Extra Credit - Codes and Modes Conference

I went to the Codes and Modes conference right after my class on Thursday. I was treated to a welcoming story by Andrew Lund, who helped bring the Codes and Modes conference to the level of importance that it is today. Throughout the entire session, there was a t.v. prompt that asked us a series of questions and we were able to answer it through the use of text messaging, our messages would appear on screen along with the first image related to what we put. At first, it was entertaining, people played around with their answers just to see their what picture would show. As time went on though, the jokes were put aside and people started answering the prompt more seriously and were discussing other’s previous responses. I also started to think about the question more in-depth and ended up looking through the internet on some of the topics that the prompt presented. This really did put to perspective what the conference was about, different ways to use technology so people can communicate with each other and how technology provides a base in which we can share our thoughts. Aside from that, the bulk of my time spent at the conference were mainly listening to Dan Archer, the founder of Empathetic Media, talking about how his company uses VR to tell stories through an interactive environment. His company’s goal is to start the new generation of storytelling, by using the latest technology to give storytellers a new method in which they can produce their tales and tell their stories. He talked about the ways the VR immerses the viewers by putting them in the life of the story, and the ability the VR has in tapping into a deeper level of empathy that viewers will exhibit because of said immersion.