Pop Up Thinglab 35: Youth Voice 360

Pop up Thinglab 35 was a 360 media workshop with members of the Croydon Youth forum to learn about and use 360 media in a live discussion of the issues that concern young people.

We started with a discussion about technology. 

Mobile tech is just a part of life

"Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works." 

~ Douglas Adams

Mobile tech is just a part of life for young people ... they are immersed in it and it doesn't seem to be a big deal until its not there. We spoke about the the psychology of smartphones and social media, about how big tech companies engineer their products to be addictive and about the mental health affects of this. I had powered off my smartphone to conserve my smartphone battery power for the media recording ahead and made a big deal about turning it on in front of the group and asked if they ever turned their phones off ... jaws dropped and their was laughter - if their phones weren't giving constant and continuous updates, alerts or notifications they thought it must be broken or something. We spoke about the mental health affects and pressures of "smartphone addiction" - the group were all aware of this but it just seemed a fact of life for them. We talked briefly about "digital detox" and one of the group told how he had had one of his most relaxing times of his life when on holiday he couldn't get on-line with his phone.

"Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet." 
~ Douglas Adams

We spoke about education and technology ... the group had a very mixed experience with their different schools ... while some schools tried to accommodate contemporary technology most were very conservative. Overwhelmingly the group were not impressed at all with their teachers competence with technology in the classroom - problems operating smartboards and the computers, accessing material on-line and taking on-line registers were the norm rather than the exception. The edtech community is obsessed with the use of technology in education but apart from it being embarrassing the young people didn't seem that concerned about it - they have more pressing concerns.

Technology is just there, the young people just get on with it  young people have more important concerns and this is what we went on to discuss in the second half of this workshop.

For the 360 media workshop we started with some warm up activities for the group to get used to the medium and feel at ease.

We spoke about the similarities and differences between 360 media and flat media. We spoke about the importance of lighting, composition and pace ... not doing things to fast with video. With 360 media there is no frame ... the whole environment is "in shot" - where flat media is like hunting 360 media is more like setting a trap. We spoke about 360 media, virtual reality and the immersive first person perspective and to get a understanding of this we set up the camera low so that we all looked like giants.

Getting a sense of first person perspective

For a bit of fun and a warm up we tried the challenge of jumping as the camera timer went off to see if we could all be caught mid air with our feet off the ground.

While many of us have used virtual reality few have used a 360 camera and seen themselves in virtual reality. Looking around to find yourself is really engaging and fun and makes the experience personal ... putting yourself in the picture makes it relevant and helps understanding.

Seeing ourselves in virtual reality

We were ready for a discussion ... the first thing was to "lose control" ... get rid of the tables and put some chairs in a circle facing each other and the camera at the same time.

We started off with each member of the Croydon Youth forum identifying the issues that concern them - these were unlocking employability and opportunities for those not academically focused, awareness and perception of mental health in general and stress and anxiety in particular, youth violence in general and knife crime in particular, healthy eating and finally an issue that is underneath many other issues - the problem of social stigma and tackling it to allow people to talk about issues more freely.

One of the advantages of a 360 camera is that it doesn't point, shoot or frame but rather absorbs a scene - we moved on to a longer and more interactive discussion where the young people forgot about the camera.

The group posed themselves the question "if you were running the youth council and you were given £5,000 - what would you do?".  This isn't a lot of money in the scheme of things but clever use can make a significant difference. 

One compassionate suggestion was to donate the money to a homeless shelter - providing hot drinks, meals and social engagement would make a clear and present difference to many homeless people in the borough. 

Another suggestion was to use the money to improve appearance and environment more equally through the borough - they argued that when something is renovated, maintained and clean people respect it more. The group pointed out that adding greenery and flowers can do a lot to improve the look and feel of a place and achieve quick results ... they were concerned about the long time frames of council initiatives.

