The Creators Project: Storytelling used to be as simple as gathering around a campfire and spinning a yarn, but the advent of 21st-century tech has revolutionized the way we share stories. Over the weekend, the inaugural Future of StoryTelling Festival (FoST FEST, for short) made a case for culture in the digital age.
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These examples from the Future of Storytelling Festival are so inspiring; my mind is full of ideas for Playground and my own artwork and more. All of these pieces are so immersive and interactive, and their ability to create awe for the audience is beautiful. One piece in particular, "New Dimensions in Testimony" which showed a hologram of a holocaust survivor telling his life story, reminds me Richard Pell's "Cabinet of Ambiguities" on display at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Pell's installation featured the narration of a dozen or so found objects, illustrating the emotion and history found in simple household items and the complexity of the people around us. It created an aura of nostalgia and appreciation for humanity. That piece was done with a glass display box, an overhead light, and a telephone. "New Dimensions in Testimony" has a similar goal: to display the human experience, stir emotions, and to recreate history. The technology this project utilizes is so much more advanced-I can't wrap my head around it- and I'd love to think that the addition of 50 cameras, language processing technology, and a hologram, when used correctly, enhances the effect the story has on the audience. I have yet to experience a hologram, VR, or AR, but I'm so excited to be in a time and place where these technologies are being used.
Holy cow! This festival seems so mind-bending and amazing. I read this article to pair with an article I read last week about virtual or augmented reality. These projects seem to stimulate all of the player’s senses to make it an all-capsuling experience. I was really interesting in the experience where you can talk to a Holocaust survivor. The article states: “For New Dimensions in Testimony, Gutter recanted his life story for an array of 50 cameras, answering thousands of questions over the course of a week. The result is a 3D AI-hologram version of Gutter that uses natural language processing to answer questions in real time”. It’s amazing to think of the depth that the creators went to in order to make this survivor’s story and his telling of it extremely realistic. I would really like to go to this festival sometime, hopefully next year when I know what it is.
I really want to know what happened in the Microsoft Office piece! The article said that installation took 45 minutes. I wonder who long people generally spent in each installation. Putting aside how much of your day a viewer could spend at this kind of event, I think it is really cool that the artists were able to capture the audience attention for so much longer than just walking through a normal exhibit. I also would love to know what their curator’s criteria are. Yes, all of the works shown look amazing and sound complicated and interesting, but they all treat the idea of a story quite differently. Are there any rules to what is and is not a story? Did the artists for pieces like Flock have a story they intended the audience to take away? How are the stories arranged in the space? By that I mean, does the curator make a conscious choice to organize installations with more serious stories in one area, or to split them up, or is the arrangement based more on space than content? I would be really interested into going to an event like this.
I think now more than ever with technology like this so widespread, it is impossible to ignore that storytelling has never just been one thing. All that we've been learning in Cake Everyday makes infinitely more sense when I look at such innovative, resourceful, intelligent approaches to communicating a story. Like the article says, these works are a far cry from sitting around a campfire. But what's even more amazing is that they could literally be that. They can be anything and more - their only limit is their creator's imagination. It's baffling and daunting and anxiety-inducing to think how few excuses we have left to not be telling the absolute best story we can. Yet there is still so much to learn, and that is why pieces like these are so important: what they're showing us is just the tip of the iceberg. What happens when we give every audience member a VI headset, when we turn actors into birds, when we can suspend our patron's disbelief for them instead of hoping they will achieve this themselves. The possibilities are endless - God help us all.
Despite being a computer science major, I have never thought of virtual reality as a form of storytelling. However, I now recognize the merit that VR has in the storytelling industry, and I find its potential extremely exciting. The “Birdly” device instantly reminded me of a previous CMU Playground project that involved using a screen and a moving board. The project took its users into the eyes of a bird flying through Africa (hence, “Birdly” was very similar but with more expensive resources and more time to make).
I am curious as to what the Holocaust survivor project works (perhaps a video would help) because it seems very interesting in theory but there is a gap in that the article does not sufficiently answer the question of how the survivor would understand a user’s questions and coherently responds to them – a video would definitely help.
The “Famous Deaths” project is also ridiculously intriguing and extremely under-described. I really wish this article would provide more information, but I am pleased that it has introduced me to the Future of StoryTelling Festival.
The Future Of Storytelling!!! This is incredible, the extent of how virtual reality can immerse us. I commented on the VR museum experience and mentioned that I thought it was such an interesting way to engage audiences and preserve exhibitions. I have similar feelings towards this one too, but I think it's cool for different reasons. I think while the VR museum article was a way to preserve exhibitions after they've closed, this use of VR is creating a completely different universe in which to experience a play or video game. It's interesting that two of the listed projects involve flying; I feel like that is something inherently fascinating to humans-- to obtain true boundless flight. I was reading the about the first project where you could become a bird catching bugs, but then read the one directly after and almost spit water out of my mouth-- that's INCREDIBLE! I feel like something like this would be the closest (and safest) way for someone to feel like they are truly "flying." I've never done anything VR, but I know many people who have and it sounds really awesome. I don't want to fall into the hype or anything, but I would really love to participate in each of these projects.
