I’m passionate about diversity, but not (just) because it’s the right thing to do. Sure, affording people equal opportunity, regardless of which genitalia they happen to be born with is a morally justifiable choice, but to me, it’s mostly a business no-brainer.

As my shero @cindygallop puts it so well, “Women challenge the status quo, because we are never it
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Teara Fraser, a Métis single mom who got her flying licence in just one year, decides to launch her own airline after 15 years as a pilot, becoming the CEO and founder of Iskwew Air
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Over what now feels like an eternity working in the creative and technology industries, I’ve seen the difference that fostering diversity can make to innovation. Simply put, you don’t get that much of it without it. As my shero Cyndy Gallop puts it so well, “Women challenge the status quo, because we are never it.”

What I like about my main area of interest – immersive tech – is that it seems to be thriving with examples of female creatives finding their voice, and really exploring the boundaries of this new medium to express themselves and tell interesting, compelling, and utterly engaging stories in new ways. Which is why I believe that VR filmamking is such a great medium for telling the story of pioneering female pilots.

Only 7% of pilots are women, and VR Filmmaker Rachel Bracker believes it’s high time for that to change. Which is why she’s made With the Wind and the Stars – a 360/VR docuseries about women in aviation which she hopes will inspire and uplift all women to believe in themselves and pursue their dreams by celebrating stories that immerses them in the lives of a daring pilot.

“360 virtual reality video is transformative. It is wholly immersive and completely engaging. All of your senses are heightened. You believe you are there, wherever there happens to be,” says Bracker.

Episode 1: Teara Fraser and the launching of an airline

“I will step into the darkness of the unknown and one of two things will happen. I will have something solid to stand on or I will be taught to fly.”

Teara Fraser, a Métis single mom who got her flying licence in just one year, decides to launch her own airline after 15 years as a pilot, becoming the CEO and founder of Iskwew Air. “Iskwew” is a Cree word that means “woman.” Launching on International Women’s Day 2019, Iskwew Air will be Canada’s first 100% indigenous woman-owned airline.

With a mission of connecting people and the land, Teara hopes to reclaim the matriarchal roots and heritage of her community while promoting indigenous tourism.

Episode 2: Nour Utayim, a third-generation pilot

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person. He gave me a dream.”

Following in her grandfather and father’s footsteps, Nour dreams of becoming an airline pilot. Her dad, who died when Nour was only 5 years old, flew 727’s for Syrian Air. Nour herself had to flee the war in Syria, moving to Canada in 2017, where she joined a flight school in Quebec, and after earning her license in September 2018 she’s working towards becoming a pilot for Air Canada.

Following in her grandfather and father’s footsteps, Nour dreams of becoming an airline pilot
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Episode 3: Hannah McLaughlin on building her own plane

“I’ve had people tell me ‘You can’t build a Starduster, you can’t fly this type of airplane, it will be too challenging for you.’ My response is ‘Well I’m a really challenging person, so it’s a good thing I’m building a challenging airplane, we’ll be perfect for each other!’

Hannah is not your average 21 year old. She’s been a pilot for almost 4 years, goes to school for aviation maintenance, and practically lives at the small Oregon airport where she’s building her own airplane. She believes every plane has a unique personality, especially older planes with historical significance. As she puts it, “I’m all about the old airplanes. I learned to fly because I wanted an 80 year old biplane… I like those old things!”

Her airport friends call her a “wing-nut” because of her expansive knowledge of engines and for her determination to build the notoriously difficult Startduster Too aircraft.

Hannah is not your average 21 year old. She’s been a pilot for almost 4 years, goes to school for aviation maintenance, and practically lives at the small Oregon airport where she’s building her own airplane
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With the Wind and the Stars is a wonderful example of how immersive storytelling is developing, and what a broad range of subjects it can lend itself to.

And crucially, it really benefits from a female perspective in its team, which was open to, and aware of, these incredible stories. Because of this, we have the opportunity to ride along in the cockpit of an airplane as these incredible women take to the skies. And share in the quieter moments of study and hard work that pave the way to their victories along the way.

