The Economist has made its first foray into virtual reality with a reconstruction of Mosul Museum artefacts which jihadists destroyed in 2015.
Using crowdsourced images, the project is able to bring the antiques that were lost in the city of Mosul back to life using a technique known as photogrammetry, which involves feeding multiple images of an object, taken from different angles, into a piece of software that combines them to form a three-dimensional model.
Available on a range of VR platforms, the experience will take the form of a tour of the museum, including a voiceover that explains the background to the project, the significance of particular objects and the method of reconstruction.
The newsbrand’s deputy editor, Tom Standage, said virtual reality offers “huge potential” for storytelling and is a medium The Economist will continue to experiment with.
“In real life it’s no longer possible to visit the Mosul museum or see these destroyed artefacts. But RecoVR: Mosul lets you experience them in virtual reality, with The Economist as your museum guide, explaining the bigger picture,” Standage said.
“This is our first venture into VR, a medium which offers huge potential for new kinds of storytelling.”
Speaking to Newsline, Standage said he thinks VR will eventually become a smartphone-based medium as increasingly affordable VR devices, such as Google Cardboard, hit the mass market.
[advert position=”left”]
The Economist plans to add further VR experiences to its VR app in the coming months – including a live-action VR film created by The Economist video team.
However, largely because of high VR production costs, Standage said it would be premature to predict whether this is a route publishers will decide to go down in the long-run.
But with publishers such as The Economist willing to invest, advertisers could also start to see new platforms emerge for them.
the7stars’ Tim Jones said VR could be the “Holy Grail” digital advertisers have been after for years – “a medium that guarantees the absolute, undivided attention of its audience throughout a viewing, along with an impactful and memorable experience.”
However, while it could work wonders, Jones says it also comes with its own potential pitfalls that could seriously harm a brand.
“VR content must be produced at an extremely high frame-rate and low latency to avoid motion sickness. Poorly produced VR content that doesn’t accurately or smoothly track the user’s motions could quickly have them reaching for the sick bag,” he said.
“The technical requirements and expertise required to produce this kind of content should not be underestimated, and it is currently beyond the capabilities of many creative agencies.”
