As the Digital Era has come full force into our live throughout the past 20 years, new technologies like Livestreaming, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, and Holograms have come into fruition. As society moves away from traditional print media, journalists and companies alike have begun to adapt through incorporating these techniques in order to draw in viewers and customers.
Going Live has become a new piece of social media that has taken off in recent years. Celebrities and influencers use to promote their products or communicate with their fans. Journalists use it to spread the news on social media. Some sites that have this feature ate Facebook, Periscope, and Instagram. Facebook Live launched in 2016 and has been since used for streaming violence like terrorist attacks and police brutality. Politicians have also used it as a platform to preach their opinions. Going Live is as simple as clicking a button, but there are many ways in which people can successfully do so in order to achieve the goals of the Livestream. Some of these tips are to be creative, have a secure wifi connection, use a tripod for stability, turn on incoming calls blocker, use a phone with good camera quality, and keep in mind the platform. This means that if you are going live on Facebook, make sure that your video is vertical because that is the shape of the screen on that social media. Some other tips are to use a microphone if you are recording your voice or someone else’s, come up with a creative headline for the Livestream, never Livestream for less than a minute, always save it to your camera roll when it is done, be nice, be patient and interact with your viewers.
Virtual reality is yet another one of these new and upcoming technologies. VR can also be named immerse multimedia. It can recreate sensory experiences of real places in the world or imaginary words in a 360-degree setting. There are many different gadgets that can produce this type of media on the market but many range in the pricey category. There are many tips that come along with creating this for yourself. First, treat the camera like a person. This will help the viewer have a more realistic view of the VR world. Second, be aware of the stitch lines, which are the areas of the image that connect one picture to the next. Third, keep the camera stable and level unless it is meant to not be in a specific environment. Unnecessary motion will give the viewer motion sickness unless it is purposeful and something that they are used to. One case of this would be in the car. Some say that VR is the future of journalism because it puts people in the story. This way, readers have the ability to remember a news story with their entire body as if they were really there when it took place. I think that this will be a new form of multimedia for journalists to capture their viewers. I personally have always been a more visual learner and I tend to find video new stories more impactful. Through using VR I think that this will amplify storytelling to the next level.
Augmented Reality is similar yet different from VR. AR is a live direct or indirect of a real-world environment whose elements are supplemented by computer-generated sensory input. An easy way to understand this complicated definition is by looking at the AR technologies that Amazon has developed. They have a feature where you can place an item that you are thinking about ordering in your home to see if it looks good. This helps people by them not needing to go through the trouble of waiting to see if the item looks good in their home after it has been delivered, causing them to need to package it back up to send back. Companies like Vespa are also using these technologies to enhance their sales experience. They have a tool online where you can customize your own Vespa, take it for a virtual test drive, and then locate a dealership near you where you can purchase it.
Another new technology that has increased in popularity in recent years is Holograms. Previously, Holograms have been used in film and seen as extremely high-tech. Today, politicians have used 3D holograms to give speeches as if they were there in the room. I think that this will become a more prominent and achievable technology in the coming years.
Lastly, Artificial Intelligence has come into play in recent media. This demonstrates the technological capabilities that people have these days. Additionally, it poses a threat to social media in terms of fake news. In this video, it demonstrates how people have the ability to take a video of Obama and manipulate his face and voice. This shows how people sitting at home can make a fake video whether it is Obama, Trump, or any other important and impactful person. As viewers in this new social media clouded the internet world, it is our job to understand these new technologies and how they work.
The Yellow Brick Road 