Storytelling challenge for VR — 5 questions for the participants
@ Virtual Reality Hackathon ‘De Pont’–30 April 2016
Interviews by Klasien van de Zandschulp
The VR Hackathon: Hack the pont! was an initiative of creative coding community in Amsterdam as a collaboration between Lava Lab Foundation, Submarine Channel, Creative Coding Amsterdam & Amsterdam Creative Industries Network. The event was taking place at April the 30th at Lava Lab in Amsterdam noord. The theme of the Hackathon was ‘De Pont’ (the ferry) that crosses the IJ to Amsterdam Noord, and is part of the Submarine Channel competition.
The motivation behind this hackathon and the project ‘De Pont’ is the challenge for film makers, documentary makers and other storytellers for creating narratives for virtual reality (VR). By the growing popularity of VR there is a growing urge to learn more about VR and experiment with new ways of storytelling and narratives within VR.
The hackathon focussed on diversity and mixed disciplines. VR developers, interaction designers, artists, Filmmakers, game developers, and so on.
Presentations and short workshops on virtual reality (Unity, Mozilla browser coding) and VR storytelling were planned throughout the day. Early in the day ideas and groups were formed and projects were developed and designed. At the end of the day all projects were presented at the Creative Coding Meetup. The day ended with a VR afterparty at De Ruimte, including DuoDisco; a mobile dance floor game, and a VR VJ.
Check the full list of projects here!
I interviewed a few of the participants about their hackathon experience and their view on VR.
5 questions for:
Samir Aleido (S.A.)
Saskia Herrmann (S.H.)
Ruud op den Kelder (R.K.)
Robin de Lange (R.L.)
Arnoud Traa (A.T.)
1. Why did you decide on participating in a hackathon on VR?
S.A. Curiosity! I was curious about VR, what is it? How to create it? How to use it? Where is it used? In what stage are we nowadays in VR? How close is it to reality? What are the expectations for the future? What are the limitations and boundaries? And I found a lot of answers on my questions.
A.T. I was really excited about joining the hackathon, because I could meet other people with similar or more experience in VR storytelling.
I had the idea to create something that was mostly sound focused in VR, within the theme of crossing into new territory. When I heard there was a group of refugee programmers called Hack the Future, everything clicked together. When I started talking to Samir, Ahmad en Amr I realised the experience (and therefore the interviews) should be about empowerment and dreams.
“Instead of waiting for new VR gigs, I want to investigate it and tell stories”
2) What were the changes and/or challenges that you experienced while working with VR throughout the day?
A.T. I’ve been diving into VR sound design and storytelling and want to get my feet wet. Instead of waiting for new VR gigs, I want to investigate it and tell stories.
R.K. The main challenge was the amount of time. This was the shortest hackathon I have ever been in. Luckily I already prepared some assets beforehand and the team was formed quickly. There were no real obstacles, we managed to control our ambitions and therefore the scope of the project in a really good way. it was one of the smoothest productions I have been part of.
S.H. I’m not a programmer myself so I was curious to learn what is possible, and what levels of experience other people had with working with VR and creating things for it.
“I feel like the interesting part of VR is in understanding how it can connect people, rather than the experience of one person in full immersion only. I’d love to join future hacks on VR, and see where it can take us.”
3) What is your take on the future of VR?
S.H. I feel like there is such great potential in terms of immersion, and empathy. I wonder though whether it will go down to the Google glass(hole) road. It’s not an intrusion as Google glass was, however, I feel like the interesting part of VR is in understanding how it can connect people, rather than the experience of one person in full immersion only. I’d love to join future hacks on VR, and see where it can take us.
A.T. Ha, good question. I think there is a lot to be discovered, people should approach it as an art form where the audience is supposed to be engaged and challenged. It’s not about entertainment to me… we have enough of that. I hope to see a strong focus on embodiment (through sound or other ‘modalities).
R.K. I believe VR has a very exciting future. I moved to VR development from mobile game development because I see potential for so many fields. There is still so much pioneering to be done and I am grateful that I get to be part of the forefront of this work.
“I moved to VR development from mobile game development because I see potential for so many fields”
4) Can you describe your experience throughout the hackathon day?
R.K. When I arrived in the morning I was surprised to discover that so many people were amateurs in the field of crafting 3D experiences and delighted to see that their lack of knowledge didn’t stop them to join this hackathon. Also, the Lava Lab space has a pleasant atmosphere, it allows for creative thoughts perfectly. The hackathon went smooth and the team was great. And DuoDisco is fantastic.
S.A. It was great! Productive experience, fabulous teams, extraordinary organizers! I enjoyed listening to experienced people, talking about the VR from various perspectives; philosophy, technology, humanity and art. The presentations were was really inspiring. Watching ideas translated to reality under virtual-reality is something amazing!
S.H. It was the 2nd hackathon I’ve been to and I really enjoyed it. The casual atmosphere, and location made the progression of work, and ideation quite organic throughout the day. I liked that elements for Unity were already created so that I was able to get cracking as a lay person without having to learn how to code/design first. It made it easy to immerse myself into the process without being held up by technicalities.
5) Can you name one other project created at the hackathon that you think is interesting, and why?
S.H. I really dig the project which allowed a VR user to read other peoples’ minds on the ferry. Standing on the ferry, waiting, is such a ordinary routine thing to do, yet everyone has their unique thoughts spinning around, whilst they’re confined in this small space.
R.K. “VR is shit” struck me most because its provocative and intelligent.
A.T. I liked most of the projects. However I really enjoyed the glitch art sound visualiser and the ‘thoughts of other people on the ferry’ experience.
