Experiencing the Joy of Unwrapping Interactive Media
In a blink of an eye, technology has taken over many facets of our lives. It is undeniable that interacting with technology is something we do every single day, potentially bringing along new opportunities to succeed personally and professionally. Technology can be directive and predictive; but also, dynamic and enlightening to create experiences genuinely captivating. Interactive media focuses on wrapping up experiences in gifts that are waiting to be unwrapped because we all know experiences are the true gifts that we end up remembering.
1. Sensory experiences
Fun, interactive experiences available at museums and cultural sites are usually designed for children, yet they are equally engaging for adults. The ability to smell, touch, hear and test your knowledge is beyond more immersive than reading a card or a plate. Researchers have focused on studying design applied to museum experiences to improve visitor experience and provided great insight. Horn et al., (2017) state, “The idea is to engage visitors with interactive content first and then give the opportunity to read and learn more if they are interested”. Interest can be awakened by planning on designing an interactive experience that creates curiosity.
2. Learning experiences
Lecturing is predestined to fail in its efforts to offer long lasting learning. From personal experience, students are discouraged by learning that doesn’t offer opportunities to test cognitive capacity and explore thinking capabilities. The rise of eLearning and virtual reality attached to new educational systems empowers the student to succeed in education. For instance, Google Expeditions is taking geography courses to new levels by equipping students with special kits, which allow them to experience new environments with added realism. Greenwald et al. (2017) state, “Egocentric 3D viewing supports self-paced data exploration and bears the potential to increase the users’ identification with the topic at hand”. There is nothing more exciting than the feeling of taking a journey beyond conception and imagination.
3. Communication experiences
While email became a sensation across the communication industry upon introducing speedy and easy conversation, recent pushes towards audio and video have given rise to using social media as the preferred method of communication. Communication developments are just getting started and are transforming the language used to communicate with friends, acquaintances and even business professionals creating new standards in just about every industry.
4. Development experiences
Technology has been incorporated into many of our every day-to-day processes; however, for some groups it is still very limited. For instance, as local and small farm food consumption rises due to an increased consumer interest in health and nutrition, targeting the needs of farmers aiming to set new goals on crop production and subsequently expand their consumer reach, begins by delivering knowledge and resources. Padel et al. (2015) state, “Some innovation will generate specific benefits for farmers, such as increased profitability, but much will generate public benefits, such as reduced natural resource use, improvement of soil fertility, of biodiversity and of animal health. Such innovation is a necessary part of sustainable development”. Investment in these groups has the potential to create ripple effects that would promote a more long-lasting outlook on sustainability.
5. Transformative experiences
Much needed is the introduction of revolutionary techniques that offer transformative opportunities for people requiring extensive healthcare. It can be as simple as developing an app that allows users to find a doctor and be granted access to healing treatments. However, more outstanding are developments that offer unprecedented solutions to people in dear need. Bionic arms and legs are examples of how technology is upgrading the quality of life of people with chronic illness and equally proving that technology can assist health prognostics.
6. Entertainment experiences
Lastly, interactive media is fun! The entertainment industry has welcomed virtual reality and augmented reality developments with big open arms. The ability to experience the game dynamics with heightened realism has offered improved immersion abilities that have become the market points of many products. While these new features were kept at an experimental level in 2017, the growth predictions for 2018 remain highly optimistic. Chmielewski (2018) states, “While the VR market grew more slowly in 2017 than many analysts predicted, credible researchers such as the International Data Corp. forecast spending on augmented reality and virtual reality to reach $17.8 billion this year, nearly double the $9.1 billion estimated for 2017”. We have already seen the buzz created with Pokémon Go and Snapchat filters so it isn’t unreasonable to argue that more is likely to come.
What experience will you choose?
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References
Chmielewski, D. (2018). $1 Billion Invested In ‘Immersive’ Entertainment in 2017 — With VR Device-Makers Footing Much Of The Bill. Retrieved February 1st, 2018, from http://deadline.com/2018/01/ar-vr-attract-1-billion-invested-in-2017-1202234684/
Greenwald, S., Kulik, A., Kunert, A., Beck, S., Frohlich, B., Cobb, S., Parsons, S., Newbutt, N., Gouveia, C., Cook, C., Snyder, A., Payne, S., Holland, J., Buessing, S., Fields, G., Corning, W., Lee, V., Xia, L. and Maes, P. (2017) Technology and applications for collaborative learning in virtual reality. In: Smith, B., Borge, M., Mercier, E. and Lim, K., eds. Making a Difference: Prioritizing Equity and Access in CSCL, 12th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL), Pennsylvania, USA, 18–22 June 2017. Philadelphia, PA, USA: International Society of the Learning Sciences, pp. 719–726. Retrieved January 31st, 2018, from http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/32215/1/115.pdf
Horn, M., Roberts, J., Banerjee, A., & McGee, S. (2017). Touch | Don’t touch: Exploring the role of interactive displays in natural history museums to help visitors appreciate objects behind glass. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (pp. 851–852). ACM Press. Retrieved January 31st, 2018, from http://tidal.northwestern.edu/media/files/pubs/paper439-cameraready.pdf
Padel, S.; Vaarst, M.; Zaralis, K. Supporting Innovation in Organic Agriculture: A European Perspective Using Experience from the SOLID Project. Sustain. Agric. Res. 2015, 4, 32, doi:10.5539/sar.v4n3p32. Retrieved January 31st, 2018, from https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4L3ZDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA115&dq=new+technologies+in+organic+farming&ots=jGKXagvDEe&sig=e9E70w3zso6TNQb40OcfbL2oObc#v=onepage&q=new%20technologies%20in%20organic%20farming&f=false
