This week online: “VR will never die!” and calls for regulation
A popular conversation starter above, from YouTuber Walk The Plank. The replies were mostly an emphatic “no!” but many offered up thoughtful complications. Some users consider Facebook’s outsized (and growing) influence on the market a kind of death, while others imagine VR in a semi-hibernation state as expectations for the medium adjust and creators and audiences alike recalibrate to new goals.
This discussion exists in tandem with ongoing analyses of/reflections on Facebook’s experiments with advertising in VR.
Regulation and stronger tech policy are a solution advocated by many in the field, but alongside these calls is also ample skepticism of such laws’ effectiveness, and even their abilty to pass.
Get Ngozi Nwadiogbu’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
This may be a critical juncture for a rapidly developing medium, and the best, most humane and inclusive, way forward is unclear. What do you think?
Lastly, Snap is still seeking interested parties to try out their new Spectacles. The team wants more applications from creators of immersive AR experiences. No prior Lens Studio experience is required and they’ll send you the tech for free!
Explore their community here and, if interested, apply!
For more news, discourse, and resources on immersive and emerging forms of nonfiction media, sign up for our monthly newsletter.
Immerse is an initiative of the MIT Open DocLab and receives funding from Just Films | Ford Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. The Gotham Film & Media Institute is our fiscal sponsor. Learn more here. We are committed to exploring and showcasing emerging nonfiction projects that push the boundaries of media and tackle issues of social justice — and rely on friends like you to sustain ourselves and grow. Join us by making a gift today.
