Contentception — A cautionary tale beyond reality
Sam Applebee — Co-founder, Kickpush
Kickpush is a mobile, web and VR app design studio in London. Kickpush designs have been featured as Best new apps on the App Store and received a nomination for a Global Mobile Award.
Special thanks to the awesome Typeform crew for the invite to present this content live at their meetup in Barcelona. Talk below starts at [00:06:40] for the lazy.
Subscribe for updates on our adventures in VR.
—
We’re fast approaching a bewildering world of multi-layered content experiences. Product pioneers, miracle marketers, cool-cat creatives and technology terrorists beware.
Our tale begins with the past and ends with the future. Video is our subject but the theme can be generalised.
Act 1 — Video as usual
Everything used to be so simple. Companies designed products and services, recorded what they did, and consumers consumed. Marketeers and creatives essentially just said “check out this stuff!”
Then someone figured out that people respond to content more if it’s relatable but aspirational. The message became “don’t you want to be like these people?”
The rules of the game were well established. Brands told stories. Audiences observed.
Act 2 — New toys, new rules
Then along comes 360° degree video and the rules change.
Observers no more, audiences have become participants. We put viewers into the content.
But before anyone has a chance to catch their breath, in strolls virtual reality.
When you strap on a VR headset and try an experience like the one we designed for The Economist as partners of VR production studio Visualise (shameless plug), it’s not like watching TV or a youtube video.
You’re in a virtual space that you’re expected to navigate. In this case to choose between becoming a fish in the high seas, touring a virtually reconstructed museum in Mosul, and exploring Osaka in 360° with a local.
Hang on a minute… We just put our content inside our content.
But wait, there’s more. Motion tracked controllers are giving people the freedom interact and explore spaces like they do in real life.
Where’s our audience? Yep; inside the content inside our content. And this is just the beginning.
Act 3 — A new reality
Augmented and mixed reality will integrate into our everyday experiences. It will be continuous and will blur the boundaries of what’s real and what’s not.
Now in uncharted territory, we’ll have put content directly into our audience’s lives.
With these technologies a user can move through many layers of content, perhaps infinitely. On the street physical street one minute. In their virtual kitchen the next. Into the 360° experience on the virtual television. Further still into a game. Back into real life — also a game.
We’ll have put content into the content in viewers’ lives. They’ll control how deep they go.
Leo memes aside, this is a reality we may soon have to face. The mind boggles.
As a design company we’re trying to speak to as many VR and AR companies as we can to understand the world(s) we’re designing for.
Hit up explore@kickpush.co if you want to rock the boat with us, or subscribe to get updates about our adventures in VR.
Big love,
Sam and the Kickpush crew
Connect with us: kickpush.co | Dribbble | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram
—
If you liked this, click the 💚 below so other people will see it here on Medium.
