There are some #GDC2020 talks being virtually streamed on their Twitch channel at: twitch.tv/gdc
Currently @kait_zilla is talking about "integrating gameplay & narrative design by focusing on the narrative in gameplay verbs/actions."
Schedule:
gdconf.com/gdc-2020-virtu…
Currently @kait_zilla is talking about "integrating gameplay & narrative design by focusing on the narrative in gameplay verbs/actions."
Schedule:
gdconf.com/gdc-2020-virtu…
There some annoying technical glitches in the @Official_GDC Twitch stream. Specifically in @kait_zilla was whenever she shows an animated GIF in her presentation, the audio completely cuts out. Remote teleconferences is still in it's early days. Hope slides are available.
There are archives of the Virtual #GDC2020 sessions on Twitch (at least for now).
Just listened to @direGoldfish's talk on her design process on the puzzle game Kine that she spent $420k on in-kind labor.
It was really inspiring to hear her journey!
twitch.tv/videos/5684247…
Just listened to @direGoldfish's talk on her design process on the puzzle game Kine that she spent $420k on in-kind labor.
It was really inspiring to hear her journey!
twitch.tv/videos/5684247…
1/ I've been a virtual reality journalist & oral historian for 6 years, & I have some thoughts on this transition into a new reality of remote work, virtual telepresence apps & virtual conferences.
I've been immersing myself into #GDC2020 conf & I'll share reflections
THREAD 👇👆
I've been immersing myself into #GDC2020 conf & I'll share reflections
THREAD 👇👆
2/ I've attended 100+ conferences as a journalist & oral historian over the past 11 years where I've recorded over 2200 interviews on many topics. I love face-to-face gatherings & serendipitous collisions. That's hard to recreate virtually, but there will be lots of innovations.
3/ The fact is face-to-face gatherings have always been way better than virtual gatherings.
Telepresence apps stalled out because there wasn't enough cultural will or economic demand to innovate.
But that's all changed now with #coronavirus.
Now everyone is looking at this tech.
Telepresence apps stalled out because there wasn't enough cultural will or economic demand to innovate.
But that's all changed now with #coronavirus.
Now everyone is looking at this tech.
4/ I worked for distributed company @lullabot for four years, & learned that remote work best when EVERYONE is remotely working. If 95% of people are co-located, then remote workers miss out on water cooler conversations. Works best when everyone uses same communication tools.
5/ @Lullabot co-founder @jjeff left to create @yonder_io in order to advocate for remote work (14yrs experience) & to build a "movement to create more distributed companies & change the future of work."
Well, it's HAPPENING!
Check out their podcast:
yonder.io/post?category=…
Well, it's HAPPENING!
Check out their podcast:
yonder.io/post?category=…
6/ The thing about conferences is that they're happening LIVE & in the moment. This "liveness" is hard to recreate in virtual conferences. I'm looking forward to seeing what the #IEEEVR community is able to pull off next week as it'll likely have lots of social VR innovations.
7/ Most conferences have typically fallen into the one-to-many broadcast model. Talks, panels, or keynotes have a & stage & microphone that amplifies a handful of voices out to the audience. This has typically bored me, & so I usually spend my time in hallways doing interviews.
8/ There's an opportunity for conferences to reinvent themselves & transition from one-to-many to many-to-many models, such as World Cafe-style group discussions, automated chat-roulette, moderated talking sticks, multimodal talks, & eventually emergent unconference architectures
9/ I'm a fan of the SAMR model of Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, & Redefinition.
Conferences are starting with Subtituting sessions with Zoom teleconferencing & Twitch livestreaming. That's great for the content of talks, but has a way to go for face-to-face gathering.
Conferences are starting with Subtituting sessions with Zoom teleconferencing & Twitch livestreaming. That's great for the content of talks, but has a way to go for face-to-face gathering.
10/ Like Remote Work, virtual conferences may work better when *everyone* is forced to find alternatives for connecting.
So far, nothing has come close to replicating serendipitous collisions that can happen when people are co-located at conferences, but I'm on the lookout in VR
So far, nothing has come close to replicating serendipitous collisions that can happen when people are co-located at conferences, but I'm on the lookout in VR
11/ The other thing that's magical about conferences is there's a concresence of knowledge catalyzed by speaking to a live audience.
Having a deadline, date, & time creates a context of giving & receiving that facilitates the transmission of knowledge.
What's lost in the virtual?
Having a deadline, date, & time creates a context of giving & receiving that facilitates the transmission of knowledge.
What's lost in the virtual?
12/ The concresence of knowledge feels like a collective zeitgeist, & so I find it more difficult to consume sessions from conferences the further away from the date the talk happened (like watching sports later).
That's why I prefer sessions be livestreamed & not uploaded later.
That's why I prefer sessions be livestreamed & not uploaded later.
13/ What's great about co-located conferences is people have set aside their normal routines to be there. Life & work inevitably yields some attention, but it's generally better when people have committed their complete & full attention. This is & will be harder virtually.
14/ When I attend virtual conferences, I prefer to fully immerse myself if possible because I know it's exponentially more difficult to watch it later. Plus, if I want to connect & participate with the presenters, then I know I'll have their peak attention for Q&A or engagement.
15/ Another great trend is a number conferences are streaming their content for free on Twitch or YouTube. I prefer YouTube as the archiving there is better, but it's a great time to attend virtual conferences right now.
Here's three happening this week:
Here's three happening this week:
16/ As a VR oral historian, I've covered lots of social VR / telepresence apps (with more podcasts soon.)
But the most exciting platform for me right now is Mozilla's @byhubs.