The films will be screened in VR through a variety of systems such as the Oculus Go, Google Daydream, or Samsung Gear VR. Episodes 1 and 2 will premiere in the fall of 2019, with the first one taking place in Portland on Sept. 21.

The films will be screened in VR through a variety of systems such as the Oculus Go, Google Daydream, or Samsung Gear VR
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Tech Trends offers a broad range of Digital Consultancy services to guide companies, individuals and brands in effectively leveraging existing and emerging technologies in their business strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Making Diversity Fly appeared first on Tech Trends.

Virtual Reality is all about presence,  so content that lets you create and share live moments could be its killer app

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time is usually not hard. The novelty factor gets most people curious enough to at least give it a go. And having watched a lot of newbies (or VRgins as I like to call them) go through those first moments of immersion is always a lot of fun, as they gasp and reach out to touch things that aren’t really there.

Getting people to try out a VR experience for the first time isn't usually hard
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But if this new medium is to fulfill all its shining commercial promise, and prove to the doubters that it’s got the momentum to move beyond its “hype cycle” it needs to get those first-time users to do it again, and again… and so forth. In other words, we need to make VR “sticky.”

To do that, companies pushing the technology (specially around mobile VR) have to enable users to create and share content in an intuitive, compelling and addictive way. And while there’s probably not one silver bullet for what that’s going to look like, it is clear that piggybacking onto live events presents some interesting possibilities.

Live events present interesting possibilities for VR
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Think about it: when you go to an event – be it a comedy show, a play or a rock concert – you are there to create some memories. You’ve invested serious time and money into being there in that moment, and that usually means people are keen to share them with friends (wherever they happen to be) and even broadcast it to strangers. And we usually do that by taking pictures or video on our phones and sharing these all over social media.

This is why Social VR has attracted such attention. Linden Lab recently opened up its Sansar platform, and AltspaceVR got substantial amounts of investment by exploring the live events vertical. And even though AltspaceVR recently hit significant obstacles, narrowly missing having to close down, there is little doubt that social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR.

Social will play a huge part in the mass consumer adoption of VR
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The latest crop of smartphones is already making it possible to create that shareable content in 360, and platforms like YouTube allow you to easily share it too. Companies like Samsung have invested heavily onto those functionalities for the Galaxy S8 Handset, and you can also get peripherals such as a camera that automatically takes 360 pictures.

Yet for most of us, though, that all still feels a bit intimidating, so the challenge is to show users that such 360 content can be easy to capture, easy to share, and socially relevant.

The challenge was to show that 360 content is easy to capture and share
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This is in fact what Samsung set out to do by bringing a giant 40-foot installation to two of the most popular events in the UK Summer festival calendar: Reading and Bestival.

The so-called Hypercube housed a mirrored chamber which created an infinity effect that was enhanced by hundreds of projected light effects. Into that chamber, groups of 30 festivalgoers at a time were ushered in with instructions to dance their hearts out to create a collective selfie, which was captured by a 360 degree camera mounted on the chamber’s ceiling.

360 content is the next step in social content sharing.
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That selfie then got emailed to each reveler, who in turn shared it around. Although very visually impacting, however, this wasn’t about showcasing breakthrough tech. This was all about showing people that 360 and VR content is just the logical next step in social content sharing. And if the excited crowds on the day were anything to go by, it seemed to be working.

It’s difficult to say which will prove the crucial tipping point for VR and 360, but what is clear is that such stunts can be useful in bridging the psychological gap in your typical user’s mind between VR as a gimmick and VR as a technology that they can incorporate into their everyday lives.

VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge
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We saw this happen with the Internet and mobile, and at various points with every groundbreaking technology we’ve also had many pundits come out and say that the “hype” was over at various stages. Personally, however, I think VR’s ability to create a sense of presence gives it a unique edge, so that it will eventually become pervasive. And the sooner we get people creating and sharing meaningful moments and memories, the quicker that day is likely to arrive.

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post The Future of VR is Social and Shareable appeared first on Tech Trends.