They spoke about the location of youth clubs and how these need to be equally accessible to all ... how a central location may be the answer to this and how unused buildings could play a part.

Many of the issues raised were around communication to develop awareness and interaction through the use of events better use of social media. It was felt that the council could do more to advertise and raise awareness of youth issues across the borough using events and social media and use these to engage young people with decisions being made.

It was felt that while schools prepare young people for academic life better engagement with young people in schools about youth issues might help young people better prepare for the more practical aspects of life.

They recognised that good communication requires understanding on both sides and spoke about the problems of youth relationship with the police - how police uniform can stigmatise and that the police need to understand better how to talk with young people. It was recognised that to understand young people and what needs doing police need to engage with and talk to young people more but not to wear police uniform when doing so.

The group went on to discuss foster care. They were concerned about the lack of independent communication links for those in care and about the quality or foster care ... while a the current checks provide minimum safeguards there is a lot to be desired when it comes to the quality of foster care but recognised the difficulty of more rigorous assessment. The group talked about the issues of those in care ... that those in care don't talk about it, that there is a degree stigma around being in care and about the marge number of missing children and that many of these are from care. There was a suggestion for better facilities, communications and support for young people and that those in care in particular have independent support lines. 

The group went on to talk about life at school and about bullying and sexual harassment in particular. They were concerned that sexual harassment is often overlooked and not dealt with properly, that young people don't always understand it when it happens and that gender double standards can result in 'the rude boy" being condoned and the victim being stigmatised.

The group talked about teachers - they recognised that good teaching is more than just professional qualifications and technical competence - the better teachers as those who emotionally connect with every student and understand them - finding a way to explain things in ways you can understand. The group had fond memories of primary school and the way primary school teachers go about their work and tried to understand how this changes in secondary schools. The group identified good teachers as those who care about them and that they could tell when a teacher cares ... they "go the extra mile" communicate and express themselves in ways they can understand and relate to.

The relationship with the police is a big issue with young people today and the group spent some time exploring the problems and how it could be improved. The group identified problems on both sides and that better communications to  develop mutual understanding could go a long way to helping them connect. The group thought more diversity in the police would help both sides relate better. The group recognised that the police had to be professional but that in school visits the barrier was too high ... "when the police are in high school they aren't taken seriously .. the police come in .. do their presentation and leave .. they don't talk socially ... they don't say hi - they just get on with what they need to do ... there is no positive interaction or mutual respect ... if the police approach you always panic and think what have I done ... when they may just want to speak to you". The group recognised that the police can't be too informal but that the barrier is too high and that there needs to be more positive interaction to open closed minds on both sides to develop mutual respect. The group understood the power of social conditioning ... how those in your group shape your mind and behaviour ... they spoke about how an elder sibling with a negative opinion of the police will shape the opinion of a younger sibling. The group considered that school years 6 - 8 would be most effective for police engagement activities as this is the transition age to teenage-hood.

The group considered the power of social media in shaping opinions and recognised that while some are swayed by what they see and read on-line it is the five closest people around you that affect your behaviour the most and that "it takes a whole community to raise a child". The group understood the power of the local community, connections and communications in shaping attitudes, ideas and behaviour and thought local communities are too disconnected these days - that "we are too disconnected in Croydon".

See more photos from Pop Up Thinglab 35 here

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com

To find out more about inspirenshare Pop Up Thinglabs visit 

http://inspirenshare.com/thinglab

Pop Up Thinglab 34: Agile Minds

Agile minds .. a flat image from the 360 Jump here

Pop up Thinglab 34 was a virtual realities workshop for children to learn about experience and make augmented reality, mixed reality, virtual reality, holograms. It was a fun practical introduction to virtual realities where children could see themselves in virtual reality, play an augmented reality instrument, make their own hologram viewer, make augmented reality images.

Talking about Pepper's Ghost 

We started of with an introduction that covered past present and future of virtual realities ... from the augmented reality smoke and mirrors of Peppers Ghost in Victorian theatres through to the various forms of virtual reality of today. 

