360 Videos and VR / AR

In this week, week 11 we talk in EDCI 337 about 360 videos and the difference between AR / VR. I decided to skip week 10’s post as we were given the choice to not do one blog posting.

This week definitely was a challenging one for me, learning about how to make a 360 video, taking 360 pictures, and adding it to video software. I found the most difficult part for me was after exporting the video the browser would not let me play the video. This was because I needed a webserver to host it, I did not know my school had this kind of thing we could sign up for. With the help of my professor, I was able to finally see my 360 video and upload it here for all you to see, which you can find at the bottom of this post. Some info to as why I chose these was photos was like a small adventure for you to explore and go on with me.

You start off in a little village surrounded by greenery, to me this looks like either a golf course or a center grassy square of a village, you look off into the distance and you see the sea and the piers just up ahead. You imagine the times you have with your family at the pier, the waves rolling past the docks you and the family preparing your boat to set sail to catch some fish for the week and to sell at the market. Unfortunately, one time as you and your father left for the afternoon a huge storm rolled in and you and your father fell overboard. As you fell In all you could see was the beauty of the ocean floor, the coral capturing your gaze and you forget about your surroundings, luckily your father’s fishing team had some divers with them and they were able to bring you back to safety. From then on you wanted to explore more of the ocean and became a diver yourself. In the present, you decide to head to the docks and gear up for a dive. Once you look out at the Mason dock you look around for the best spot to dive from and jump in the right moment into the ocean.

These images can be directed to however you want, but this is how I saw when I created my 360 videos, now your probably wondering what is this all about? Why are we talking about 360, AR, and VR? Well, these media tools have become very apparent in our daily lives, many youth and young adults use AR and VR for work, school, or other outcomes. An example of AR is right at the fingertips of everyone’s phone using Instagram or Snapchat filters and adding a creative face using just your camera. VR is used using a headset that is connected to a PC or another device that lets you move with controllers and experience a reality using video games and virtual reality.

My past experience with these tools has been limited but I still enjoy using both, AR I have used using Snapchat and sending silly photos to people, whereas VR can be a bit more pricy and have only been used when renting out equipment at a VR game place or trying a VR game at a friends house. If I had the money to afford a rig for VR I would love to try different games and experiences like this. Currently using social media as a learning tool I think is one of the best things we can do for the youth, as an up-and-coming teacher using AR, VR or other social media apps can help youth become creative and open their minds. This will help youth branch out and seek new ideas, the educational component here is teaching youth what each social media apps can be used for instead of just messing with it as a life component and one to distract us in our time. Social media would be used in the classroom as a new learning and teaching tool and also help kids who need time to regulate if surrounded in a busy setting and place.

If you click this link it should take you to the 360 video I was talking about before.

https://web.uvic.ca/~nicolecrozier/app-files/index.html