THE TEACHING HOSPITAL
New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Top Left: New Media Innovation Lab student Lucas Bryner uses 3D imaging software to scan artifacts from the Spirit of St. Louis.
Students in the New Media Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab are using virtual reality and 360-degree video to tell stories and share information in new ways. In 2016, students used 360-degree video to bring people into the middle of a rally for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and to show parents where teenagers might hide drugs as part of the “Hooked Rx” project on prescription drug addiction. Students also won a multimedia award from the Native American Journalists Association for an interactive virtual-reality experience that used 360-degree video to showcase life at the historic Phoenix Indian School. “We wanted to show the impact of newer technology in bringing history alive, using tools that aren’t super expensive,” Director Retha Hill said of the Phoenix Indian School project. “VR gives us the ability to take viewers into a world they might not be familiar with and to take them back in history in an interactive way.” In the lab, students work side by side with students from other disciplines, such as computer science and engineering, to create digital media projects, such as smartphone and smartwatch apps and interactive news games. Hill, the former vice president of content at BET Interactive, said the goal of the
Bottom left: New Media Innovation Lab Director Retha Hill, student Anya Rogers and the lab’s senior developer Hari Subramaniam review the 3D scans of the artifact. Photos by Mark Harms Above: Lab students created a 360interactive video depicting the life of a woman who had been incarcerated for 14 years.
lab is to promote change in journalism through new forms of storytelling. “We are often hired by media companies to do prototypes for them or we are doing our own experimentation,” Hill said. “I call it sandbox projects where it’s like you’re playing in the sandbox trying to figure out how this new technology can be used for journalism.” Nina Barone, who graduated in May, wanted to tell the story of women’s experiences in prison through the eyes of a woman serving time in Perryville Women’s Prison in Goodyear, Arizona. To bring her story to life, Barone created a woman’s jail cell in virtual reality using a video-game creation system that gives viewers an immersive experience. “We basically spent the first few weeks digging into the legal stuff and selfteaching how the legal system works here, and the story ended up highlighting issues in mandatory minimum (sentences),” said Barone, who now works in entertainment strategy for Getty Images.
Hill said the lab also stresses the importance and principles of entrepreneurship and the startup culture. Students learn how to launch their own businesses as media and tech entrepreneurs. “By tackling these complex and innovative projects, students learn that they can do it and conquer their fears,” Hill said. “With a little perseverance, you can figure it out and apply that to journalism and be comfortable with uncertainty. That’s what this lab is.” Veronica Galek contributed to this story. To view some innovation labs projects: cronkite.asu.edu/content/ new-media-innovation-andentrepreneurship-lab-projects
The Cronkite Journal
2017-2018
29