Directing in VR is challenging. Because you shoot in 360, you can't actually be in the space, so the director winds up watching through a monitor. And while the director can capture most of the big picture, it really falls on the talent to nail the subtleties.
So I was delighted when I watched the most recent piece I worked on with the incredible director Pamela Jaber and the woman pictured above absolutely eviscerated my soul with one simple word. In the piece, the user is experiencing workplace bullying, and towards the start mentions something they are excited about. To which their co-worker replies, deadpan, "cool." It is every mean high school experience in one second, and even though I helped write the script and was there when it was filmed, my soul died just a little.
For someone who has never been on the end of that treatment, that can be an earth shattering moment. Finally understanding what it is like to be on the end of bullying incident, or a bias incident, or harassment, can have a profound effect. I've seen real and concrete organizational change come from this, and workplaces improve because of it.
And this is where I get so frustrated with the tech bro bloggers who seem to love dancing on the grave of XR. Ok, so Horizon Worlds isn't your thing -- fine. How about increased empathy in the workplace? How about vastly improved grades at a historically Black college using the metaverse to teach? How about a new program where headsets are being brought into juvenile prisons so youth offenders can learn trades and get jobs? Do you want to gleefully spit on that, too?
The fact is, this technology continues to evolve and grow and have real impact. If you're down with ignoring the hype and making real, concrete, lasting change, drop me a line.