Podcasting Exploration
Wallscope and Creative Informatics
Wallscope has an emotional interest in analogue formats yet is practically focussed on digital technologies. With that, the Challenge for The Big Light caught our interest for many reasons.
Podcasting is an active area of growth that leans into the power of the spoken word to tell stories. These can be non-fiction and fictional. The spoken and written word has been around for a long period of time, yet storytelling has been around a lot longer and is a powerful point of engagement and attachment that has the power to impact and reach into many lives with a high level of personalisation. As a format, Podcasting does that. However the Podcasting sector can struggle to identify key insights into how listeners interact with the discovery of content, the actual listening experience and the demographics of listeners.
When the opportunity came to submit a proposal we were less interested in any one specific technology but were drawn by an interest in exploring the ‘temporal’ dimension associated with audio-form files and how ‘time’ is key to how stories are found, told, recorded and consumed. Part of that is how an audio experience is created and curated.
Curation
We very quickly realised that we needed to initially concentrate on how audio-format files can be best catalogued and indexed. (Like books in a library.) This allows them to be best ‘found’ and accessed and other descriptive and illustrative materials directly referenced and associated to not just one file, but across a series of files. Of course within each file there is a layer of metadata that can also be used.
The metadata layer can assist in many ways, and it can be edited and augmented with elements such as ‘tags’, copyright, it also allows an insight into the quality of a file as well as the length of a recording. Yet only by listening to the audio file can a listener discern the actual content and the structure of the story which is being related.
Technology
Wallscope reviewed a range of technologies associated with data access, retrieval, insight and playback. We were specifically interested in areas of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning that could be used for automating the cataloguing of audio files and unlocking the audio content to improve listener engagements and commercial outcomes. With that we were keenly looking to identify an area for innovation at a sector-level. This we struggled to find as the sector ‘Podcasting’ is very bound-up in modes of delivery based on large scale platforms, where the economics clearly run towards the platforms. The barriers to entry for actual Podcast creators are low and the risks are borne by the creators. But, the area for innovation appears to be in the creation of quality recorded and produced original stories with compelling narratives and dialogue which contain lived, experienced, learnt or dreamt content (fictional).
Even then, it is a hard challenge to gain attention and reset the economic gravity which large platforms have.
But it is relatively trivial to transcribe an audio file and use that in other ways. We then looked at how the ‘temporal’ value of storytelling could be used to better engage users across the listening experience, and provide points of knowledge expansion, engagement and ‘socialisation’ of content in web-based environments. In other words can a richer and more meaningful experience be provided to listeners in parallel with Podcasting platforms.
Innovation
Wallscope kept looking and we saw another opportunity which was based around how a community can be created, or better served, by using the power of the spoken word. It was a hybrid approach. Podcast platforms can create a distinct audience and provide new ‘listeners’. But a distinct community can have a different persona. It requires considerably smaller numbers to generate revenue (compared to an audience on a Podcast platform). It also exists around specific areas and topics of interest, which can grow and develop over time. People also like to ‘belong’, and engage others in that community. They like to share, like, contribute and discover information which is relatable to that community.
For a listener, learning is a motivational aspect. ‘Learning More’ is powerful and it creates both engagement and enhances attachment. But, the key is around a listener gaining Knowledge.
Think analogue, do digital
We looked backwards at the concept of a wax-tablet as a means of recording areas and points of interest. In ancient times these analogue devices were used in a range of settings. One important use was by students who would listen to the voices of the Ancient philosophers as they spoke their ‘minds’. Yet if the wax was too soft or too hard, the listeners would struggle to organise and record their own sense of structure and ideas. (Digital technologies do not present that problem.)
Wax cylinders were used to record audio by capturing sounds on a timeline, this could be played back and listened to. (Digital technologies allow audio to be readily and accurately reproduced and distributed.)
These reflections enabled Wallscope to consider the array of technologies we needed to align so we could allow storytelling to prompt and enable better learning from spoken word (listened) experiences that are semantically meaningful — a bit like creating a ‘bookmark’ experience for the listener which is significant in terms of both ‘time’ and ‘content’.
Processing the transcript in ‘chunks’, Wallsope applied AI techniques which allowed Named Entity Recognition (NER), Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) to expose, expand and interact with key identifiers such as People, Places, Organisation, Concepts and Topics.
These data points could then be programmatically used in many ways. Importantly it allows listeners to express, share and expand their knowledge. This would allow a community of interest to be supported by presenting the timeline as a point for interaction- based on the power of the spoken word. It could be based on a location, a topic, a brand , a person or an organisation. Or all of these. It can be placed within the data fabric of the Web, and expand the value of Podcasting as part of a wider learning endeavour, as well as within a digital marketing budget. Or, to better support learners by combining the power of listening and reading — that could be used to learn a new language, educate a workforce or in self-directed learning environments.
Listen — Like — Share — Join — Search — Discover — Learn — Enjoy!
Wallscope
Wallscope is Edinburgh based. At Wallscope we believe that knowledge should be accessible to all. Our aim is to empower organisations to navigate and link ever-increasing volumes of information, and to present this in an understandable and engaging way.
Using our knowledge and experience of data solutions, Wallscope supports organisations who seek sustainable transformation and innovation.
Using knowledge mapping processes we generate the insights that power change to support both organisational goals, improve existing processes and embed new technologies.
For more information please contact David Eccles on 0776 994 4513 or via david.eccles@wallscope.co.uk