Virtual reality is going to be a really important part of the entertainment industry in the coming years. That being said I have yet to single use of VR in live entertainment I actually look at and have felt that the choice to use VR is anything other than a cost saving measure that, while it can provide an approximation of what the experience seems to want to be we still have not yet mastered integrating the physical world. We rely a lot on our sight to guide us and the technical problems associated with sound are mostly solved. What hasn’t really been solved yet is how we can incorporate physical interaction with an experience that means something more than pushing a button, something that drives the story based on the choices of the guest. I want people to forget that they are in an experience and really believe that they are part of the story and I don’t think it will happen until we finally integrate the physical world with VR tech that actually draws on the space the guest is experiencing the story in, specifically the people experiencing the story with them.
honestly, I think this festival sounds like one of the coolest things. I would love to walk around and see all of the unique pieces that are using advanced technology and new ideas to create the future of story-telling. I think it is interesting how all of the pieces sound so different but are using similar technology. It kind of reminds me of the Arcade project that Susan Tsu has us do in Basic Design. I also think that the advancements in technology are really awesome. The fact that machines can now recognize facial expressions and respond to questions is mind blowing. It is obvious to see now the connections that can be made between story telling and technology. Now stories can be more interactive and more personalized to the audience member. Overall, I would love to explore all that this festival has to offer. It sounds like story telling has a bright future and that technology is coming to its aid.
This exhibit sounds absolutely incredible. The bird flight simulator looks really fun and whimsical, but what really caught my attention is the 3D AI hologram of a holocaust survivor that can answer questions in real time. Originally I thought it was just going to be like a movie or a script of an interview, but you can literally go up to him (as a holograph of course) and just ask questions and because technology is awesome, he will talk back and answer your questions. And that doesn’t even begin to cover the subject matter of the concentration camps which were so terrible and awful, but also so distant in our past from my view as a 20 year old. My grandparents are all from Poland and were lucky enough to just be deported and not imprisoned, but even though I have people in my life who knew the craziness, it still seems so distant to me. So to have this interview is super interesting and I would absolutely love to go visit it and see a bit more into my family’s past, and I’m really excited that this is something that is going to be around for basically the end of time for future generations to know. Imagine having something like this for all major evens in history books and being able to have interviews with survivors of all kinds of evens. It would be fascinating and humbling.
The creators project is a consistently good place to find cool things. Storytelling is cool, it is literally the definition of meaningful. The variety of ways that we have found to convey meaning, emotion and information is staggering. I wish I knew French that I could understand exactly what was in the infinitely scrolling graphic novel. I wonder if they will start selling it in scroll form in bookstores. On one hand I love what happens at these new work festivals, but invariably I am frustrated with what I see. So little of it is actually completely thought through and polished. When it comes to entertainment and storytelling, I think there are certain emergent properties when something is produced well enough. I so often want to say: “your product doesn’t have to be shitty to be good art.” If you claim that you arnt inhibited by the tools, all I hear is: you arnt inhibited by not being good at what you do.
I have for a while been extremely interested in VR in more aspects that just the video game world for I feel it can give us some truly interesting story telling abilities that have not been fully explored before. That be said the VR exhibits in the article intrigue me the most exspeciaclly the Riot one. The reason for this is the amount of technology and apartment adaptativity of the exhibit feels like everything that you would want out of a storytelling experience. And it also takes the question of what would I do out your hands because it reacts to your own actions instead of railroading you trough a plot. In all extremely cool where new technology is taking us.
All of these sound amazing, I just wish the article had included more than a picture at the beginning of each description. There was video for the graphic novel but it would have been nice to have one for the other ones. That complaint about the article aside, I think it did a good job describing the different projects and got me to wish I was able to go experience them myself. But of all of them the Holocaust survivor hologram sounds the most impressive/interesting. A recording that can respond to question and that you can interact with like it’s a real person is amazing. I would love to see the people that made it expand upon it and add survivors of other historic events and wars. Imagine how much more impact history classes could have if instead of some dry book explaining what happened at these events it was a conversation with someone who experienced it first hand.
We’re living in a pretty exciting time, as we are among the first generations to experience virtual reality as a practical and widespread technology. And whenever there’s a new technology that has a particularly interesting or immersive interface (and VR definitely does) artists jump all over it, trying to create some sort of interesting and new experience. I think that the VR fad is going to grow until eventually a VR headset is going to be something akin to a TV or and Xbox in a typical American home, and therefore there’s going to be an entire industry behind creating new and interesting experiences to be had using these devices, and that is why I think this article (an article that has nothing directly to do with theatre but everything to do with storytelling) is on the green page. A VR world is going to need designers and storytellers just any world on a screen. Movies, television shows, video games, all of these mediums need some type of creative team behind them, and it’s important how much of a crossover there is between these worlds and the world of theatrical design.
