New Media 6: The Future of New Media

Who knows what stories will look like in the future.

Technology is progressing fast, leaving everybody guessing what will be possible in the next decade. From gaming, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), to artificial intelligence (AI) and increased internet speeds, technological advancements don’t happen in a vacuum but have profound effects on one another.

Immersive technologies

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) both fall under the umbrella term Extended Reality (XR), which is another word for immersive technologies.

Immersive technologies merge the physical environment and digital (simulated) experiences.

Virtual reality and augmented reality are the two main types of immersive technologies, and can be combined as “mixed reality”.

Virtual reality is a digital 3D environment which users can explore and interact with as if it were real. Users need a VR headset and can interact with their digital environments.

For example: a VR flight simulator

Augmented reality modifies a real-world environment by digitally overlaying and incorporating visual (3D) elements or sounds. Users often need a smartphone with a camera and have very limited interactivity with their digital environments..

For example: Pokémon Go, Snapchat filters

Mixed reality is a combination of VR and AR, allowing users to interact with real-world and digital elements. Microsoft Hololens was one of the first devices able to deliver mixed reality experiences.

The metaverse

The metaverse a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users. (Oxford English Dictionary)

The metaverse is an extension of the immersive technologies mentioned above. What if you didn’t just experience another reality in a game, but this alternate reality is a digital world by itself?

A place where you can hang out, meet friends, but also work and trade. You could get yourself a house there and perhaps go to the beach—or to another planet—while going to a concert, practicing your hobby, or opening a business in the metaverse.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence is intelligence that is digitally simulated by computers. It is able to interpret data, and learn from and adapt to it.

For example: Siri, the TikTok algorithm, facial recognition software

Computers are getting smarter, it seems, and they are increasingly able to efficiently perform more and more complicated tasks. Artificial intelligence is not the same as “general intelligence”, however, which refers to a computer that could think and potentially act like us, humans.

AI often is really good at one task, like recognizing a face or recommending videos, while being really bad or incapable at others, like holding a conversation or moving around. Because computers can process information at incredible speeds, they are able to use vast quantities of data to become really good at this one task.

This process is called machine learning and is often based on pattern recognition. You may have also heard of neural networks. They are machine learning systems that are inspired by the way our brains work in order to perform tasks like language processing.

Although the applications of AI are virtually limitless, an easier way to view their impact on media is by splitting them in two categories: recognizing and generating. Because AI is trained using lots of data, it is very good at pattern recognition.

For example, you could tell an algorithm to ban every picture on a social media platform that features a green triangle (recognizing). After being presented with countless pictures that either contain a green triangle or not, the AI will become very efficient at this task.

AI can also use this skill to generate new things. AI writing software can write an article for you with very little input. The software is trained using millions of pages of text and writes pretty convincingly without knowing a simple rule of grammar. All it does is predict what word is mostly likely to come next. The text contains factual inaccuracies, however, as the AI is jumbling fragments of texts together without any regard of what they might mean.

Similar techniques can be used to create fake images of people, AI art, or deepfakes.

Other storytelling devices

Meanwhile, social media, podcasts and video platforms are as popular as ever and it seems unlikely they will disappear soon. The same goes for in-person events and exhibitions, bringing people together in real life.

Preparation

1. Every student received a piece of A4 paper
2. Students fold their piece of paper so that it is divided into 8 boxes (fold the paper along the long side, then along the narrow side, and along the narrow side again).

Crazy 8

Students are challenged to draw and write 8 new media concepts in 8 minutes (use a timer): one concept in every box. This is very little time for a difficult creative assignment, but it forces students to brainstorm fast without getting bogged down by perfectionism.

For example:
Box #1 contains a hologram of a dinosaur in an exhibition space, box #2 contains a machine using AI to fact-check news called the Told You So 3000; box #3 uses VR to experience a vulcanic eruption up close, et cetera.

Teacher’s note:
Often, students only get one or two concepts down in the first half of the assignment and the task seems impossible to them. But usually, the time pressure flips a switch and ideas start pouring in the second half. It doesn’t matter if students don’t have 8 ideas by the end.

1. Students are divided into groups of 3-4.
2. Students individually select their two favorite ideas and their worst idea.
3. Every student in the group presents two favorite and their worst idea.
4. Other students in the group share their thoughts.

A short moment for students to share some highlights and reflect on what they learned or found interesting.

1. Will technological advances in new media replace traditional media?
2. Will the metaverse substitute the real world?
3. Will AI be a force for good or bad in the world of tomorrow?
4. Will increased use of AI result in an increase of fake news?
5. Could artists be replaced by AI?