We weren't at school so the children asked questions and talked about what we were doing all the time - this is informal education and we were free to go wherever the the young people wanted. I'm always impressed just how quickly and easily children learn when they are free to but I shouldn't be - learning is natural and children love to learn anytime, anyplace and in anyway they can. The children were so tuned into technology but this doesn't come from school ... they learn about things on-line (especially Youtube), on TV, in libraries, in museums, at home and even in shopping centres ... none of the children mentioned school at all!

Gather round ... using a 360 camera

We moved on to hands on practical activities with virtual realities starting with warm up activities with a 360 camera and seeing ourselves in virtual reality. While many children have used virtual reality few have used a 360 camera and seen themselves in virtual reality - looking around to find yourself is really engaging and makes the experience personal ... putting ourselves in the picture makes it relevant and helps understanding.

DIY volumetric display (hologram)

In the introduction we talked about holograms, optical illusions and volumetric displays and for a hands on practical activity all the children made their own volumetric display to take away that can be used with smartphones. The DIY holograms are a good example of what I call Citizen Tech the ability of the ordinary person to participate in technology as the "the science of craft" -  technology that is simple, friendly accessible, cost effective and able to do it yourself.

Playing the Zapbox mixed reality xylophone

The Zapbox mixed reality xylophone 

We finished off playing with the Zapbox mixed reality xylophone ... another example of what I call "citizen tech" ... its made of cardboard and its cheap and accessible. This was great fun and It was quite extraordinary how the children experimented and explored to learn how to play the mixed reality instrument ... in fact the younger they were the easier they seemed to find it ...  it seems that the younger you are the more open and agile your mind.

See more photos from Pop Up Thinglab 34 here 

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com

To find out more about inspirenshare Pop Up Thinglabs visit 

http://inspirenshare.com/thinglab

Pop Up Thinglab 33: Reality Explorers

Playing mixed reality golf in the library

Pop Up Thinglab 33 was a Crafts Council Make:Shift:Do virtual realities workshop with inspireNshare, Croydon Youth Arts collective and Croydon Central Library. We introduced people to the many types "reality tech" available from holograms through augmented reality, mixed reality through to 360 media making and virtual reality - we had a lot going on :)

Talking about how Michael Jackson was brought back from the dead as a hologram

The workshop started "heads on" where we covered the past, present, future and uses of "reality tech". We started with Keiichi Matsuda's stunning video Hyper-Reality "a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media". We then looked back to holograms and the development optical illusions from the "smoke and mirrors" of 19th century theatres and Peppers Ghost through the images of holograms in science fiction to the reality today where dead celebrities can appear as if live on stage and politicians on campaign can appear in many places at the same. We covered the different types of augmented reality, how you can make it yourself and the many uses to which it can be put - from games like Pokemon Go through seeing what you look like with different hair to seeing what a building design might look like from place you are standing. We covered different mixed reality products and talked about some of the hopes and fears about its use from the amazing types of games that might be available, through the overlay of technical data onto fields of view like the F35 head display "iron man" style to the the invasion of privacy in everyday life "Glasshole" style. We finished with a recent history of the development of virtual reality from my experience with Virtuality in the mid 1990s through to the many 360 cameras and virtual reality viewers that are available today at much lower cost.

We moved from "heads on" to "hands on" with simple, friendly, accessible and cost effective "citizen tech” and DIY activities with holograms, augmented reality, mixed reality and virtual reality. The objective of the hands on activities was to demonstrate the principles of "reality tech" - not with expensive high tech demonstrations but with technology that is affordable and accessible to the average citizen and technology that you can DIY.

Making DIY holograms for your smartphone

On one table we made holograms that can be used with your mobile phone. Based on the "Peppers Ghost" optical illusion these can be made easily and quickly - tracing a template onto a clear acetate sheet, cutting it out, assembling and using it in under 10 minutes.

