Initial Approach:

Initially the project brief was very broad I decided to research the industry areas listed with the European Youth Awards category’s for an idea of what to develop, at first I thought about creating some kind of digital art, purely around entertainment reasoning, as this is an area that interests me within digital media. However creating an artistic piece, although fun, didn’t justify the projects brief enough for me, instead I want to explore an area than could make a real long term change or difference.

I looked into the ‘Going Green’ category and thought what could I develop that hasn’t already been done, climate change has long been educated and projects have attempted techniques on how to stop, raise awareness and resolve such problems. Furthermore energy consumption in first world countries has long been discussed, however there does appear to be a gap in the market for the education of the serious global contributions towards a polluted world, being developing (third) world countries. Therefore I looked towards ideas around themes of energy consumption awareness and global preservation, specifically looking at what countries were contributing the most to what is an international energy crisis, research suggesting China and India as large contributors. This themed area came to me through research looking into the site: (http://10unsolvables.org/ ) and studying what problems were yet to be addressed with any kind of political, experimental, ethical or moral change and attention.

Exploring these problems I came across a common theme that contributed to at least 5 of the issues listed and if this theme was correctly addressed then perhaps the impact of each individual problem would be lessened. Therefore it all comes down to education and awareness for looking after the earth and ourselves, “Goodbye 100” wants to drive change in the attitudes, insights and public knowledge of why we are destroying the world around us, who is most responsible and therefore needs to change quickly to their approach and specifically how individually we can make a difference. The projects long term goals is the extend to the international nations to take it upon themselves to improve their respected country in tackling problems like energy burning, landfills, oil rigs, fracking, nuclear waste and fossil fuel resources, therefore hopefully ‘Goobye100’ ca be the stepping stone into complete change.

My thought process around the brief was to design something that went beyond a simple campaign or piece of information, many environmental awareness projects have revolved around internet videos or social media pages that rarely take off because the interaction the subject matter becomes quickly stale and uninteresting. Therefore initially research led me to propose an installation piece and accompanying website catering for the educational side of ‘Goodbye 100’,  on discussion with my tutor however an installation piece although interesting, may not be the most engaging of design ideas to raise awareness to the issue, therefore further research has led me into exploring virtual reality as a design platform through examples demonstrated using the ‘Oculus Rift’ and ‘Gear VR’ prototypes, meaning the project could now be something that is both educational, internationally attention grabbing and entertaining through VR.

• Oculus Rift (https://www.oculus.com/en-us/rift/)

The first review of work that inspired me was what started as Kickstarter campaign project that has now received international attention, excitement and global funding. Leading the way for virtuall reality and a new generation of gaming, entertainment and design ideas, the Oculus Rift. Simply put, the Oculus has made the future of media enjoyment and interaction a now present and very real product on innovation.

The development of Oculus has become the next generation of technological advancements within the media industry, with the first commercial shipments coming this year. However the reason for using the Oculus as not just a digital creation for inspiration, but also a functional piece of equipment within my own VR ‘Goobye100’ world stems from the realism and total immersions already seen in previously released oculus titles.

Titles including Solar System Explorer, VR Cinema and UR4 Roller coasters have already proven popular within the Rift and gaming community, but this popularity doesn’t come from the game itself, be all 3 titles resembling a simple idea, that on console would quickly become tedious and boring, but the element of being involved in this virtual world and feeling like you are actually experiencing a roller coaster ride, or you are exploring deep space. Therefore it could be suggested that an attention grabbing and educational message seen within my own project may only have the intended impact if the world feels ‘very real’ and therefore the problem becomes ‘very real’.

Furthermore the global success of Oculus and later other VR headsets from different developers must be at the forefront of justification for the ‘VR world’ side of the ‘Goodbye100’ project. The Oculus development kit 1 and 2 (pre commercial release) has already sold over 175,000 units, therefore adding a new title off a VR world 100 years from now to an international success train couldn’t help but raise further awareness and understanding the problems presented whilst also paving the way for the digital advancements in technology being the center front for my project, showing my idea to be harnessing the most modern techniques to educate and inspire.

Recently I posted an in-depth project proposal for this semesters intended output and research, however I thought it would be relevant to post a much needed update into the projects final outputs, due to long term project change and industry research.

Originally the intentions of the output was to raise awareness to the first world country, to educate problems around energy consumption, which contributes to climate change in developing (third) world countries. This research objective hasn’t changed, however the approach on how to educate and raise awareness has.

Revised outputs and reasons for the change:

– Social awareness now stems largely from online sources and social media, the website therefore needs to be promoted through this bases primarily, possibly then making social media accounts/ pages to raise attention to this issue.

– Research into what type of mediums attract the most thinking and attention suggest online videos and/or games create mass public reaction and debate. (See http://www.imaginefm.net/viral-video-raising-awareness-of-homelessness-in-stockport/ article on viral awareness for the homeless.

– Therefore instead of creating a video that could become lost in the masses, I have decided to create a visual concept for what could become a virtual reality experience, thinking of the future of our technology.

– Created using the Unreal Engine 4, I would be designing a VR 100 years from now experience, where mass energy consumption has left our world in a post-apocalypse disaster, where our green lands and thriving cities are now no more than crumbling ruins.

– The intention behind the VR game, would be to educate but also entertain. A target audience of 18 and above differs drastically in attention span and interest, therefore I want to create something that is fresh and new, and goes beyond a simple entertainment product but instead delivers of global message for understanding and change.

– Jack

Second design for the ‘Goodbye 100’ project campaign.

‘Prepare for your future’.

Jack Lilley – Project Proposal Form

For further information on the project, including:

– Targets

– Audience

– Output

– Timescale

Feel free to read in depth project proposal form.

(Note:  Intended aims and output make change with development)