I’m sorry- but I have to completely disagree with a few of the statements made in this article. Virtual Reality has actually been a thing for quite some time now. We have been able to create new worlds and have people experience things that they could never dream of before all using a pair of goggles. One comment that was made was : I happen to think VR is at its best when it’s used to exaggerate reality, rather than mimic it. While that might be true for virtual reality, I do not believe that to be true for the “future of storytelling”. Universal Studios just came out with this amazing 360-degree projection screen where you “feel completely embodied in that world”. I have to disagree. I feel most impacted by entering a new “world” when everything is on the same ground as me. When I am breathing the same air in that world and don’t have to have a computer strapped to me head in order to do so. Putting a computer in front of me takes me completely out of the experience because I know that it’s fake- the light that it produces goes to my eyes and my brain automatically relates that form of light with computers and phones. It’s backlit. I want to experience a world by entering a completely hyper realistic environment and that does not necessarily mean that it cannot be “out of this world”, you can create a completely hyper realistic alternate dimension but it would have to be 100 percent immersive, meaning you wouldn’t find a stage light hanging above you on mars- how else can you conceal these things to make them true? That is the “future of storytelling.
I love the idea of using VR to tell stories in new and creative ways! Some of the technology mentioned in the article is just crazy, especially the one about the Holocaust survivor. Having Pinchas Gutter, a holocaust survivor answer thousands of questions is heart wrenching. But having the ability to actually “talk” to him and ask your own using the answers that he gave is astounding. I wonder how real it seems and how well it works, but this is a really amazing technology that could teach important moments through the eyes of those who experienced it. Seeing how much AI was present at this storytelling festival opens up new possibilities that I have never even considered. I hope to look more into this new wave of storytelling, it is completly mind-blowing and I would love to learn more about it. The storytelling that happened outside of VR seemed like it was amazing as well, exploring things such as audience size, sound, and smell.
These experiences look incredible. It is both overwhelming and wonderfully freeing how much technology allows us to do nowadays. The summer before I first came to CMU, my cousin’s husband was telling me about his experiences working as a stagehand a couple decades ago in New York City. He said I should be excited to be getting into theatre at this time because the technology emerging would mean that if a designer or director could imagine it, they could probably do it, but that it was also new enough to be a risk and an adventure. Looking at the descriptions of these innovative pieces I have to say he was right. But to be honest I don't know that there is anything particularly special about this time in our industry. One of the exciting things about working in a business where people are always pushing the boundaries and experimenting is that it always feels like you are in the verge of something new.
Storytelling nowadays has grown into quite a spectacle. Of course different situations call for different types of storytelling. You’ve got campfire stories, bedtime stories, and others along a similar line. Nothing seems to grab hold much like a fully immersive story such as what a little bit of technology is able to bring with it. I feel like this style is much like what Arcade is. Giving people the opportunity to interact, and be a part of a story or even living out a little bit of what was in the past. Some stories are made up and others are a part of what was telling time in our history. Some good some bad. Not all stories are alike; and that’s what makes it so compelling. Looking at the different ways they have been able to incorporate technology into various stories makes for a compelling place to go and visit.
I think that these new technologies and forms are incredible ways to advance storytelling. There has been this shift over time from audiences seeking authenticity in a story (that is, to be convinced of its truth) to seeking total immersion (the current obsession with universe building, as seen in the Harry Potter saga). Pursuing new ways to engage an audience is only the next logical step.
I think another important aspect of this article is the range of storytelling it covers, from interacting with a Holocaust survivor to 'Temping', which is a work of creative fiction. Storytelling is one of the most intrinsic human acts. We can scarcely interact with another human without storytelling in some form. Hence, I believe that really delving into all that storytelling is capable of is a critical part of expressing and confronting our humanity. I hope this trend continues, and that these projects meet with success.
This is so cool. I love when there can be interdisciplinary crossover with the STEM fields and more technologically based execution with beautiful and imaginative art. These VR and AR experience are a perfect example of how the arts industry is keeping up with the surge in technology the rest of our society is experiencing. I think that it is really important that the arts keep up with the technology of the time and learn how to use it for their advantage. Using the bleeding edge technologies in the arts keeps them relevant in out ever changing technologically based society. The AR experience with the Holocaust survivor is the most important one in my opinion. It is using art and technology to preserve very important history that we are losing as time goes on. This survivors story needs to be told and now it will be able to be told even after his death to educate generations and generations about the tragic history of WWII and The Holocaust; a history that is so important for people to know about.
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