The whole world in your hands .. one of our DIY holograms in action

On another table we brought drawings to life with augmented reality - colouring in cartoon templates with our own colours and bringing them to life as augmented reality figures with out mobile phones. I was surprised by just how popular and engaging people found this. This wasn't colouring by numbers but using our own creativity to choose which colours to use. I found the same thing as I did with our 360 degree workshops "only a few people can take a completely blank sheet and draw something ... most people need direction and purpose". Not everyone can draw but everyone can colour in a drawing - the colour book templates provide direction and purpose and a framework for self expression. Its no wonder that the recent adult colouring book craze prompted a global pencil shortage - its easy, fun and good for your mental health ... its like a form of art therapy. 

Bringing colour book drawings to life with augmented reality

A fairy escapes the page and comes to life with augmented reality

"Centre stage" was an exploration of 360 media and virtual reality. Groups gathered around the 360 camera to strike poses and take "VR selfies" to view in virtual reality. I've always been amazed at how people are more ready to strike a creative pose with a 360 camera than with a flat camera. People seem less constrained with 360 media than with flat media ... its as if 360 adds a new dimension to their creativity. I'm wondering why people are less constrained around a 360 camera:

* Is it because its unfamiliar so people can't simply roll out their normal behaviour and have to adapt and even try something new.

* Is it because the camera doesn't have a person behind it so they don't feel observed by another person in the same way. There are studies that show people more willing to open up to a robot than to another person for example.

* Is it because its a new technology ... a new gadget, a new toy and so brings out people's "inner child" and playfulness so they are willing to explore, experiment and play.

360 media making really is a new medium - people are curious and intrigued and for whatever reason they are more playful with it.

Of course .. many of the people using the 360\VR setup in the workshop were either young people or children and for them playful is the default - the playfulness of young people with new technology is a truly exciting and inspiring combination and often provides new and interesting perspectives. William Gibson once wrote "the street finds its own uses for things" ... from what I have seen of young people and technology we could easily also say "the next generation finds its own uses for things" .. and this is just as well as this is how new inventions come about ... we can't keep repeating history and re-inventing the wheel.

Putting ourselves inside the picture with a 360 camera & virtual reality

We finished by playing mixed reality golf using Zappar's Zapbox cardboard tech. 

Rather than nearly £3,000 for something like Microsoft's Hololens, Zapbox costs under £30 and offers affordable access to mixed reality for anyone with a smartphone capable of virtual reality (the smartphone needs a gyroscope).

Zappar have been a leader in augmented reality (AR) for many years and have extended their marker based AR to mixed reality by using a cardboard viewer into which you put your phone - just like Google's cardboard virtual reality viewers. The Zapbox app on your phone uses the camera to track their AR markers in the real world and combines a virtual scene with the scene from the camera to create a mixed reality scene on your phone's display which you view through the cardboard viewer.

We placed the supplied markers onto the floor and used the Zapbox app to map out a mixed reality space and then loaded  golf course. Zapbox provides a cardboard "wand" with an AR marker which is tracked by the app and becomes your golf club in the mixed reality scene. It takes a bit of getting used to but everyone managed to hit the golf ball and get a ball down a hole and we managed to complete and unlock all three of the golf courses. 

Playing golf in the library

Our virtual realities workshop was fun and informative - we had a really wonderful time with lots of activities that brought a very diverse group of people to play and learn together. 

See more photos from Pop Up Thinglab 33 here https://flic.kr/s/aHsma81oyj

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com

To find out more about inspirenshare Pop Up Thinglabs visit 

http://inspirenshare.com/thinglab

Pop Up Thinglab 32: 360 Degree Space Explorers

Exploring the space around the 360 camera - see this image in 360 here 

Pop Up Thinglab 32 was a Crafts Council Make:Shift:Do partnership workshop between inspireNshare and the Croydon Youth Arts Collective.

