Virtual Journalism

In the era of online ‘get it now’ demand, a new immersive internet is quickly emerging as a global business and journalism tool through virtual realities like ‘Second Life.’ Erica Driver, co-founder of ThinkBalm, presented a glimpse of this virtual network as part of the Virtual Journalism Summit at Washington State University, April 6.
Driver linked her on-campus presentation live to people not physically present through a Second Life virtual replica of the campus venue. Online participants were represented by 3-D virtual people called Avatars. Online and physically present attendees interactively viewed the slideshow presentation, and offered questions and comments with text and voice chat.
Driver said the immersive internet is used by businesses as a cost-efficient alternative to in-person conventions because it eliminates travel costs and saves productivity hours.
To demonstrate the capabilities of some immersive business tools, Driver took the audience ‘in-world’ to a February 2009 3-D ThinkBalm Innovation Community brainstorming session where Avatars linked their ideas together on a visible matrix called an ideaographer or mind-map; created by Project Manager for the OU Center for Public Management, Jeff Lowe. Driver said in-world sessions are more interactive and productive than traditional phone conferences.
“When you start to see it jump from the technologists to the business people, then you know something has shifted,” Driver said.
Something has also shifted in journalism. CNN is among the news sources that are using immersive technology as a reporting venue and virtual location for press conferences and exclusive interviews.
However, Driver said this new reporting medium limits journalists from adopting immersive internet because it requires training and practice, and many journalists are not very technologically innovative. She also said that in-person interviews can provide subtle non-verbal cues that an immersive environment cannot quite mimic.
“When we get that motion-capture technology… it’s going to add so much value because I can just naturally talk the way I’m talking and my avatar mimics my emotions,” Driver said. “That will really add a lot of the emotion back into the immersive interactions.”
Virtual journalism also limits journalists’ ability to verify an avatar source’s real-life identity. Virtual world journalist Bernhard Drax said journalists can ask questions which only that person would know, double-check an avatar’s real identity through linkedin.com and email them, to confirm their identity.
Driver said this new tool is currently still more comparable to in-person interviews than phone, web conference or video because it can leverage the 3-D experience. The interviewee can walk through a virtual replica of the real world, to enhance their story.
Journalists will also be able to use immersive technology to enhance their story with an “interactive, engaging experience” that stimulates the senses in the brain, Driver said.
Driver said virtual realities like Second Life also provide journalists storyboards, a place to rehearse difficult or dangerous situations and an opportunity to deliver more or better information.
“Immersive internet will change the face of journalism during the next three to four years,” Driver said.