Trends & Market Opportunities in Storytelling. With the advancement of technology comes opportunities to tell stories that harness code in new and exciting ways. The following is a collection of interesting trends and market opportunities that I referenced during my lecture. Feel free to share anything that we may have missed. One of the goals for the semester is to help build a series of open resources that focus on new forms and functions of storytelling.
“Where are the opportunities for growth and potential challenges for telecommunications, media and entertainment companies? There’s no shortage of trends to watch in 2020, from the continued growth of streaming to new technologies like 5G and augmented/reality.” — Read More
An AI generated novel
Technologist Ross Goodwin takes his creative writing, artificial intelligence robot car across-country to write its version of the American literary road trip. What does creative authorship mean for A.I.?
AI Storytelling
Frankenstein AI experiments with those formerly known as the audience
Marking the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s seminal work, Frankenstein AI: a monster made by many reimagines the Frankensteinnarrative through the lens of a naive, emotionally aware, and highly intelligent “life form” — an AI. This multi-year project challenges commonly dystopian narratives around artificial intelligence, and seeks to provoke and broaden conversation around the trajectory of this rapidly emerging technology.
Amazon Echo Glasses
Here Come the AI Bots
AI is rapidly improving and as result it is finding its way into many aspects of our lives. 2017 was a landmark year for AI and things are expected to rapidly accelerate over the next 5 years. Computers are starting to open their eyes.
Jolly Roger — AI bot pranks telemarketers by keeping them on the line
Deepfake
Augmented Reality
Bose AR / spatial audio glasses
HaloLens 2
Magic Leap
Facebook’s AR glasses — code-named “Orion”
Apple
Snapchat Spectacles 3 released
StoryMaking
Storytelling and Maker Culture give rise to new opportunities for stories to become physical
Escape the Room
Stories become location aware
Sensors & Objects
Changing the face of retail experiences
Hardware boom via crowdfunding — commoditization leads to faster, smaller and cheaper technology
Wearable Stories
watches , sensors, fabrics and skin become canvases for storytelling
A storytelling adventure for the iWatch
A book that can sense your emotions
Fabric that is AR enabled
Tattoos that are bio wearables
Personalization & Agency
Moving beyond cat vids — those formerly known as the audience are looking to see themselves and their decisions reflected in things they watch, play and listen to.
A pen that unlocks an experience
Branching narratives in Black Mirror
War Games and a platform for branching narratives and choice
A book with 1,000 possibilities
A Story Generated Object
Humanizing the Story Data Tells
A new wave of storytellers and artists are experimenting with humanizing the data that we’re swimming in.
Network Effect — you have 7:50 to experience this
“The Internet is said to show our common humanity. Through its data, it is said to provide a kind of omniscience, and through its social networks, a deeper sense of connection. For those without access, it holds the promise of a better life. For those of us who use it a lot, its power to affect our lives is clear — but what is the nature of that effect? How does it change our behavior? The way we see others? The way we see ourselves?”
In Limbo — What will become of our individual and collective memory in the digital era?
BRETT is a robot that can think
Collaborative Stories
Collaborative Storytelling challenges the notion of the auteur. It shakes the foundation of the authorship and ownership of stories in terms of how they’re created, told and sold.
Survival Guide to High School — co-created by high school students
Sherlock Holmes & the Internet of Things — 2,600 collaborators, 60 countries, 180+ events, 1 massive connected crime scene
In part 2
Branded Storytelling, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Narrative Gaming, Digital Discovery, Digital Influencers and Multi-channel Newtorks
Continue onto part 2
About
Welcome to an experiment. I’m teaching a New Media Producing Class at Columbia University and I’ve decided to open the teaching process. Over the course of the semester myself, the class, and a number of guest speakers will be sharing thoughts, projects, tech, and ideas that explore storytelling in the 21st Century. You can follow along here on medium, via the class tumblr and/or the living breathing syllabus for the course.
Digital Storytelling II —Building Storyworlds: the art, craft & biz of storytelling in 21c
Columbia University School of the Arts
Professor: Lance Weiler