The objective was to introduce young people to virtual reality and 360 media as a new art and craft form and engage them in a new discipline of making to think about, make and share wellbeing and happiness. 

17 young people came along to use a 360 camera for the first time - not only to experience virtual reality but to see themselves in it and experiment with this new medium of expression. 

Gathered around the 360 camera talking about flat media & 360 media

In groups of three and four we gathered round the 360 camera and talked about the differences between "flat" and 360 media, how the whole room is in shot and about the first person perspective of virtual reality. The young people quickly appreciated the difference between traditional flat media and 360 media and understood the 360 space around the camera coming up with project ideas for movement in environments of water and air where, unconstrained by the grounding of a "flat earth", movements can be fully immersive in 360 degrees. The young people made short videos of movement under water and flying through a forest.

Lighting the fuse ... the 360 camera is about to go off

A popular and fun activity was using the 360 camera manually -  pressing the (fuse) button at the top and treating it like a bomb - hearing it count down down and retreating to strike a pose to be captured in VR.

Putting yourself inside the picture & seeing your self in virtual reality 

Making your own virtual reality content and seeing yourself within it really helps you understand virtual reality far better than simply watching professionally made content and people are always fascinated by this. Participating in making VR content and putting yourself inside the picture makes the workshop activities personal and more engaging. Virtual reality puts you in someone else's shoes and seeing a scene with yourself in it but from the first person perspective of someone else (the 360 camera) is fascinating and can be quite mind expanding by introducing empathy through an experience of different perspectives.

The flat media team behind their cameras but there is nowhere to hide in 360 

During the workshop a flat media team arrived to shoot us - we captured them in a 360 image and we had a brief chat again about the difference between flat and 360 media. The crucial thing about 360 media is that there is no such thing as being behind the camera ... everything is in shot. One VR director described flat media as like hunting (its like you are behind a riffle and your riffle is your camera ... take aim and shoot), VR media is like setting a trap ... the whole environment is involved and subjects are "captured" within it. Also, flat media directs your attention, you only see one view and that is the shot through the viewfinder of the camera. With 360 media there is no single point of view - the viewer is immersed and can look around as they please - they can completely miss something or see something that wasn't noticed in the scene in the making. Directing attention in 360 media is a new skill that is being developed and these skills may transfer more from the performance of theatre and magic  than they do from the flat screen. If you have used 360 media for sometime flat media feels "flat" .. it feels restricted ... you miss the ability to look around and direct your own gaze - it could be that with 360 media we might see a revolution in immersive theatre style performance?

During our MAKE:SHIFT:DO virtual reality workshops I let the participants have as blank a sheet as possible just to see what they would draw on it. The main thing I have learned is that only a few people can take a completely blank sheet and draw something ... most people need direction and purpose .. the key is in getting the right balance between freedom and control ... everyone is different - it is in the skill of the director to get the right balance for the people and the context. One of the advantages of the Crafts Council MAKE:SHIFT:DO workshops is to provide context and purpose and this inspires people create and share. The participants in our virtual reality workshops have learned about, experiences and created virtual reality media and I have learned from them - one idea I will be trying in future virtual reality workshops is the "360 workout", exploring the space around the 360 camera through simple group exercises - learn about virtual reality and get fit at the same time :)

See more photos from Pop Up Thinglab 32 here https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6FAjic

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com

To find out more about inspirenshare Pop Up Thinglabs visit 

http://inspirenshare.com/thinglab

Pop Up Thinglab 31: 360 Degrees of Happiness Workshop

Our group of Virtual Reality Explorers

Pop Up Thinglab 31 was a Crafts Council Make:Shift:Do partnership workshop between inspireNshare and Croydon Music and Arts.

The objective was to introduce young people to virtual reality and 360 media as a new art and craft form and engage them in a new discipline of making to think about, make and share wellbeing and happiness. 

