Emerging Technologies
The theme for my multimedia package is that more international students are coming to American universities and these individuals are very diverse in terms of their abilities and interests within their academic studies. At the specific university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the percentage of international students among their student population is one the rise. The opportunities in which I plan to implement emerging technology would follow actual international students at the university with different passions in order to provide incoming international students with an optimistic viewpoint on what they can accomplish in their four years as an undergraduate.
The first method I would be interested in developing for my package to further my storytelling capabilities to an audience would be a virtual reality video. The video would be a montage consisting of the diverse international students on the university’ campus and all the opportunities they are taking advantage of as students at Carolina. A main element of my package is that these students are not only coming in greater numbers, but they’re actually participating in a wide variety of fields and majors opposed to some American stereotypes. This video would feature film entirely shot through 360 camerawork that can be viewed on virtual reality headphones (like the ones pictured) where you can easily connect the device to your phone via a YouTube link. This accessibility could prove extremely helpful if this multimedia content were being displayed at an event for incoming international students, perhaps even an orientation of sorts. The shots that occur in the virtual reality video would show actual Carolina international students performing academically-fulfilling tasks such as senior recitals, creation of BEAM projects, showcasing a presentation, etc. The audience members would be able to experience these events in real time through a montage that will show the gravity of what Carolina has to offer these students.
My second way to implement emerging technology into my multimedia package about the depth of the international experience at Carolina would be an augmented reality form of media where the user could be interactive. My package partially followed a classmate of mine where she talks about her interest in art and how it stems back to her deep-rooted culture in Shanghai, China. Using animation skills as well as 360 videography, the user would be able to watch the classmate give an instructional tutorial on how to paint some basic calligraphy which the user could virtually recreate using a handheld controller device, which would pick up brushes that are able to paint on virtual easels. The ultimate hope is that users could follow the student’s tutorial in a chance to learn more specifically about what one international student is doing with their time at university. This new technology would be the more expensive of the two and may not work for this project from a financial standpoint, but its possibilities are quite exciting and put the users in close contact and communication from a legitimate UNC international student from China. Other fields could be used in this way too: interacting with a biology student in a lab, sitting in on an education student during student-teaching, or sitting in on a music student’s private lesson just as examples.
These two ideas of how to engage emerging technology to further my storytelling would be exceptional ways to familiarize my audience to the students that I have written my entire story about. These kind of proximity will eliminate any pre-conceived notions that my audience may have before coming to the story and present these students in a fair way. My experiences with these technologies is minimal but, having experimented with these two specific ways to process information through the university’s collection of emerging technology, I am confident that these methods could be properly implemented to enhance my story!
Photo credit: Augment and VR Nerds.
