INTRODUCTION
What’s your project & why are you interested in it?
VeRy is a talk show that features people who use the digital world to embrace themselves, cope with the real-life situation, voice up for social justice, and build up a supportive online community.
During the pandemic, I have been suffered from loneliness and anxiety. Suddenly being targeted by the government and lost my previous job, worried about being deported, scared by the virus, culture shocked by how differently the authorities dealt with the problem, said goodbye to majority of my friends met in the States, unable to buy tickets back home, and and living alone while family and closed ones are across the globe…I feel trapped for most of the time in 2020. To cope with the situation, I started to look out for support in the virtual world. Playing Animal Crossing and PUBG with friends, sharing my worries with an anonymous online community, texting with an AI chatbot…I survived the past several months for the digital activities and deep conversation conducted in the virtual world. I must not be the only one felt this way. And maybe many other people are still struggling to find their way out.
That’s why I want to do this virtual talk show, to build a platform for people to share their stories and engage deep conversations virtually. And to share these conversations to help other people who are facing the same problem.
BACKGROUND
What problem or context is your work responding to?
How does your work relate to existing work other people have been working on?
How to tell a better story in a virtual environment is the issue and context I’m responding to. I want to explore the future of storytelling with the existing virtual reality tools that people are engaging with. I’m learning and inspired by The Midnight Gospel (2020), an adult animation about a space caster traverses trippy worlds inside his universe simulator, exploring existential questions about life, death and everything in between; The Oprah Conversation (2020), a TV series in which Oprah Winfrey leads timely and intimate discussions with news makers, thought leaders and master craftspeople; and Syrmor, a YouTube channel features people’s personal story shared in VR Chat.
PROJECT
So, what are you making actually?
I’m making a talk show that happened in the virtual world. Each episode has a theme to explore and invite the interviewees to have a deep conversation with the host while doing digital activities, such as playing games. The conversation will be audio recorded like a podcast, and the digital activities will be screen recorded like live streaming.
How did you make it?
Physical interview setup
It’s preferred to sit down with the interviewee face to face and have the conversation recorded by the same microphone for better sound quality. Audio chat remotely is also acceptable, as long as each individual has an audio recording device.
Virtual world setup
So far, I have explored two ways of shooting in the virtual world.
Original screen recording: mobile devices screen recording.
Pro: best visual and audio quality. Multiple angles.
Con: legging time, consume a lot of storage on mobile devices
DSLR recording of the screen: film the screens that display the digital world.
Pro: the recording doesn’t affect digital activities.
Con: flickering that affects image quality, and audio recording will capture environmental sound, limited angles.
The virtual world includes but not limited to:
Stage 1: Jude’s space built on Mozilla Hubs, like a newsroom? A library? A theatre? A living room? A cave? A museum?
Stage 2: Interviewee’s space -- Their second home online
Texting spaces: Medium, Sayana, etc.
Gaming spaces: Animal Crossing, Sky: Children of the Light, PUBG, Fortnight, Overwatch, etc.
Social VR spaces: VR Chat, Mozilla Hubs, etc.
What is the user experience like?
Audience can enjoy the show on YouTube, Netflix, etc. I would also like to build a 3D space for watching and interacting with the content virtually.What are their feelings and emotions?
Audience should find the show interesting and willing to listen and participate in. It’s like a podcast with visuals from the virtual world.How do they feel and what do they think after they’ve encountered your project?
I want them to feel relatable, somehow relieved, somehow supported, and somehow triggered to share their own stories.I want to change how people see those digital environment, and somehow acknowledge and embrace their digital existence and getting involved with online community.
How does the project change, shape, and help them afterwards?
I want this show to be a an open window for anyone wanna share their own stories. I hope the conversation can make people feel connected virtually. I want to build a digital community for sharing stories and get supported.
User Story
Alex was searching on YouTube for tutorials about how to catch a spider in Animal Crossing. They somehow encountered a video where two people were having a deep conversation inside the game. It sound like a podcast, but the two people were running on the virtual island, having virtual tours, and interacting with the objects inside the game. It’s different from other gameplay video. This is something new that the conversation makes the two players so real. It feels like they are literally living on that island. The host asked about not only what’s going on in the game, but also what’s going in real life. But somehow the boundaries are blurred. Alex felt so relatable. Alex realized they were not the only one in the world who were having trouble coping with what happened in 2020. Alex felt supported, just by listening to them talking and watching them play. Alex wanted to talk and share their stories as well. Alex felt like the game wasn’t just a game. It can be their new social life. Alex wanted to play with more friends and asked them about their day. Alex felt that they can stay connected all the same or even better without seeing each other or even knowing each other. Alex clicked on the YouTube channel, and it turned out the Animal Crossing is only one of the many episodes of the virtual talk show named VeRy. The talk show also took place in other games and digital products. And except YouTube, it’s also on Netflix and other interactive platforms.
This is something new that the conversation makes the two players so real. When talking about a fun trip in Japan couple of years ago, the interviewee took the host to a mini neighborhood with streets and houses that looks like Kamakura. It’s so bizarre to see that even with the limitation of what you can get and design in the game, the interviewee can still recreate a piece of their memory on this virtual island. It feels like they are literally living on that island. Or, even better. They were living in the interviewee’s fantasy. After a fun tour in “Kamakura”, they walked into an aquarium and ended up standing in front of a huge floor-to-ceiling tank and watching the sea purse swimming back and forth. The host asked the interviewee if they ever felt trapped like this fish. The interviewee paused for a few seconds and said: “Yes. Maybe not as sad as a fish tank, but more like a fancy island with only you living on it.” Somehow the boundary between virtual and reality is blurred. Alex felt like they were all standing in front of this big glass watching the sea purse swim. They were all in this together.
Update
I found this tutorial for gameplay recording super helpful:
I also purchased the gameplay recorder:
Elgato Game Capture HD60 S - Stream and Record in 1080p60, for PlayStation 4, Xbox One & Xbox 360
Next step is to fill in the thesis questions, A copy for the first two episodes, get in contact with Carla, and get things going!!!