The message on the blackboard in our workshop

14 young people came along to use a 360 camera to create a virtual reality performance on the theme of happiness and wellbeing.

The current generation of virtual reality (Rift, Vive, Samsung Gear VR, Playstation VR and Cardboard) has been in the news a lot over the last year and while most people have heard about it only a small number of people have actually had a go at virtual reality let alone use it to create content. This workshop was a wonderful opportunity for a group of young people to not only experience virtual reality but to see themselves in it and use their creativity to make virtual reality media and share it globally.

360\VR media making doesn't have to be expensive or complicated ... there are many accessible, easy to use and relatively cheap 360 cameras available that work with mobile phones to process, view and share 360 media - from the LG 360 Cam at just under £100 through the Insta 360 air at around £130 to the likes of the Ricoh Theta S, 360 Fly and LG 360 at just under £300. You can use cameras like these to record 360 content and then view them locally on your phone with a 360 viewing app or upload and share on social media platforms that "understand" 360 media so that people can play back and view the media in 360 degrees. Flickr can view 360 stills, Youtube can view 360 videos while Facebook can play both 360 stills and videos. With the LG 360 Cam. a Google cardboard viewer and Youtube you can become a VR video producer for under £100!

For this workshop we used the Samsung Gear 360 VR ecosystem (Samsung phone, Gear VR 360 camera and Gear VR headset). The Samsung VR ecosystem is especially useful on location when you want to see and show people what you have recorded - you can remotely control the camera to transfer a recording to the phone and view it by putting the phone into the Gear VR headset. The phone and the camera use their own direct wifi and everything works off-line - especially useful when you have no WiFi access or where you need to show people what has been recorded before uploading to VR capable platforms like Youtube, Facebook and Flickr.

We took a few 360 stills to view and understand the concept of 360 media making and talked about the differences between "flat" and 360 media, how the whole room is in shot and about the first person perspective of virtual reality. 

We spoke about the theme of happiness and well-being and the young people immediately expressed their creativity by suggesting that rather than make a video about happiness and well-being they could make a video that would make people feel happy and well :)

With the support of their youth worker the group chose a piece of music (Can't Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake) and planned their performance in 360 degrees. In less than an hour the group had taken a brief to production in 360 degrees - very impressive! You can see their happiness generating 360 video below.

360 media making is still in the early stages - the techniques and creative possibilities of this new immersive medium are still being explored and developed. 360 media making is very different from "flat" media making, I remember one director describing "flat" media as like hunting whereas 360 media making is more like setting a trap - it's more akin to immersive theatre or the first person perspective in video games than the controlled singular third person perspective of the director in traditional flat media. 360\VR media is a young medium for young people and the combination is truly exciting and inspiring - they take to it naturally ... "like ducks to water" and I can't wait to see what happens in the next decade.

See more photos from Pop Up Thinglab 31 here https://flic.kr/s/aHsm7y1ksG

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com

To find out more about inspirenshare Pop Up Thinglabs visit 

http://inspirenshare.com/thinglab

In 360 Degrees We All Play A Part

Croydon Music & Arts invited me to experiment with a 360 camera at their September young musicians social session & concert - this was super relevant as musical performance is a natural for 360 media. A musical performance is the interactive collective sum of individual musical performances at any one time and this is perfect and natural for 360 media where everything and everyone one is "in shot" at the same time. A 360 camera can be naturally surrounded by musicians - they are each making an individual contribution to a whole and on playback there is always something more to see - you can choose to focus on different performers or instruments and yet not lose sight (or I should say hearing) of the whole. In a sense a musical performance and a 360 camera together symbolise the wider dynamic of interactions of people and society .... in 360 degrees we all play a part, we all contribute and their are many different perspectives.

Croydon Music and Arts is a service that works to ensure children and young people in the borough have access to creative opportunities - here is Mike Brown talking about today's event and about how many different youth music groups from across Croydon have come together and with just a small rehearsal are able to play together and put on a concert.