It's WebXR, architected for privacy, 2D, & chance for open source collaboration:
voicesofvr.com/785-architecti…
But the most exciting platform for me right now is Mozilla's @byhubs.
It's WebXR, architected for privacy, 2D, & chance for open source collaboration:
voicesofvr.com/785-architecti…
17/ I recently had a chance to attend the #2020EdinVR International Educational Summit.
It was 100% in VR with 80% in @AltspaceVR. which is awesome for virtual conferences.
Audio isolation & slide upload & operation workflow needs work.
Here was my talk:
It was 100% in VR with 80% in @AltspaceVR. which is awesome for virtual conferences.
Audio isolation & slide upload & operation workflow needs work.
Here was my talk:
18/ @Lorelle is one of the co-founders of @EducatorsVR & a co-organizer of #2020edinVR along with @danieldbryant.
She did a super detailed post-mortem write-up about running a virtual conference with hundreds of sessions for an out-of-pocket cost of $330:
educatorsinvr.com/2020/03/08/beh…
She did a super detailed post-mortem write-up about running a virtual conference with hundreds of sessions for an out-of-pocket cost of $330:
educatorsinvr.com/2020/03/08/beh…
19/ An advantage to virtual conference sessions is sometimes it can be a BETTER than being there, especially if you're new to a topic & need to rewind.
Or perhaps you like to consume video at 1.5x or 2x speed or as high as 3x or 4x if you use the Video Speed Controller extension.
Or perhaps you like to consume video at 1.5x or 2x speed or as high as 3x or 4x if you use the Video Speed Controller extension.
20/ The nice thing about Twitch is it's possible to simultaneously livestream AND make a Video on Demand (VOD) available so folks can timeshift live events or watch at 2x speeds.
Not sure if it happens automatically.
See the videos tab for #2020GDC here:
twitch.tv/gdc/videos.
Not sure if it happens automatically.
See the videos tab for #2020GDC here:
twitch.tv/gdc/videos.
21/ Another note about #GDC2020 Virtual Conf livestream on Twitch.
It was nice to have a continuous stream & for 30min questions in text chat after each talk.
They need a better interface for archiving & threading questions though.
Kudos to @Official_GDC @rbryant2012 on hosting.
It was nice to have a continuous stream & for 30min questions in text chat after each talk.
They need a better interface for archiving & threading questions though.
Kudos to @Official_GDC @rbryant2012 on hosting.
22/ As more & more things move to virtual interfaces in the near future, then spatial computing & virtual reality is going to be A LOT more important.
I just met up in @byhubs with @amoration & @ARtefactVR preparing for the #IEEEVR 2020 conference in Hubs:
I just met up in @byhubs with @amoration & @ARtefactVR preparing for the #IEEEVR 2020 conference in Hubs:
23/ Virtual #GDC2020 party happening tonight at 8pm PDT in Zoom, Twitch, @ByHubs (2D/Phone/VR), @neos_vr (VR/some 2D).
@PlayableAgency & @amoration have been producing both live & virtual events for a long time.
VR, mixed reality art, dance, game floor
@PlayableAgency & @amoration have been producing both live & virtual events for a long time.
VR, mixed reality art, dance, game floor
24/ @Neos_VR is really designed to be used in VR, but there's a 2D client that works well for chatting with folks & world hopping.
@Frooxius et al are doing some of the most bleeding edge innovations in social VR.
Here's some navigation tips via @teh_turk
wiki.neosvr.com/subdom/wiki/in…
@Frooxius et al are doing some of the most bleeding edge innovations in social VR.
Here's some navigation tips via @teh_turk
wiki.neosvr.com/subdom/wiki/in…
25/ @Playstation #PS5 held a virtual press conference in front of a green screen + silent Mystery Science Theater 3000-style audience that gave it a slightly uncanny feeling. They're substituting the same format as a #GDC2020 announcment, but needs tweaks.
26/ I'm attending the @htcvive Ecosystem Conference #V2EC2020. Many presenters are in China.
The HTC Auditorium in @vreducation's ENGAGE is one of the best presentation environments I've seen in VR.
In the middle of water. Nice skyline. Circles for convos.
The HTC Auditorium in @vreducation's ENGAGE is one of the best presentation environments I've seen in VR.
In the middle of water. Nice skyline. Circles for convos.
27/ I love the animated VR history display here in @vreducation's ENGAGE from the 1839 stereoscope, 1968 Sword of Damocles, 1985 NASA V.I.E.W, & 2019 Vive Cosmos. The info cards disappear as the HMDs from the past rotate around. Really nice display of history here. #v2Ec2020
28/ It's nice to have the schedule of events at virtual conferences displayed within the space, especially as I'm in VR & it's hard to look at email.
It'd be a lot better if ENGAGE could allow me to tweet from within VR, but I have to context switch to my PC computer to post.
It'd be a lot better if ENGAGE could allow me to tweet from within VR, but I have to context switch to my PC computer to post.
29/ 15-min break @htcvive #V2EC2020 after pre-recorded talks.
Audio drop off in @vreducation got tweaked & it's taken great strides at recreating the feeling of serendipitous mingling & collisions that happen at networking events.
Shots from @SkarredGhost:
Audio drop off in @vreducation got tweaked & it's taken great strides at recreating the feeling of serendipitous mingling & collisions that happen at networking events.
Shots from @SkarredGhost:
30/ Continuing my thread of news in virtual confs & remote work, @VRChat wrote up a guide for virtual social gatherings.
They're one of the more popular social VR apps (have a 2D client too) with an emphasis on worldbuilding & identity/avatar embodiment.
They're one of the more popular social VR apps (have a 2D client too) with an emphasis on worldbuilding & identity/avatar embodiment.