I arrived as the orchestra were rehearsing Pharrell Williams' "Happy" - a relevant coincidence as inspireNshare are hoping to work on happiness projects using the 360 camera later in the year. Keen to record some of this performance but not wanting to interfere in any way I snuck the 360 camera at the edge of the orchestra beside the clarinets and cellos and recorded a couple of short sections.

Next up was a rehearsal for a Bossa Nova performance and while they were changing over I embedded the 360 camera further into the orchestra sitting it among the cellos and recorded some more.

The orchestra was rehearsing but I had been focused (if you can use such a term with 360 media) on recording the more cohesive performances - I had been missing the valuable little bits of development where the conductor guides the musicians - like the short clip below for example.

The remote controlled 360 camera "disappears" into a scene easier than a flat camera or a camera with a person "attached" to it. A spherical form isn't pointing at anyone, there isn't a photographer watching you you, the camera doesn't move and the camera I am using is quite small - people soon forget its there and we can "embed" the camera more naturally than might otherwise be possible. 

The Samsung VR ecosystem of smartphone, Gear 360 and Gear VR) is by definition highly mobile and very useful on location. People are used to smartphones and the Gear additions are small, non-intrusive and even familiar to many. Remote controlling a 360 camera is essential for natural non-non-intrusive, "embedded", "fly on the wall" style recording recording ...  or for 360 media more like "fly in the room" recording. I've found I can remotely control the Gear 360 from at least 15m so I am "non-invasive" and using a smartphone to remotely control the camera people probably think I'm just messing around with my phone like people do - its almost like a form of "spy tech". 

Samsung VR ecosystem is especially useful on location when you want to see and show people what you have recorded - you can remotely control the camera to transfer a recording to the phone and view it by putting the phone into the Gear VR headset. The phone and the camera use their own direct wifi and everything works off-line - especially useful when you have no WiFi access or where you need to show people what has been recorded before uploading to VR capable platforms like Youtube, Facebook and Flickr.

360\VR offers an immersive first person perspective - it gives an opportunity to "step into someone else's shoes" and see things from someone else's point of view. Some of the violinists arrived late and missed the rehearsal for real but "sat" among the cellists for the "Happy" and "Bosa Nova" rehearsals in virtual reality. 

Recording "embedded" 360 like this gives those who are thinking about taking up an activity an opportunity to see what it is like "as if they were there" and on this occasion it gives those who have never sat in an orchestra an opportunity to see what it is like.

Even more interesting is seeing yourself in virtual reality ... people have described this to me as being like an "out of body experience" - its really weird to see yourself from someone else's point of view. It can also be very useful an informative ... the conductors could for the first time see themselves from the point of view of the musicians - one of the conductors told me that he didn't realise how much they showed their armpits to the musicians!

Virtual reality adds a new dimension to video ... can it help add a new dimension to leadership and management?

In making these recordings I got the impression of how useful virtual reality might be in leadership and management development - could seeing yourself and your actions from other people's points of view help develop more empathic leaders? 

I also got the impression of how future entertainment might become something more about experience, something more empathic, embedded and immersed with the performers rather than just a "voyeur" in the audience. 

Society has many "stages" upon which we play our various roles. An orchestra is one type of "stage" - a large scale organisation with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and centrally lead to a defined purpose. However, the "stages" on which we play our personal lives are far less structured and clearly defined than the more formal "stages" of society - we are all lead actors in our own plays - we are all stars and we are creative in our own way. As an illustration of this some members of the orchestra during one of the breaks in rehearsal spontaneously expressed imagination and creativity on their own "stage" by re-arranging the decorations at the back of the hall :)

Croydon Youth Music & Arts

A playlist of video on Youtube can be found here 

A photo album can be found on Flickr here

To find out more about inspireNshare visit http://inspirenshare.com