Signature Redacted Hisham Bedri Program in Media and Sciences
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
.i - Spatial News Exploring Augmented Reality as a Format for Content Production, Organization, and Consumption By Hisham Bedri M.S. Technology and Policy, MIT, 2015 Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences, School of Architecture and Planning, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. September 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018. All rights reserved. Signature of Author: _Signature redacted Hisham Bedri Program in Media And Sciences Certified by: Signature redacted Andrew Lipp~an V Senior Research Scientist and Associate Director of the MIT Media Lab Thesis Supervisor Accepted by: Signature redacted Tod Machovef Academic Head, Program in Media Arts and Sciences MASSACHUSS ISTTTE OF TECHNOLOGY OCT 1 6 2018 LIBRARIES ARQHIVES Spatial News: Exploring Augmented Reality as a Format for Content Production, Organization, and Consumption By Hisham Bedri The following served as a reader for this thesis: A Thesis reader: Signature redacted V. Michael Bove Principal Research Scientist Object Based Media Group, MIT Media Lab 2 Spatial News: Exploring Augmented Reality as a Format for Content Production, Organization, and Consumption By Hisham Bedri The following served as a reader for this thesis: Thesis reader: Signature redacted lyad Rahwan Associate Professor of MEdia Arts and Sciences AT&T Career Development Professor of Media Arts and Sciences 3 Abstract: News has been criticised for being fake and promoting echo-chambers. At the same time, spatial technologies have become more accessible, enabling affordable virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) systems. These systems enable a new channel for interfaces and content. Can these technologies establish a connection between space and news, resulting in a stronger connection between viewers and the news? We address these questions by building tools for news production and content consumption that use spatial technology. Through user-tests we show that spatial-organization of news information can result in greater news exposure. We evaluate spatial production tools by creating three live-broadcasts in VR and comparing them to broadcasts done by a production team. We also show that users have a bimodal response to 2.5D videos shown in AR. This thesis presents and evaluates a series of interactive spatial experiences to address the potential for spatial technologies for media-based journalism. 4 Acknowledgments In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful This thesis and its work would not have been possible without the persistent support, inspiration, and criticism from my advisor Andrew Lippman. One fine passover, Lippman gathered his graduate students for a Passover Seder. As is tradition, he hid a piece of Matzo in his house. As per tradition, the Seder would not end until the piece of Matzo was found and delivered to Lippman. It was I who found that piece of Matzo, and I who began negotiating with him about the terms of handing it over. I saw this is as a chance to graduate. I looked Lippman dead in the eye and demanded that he allow me to graduate. Lippman, with a mix of both understanding and resolve said: "I'll give you three olives." A few rounds of negotiation later, I found my way out of MIT. I won't reveal how many olives I got. I want to thank the readers of my thesis, Mike Bove and lyad Rahwan, who offered expert guidance. Thanks for your patience with my incoherence. I would also like to thank the staff who held me up along the way, including Deborah Widener, Linda Peterson, Keira Horowitz, Amanda Stoll, Monica Orta, Amna Carreiro, Maggie Church and many others. A gigantic thank you to my Viral family, in no particular order: Mike Jiang, Agnes Cameron, Kalli Retzepi, Britney Johnson, David Anderton, Nchinda Nchinda, Travis Rich, Jasmin Rubinovitz, Brian Tice, Leo Mebaza, and Tomer Weller. To my UROP Meital Hoffman, thank you and I'm sure your style of thinking and open-mindedness will take you far. The ideas in this thesis were developed alongside the creativity and energy of Michael Draskovic, who first came up with the idea of "holographic news". I am indebted to my intellectual muses who really pushed my thinking and outlook. A big thank you each: Gabe Fields, Erin Hong, and Jonathan Harvey Buschell. I have the unique privilege of completing two masters here at MIT, and that could only have been possible thanks to the help and inspiration of those who put in effort to develop my potential. Thank you for taking a chance on me: Ayush Bhandari, Matt Hirsch, Nick Ashford, Frank Fields, Pattie Maes, Scott Greenwald, and Petros Boufounos. Finally, I want to thank my family (Babiker Bedri, Dina Bedri, Salwa Elarabi, and Howeida Elarabi) for always being there for me. Thank you to my co-captain Thariq Shihipar, who has really seen me through every up and down and has provided a framework to analyze each. Thank you to all in my religious community, and finally, I am grateful to God for the opportunity and test which is academia. 5 Spatial News 1 Abstract: 4 Acknowledgments 5 Chapter 1: Introduction and Background: 8 Motivation: 8 Contribution: 8 Overview of the Thesis: 9 Background: 9 Chapter 2: Content Creation Using Spatial Tools: 13 Producing 2D content using spatial tools: Broadercasting 13 Broadercasting System: 18 Customization: 20 Video Inputs: 21 On-Screen Graphics: 21 Twitter: 22 Clips: 23 Broadercasting Live Tests: 24 Broadercasting Test 1: 24 Broadercasting Live Test 2: 26 Broadercasting Live Test 3: 28 Chapter 3: Spatial Organization of Content 31 GlobAR system overview: 32 System Design 32 Wall-based: 33 Mobile-AR: 35 Experimental Design 38 Evaluation: 38 Chapter 4: Placing 2.5D Video Content in a User's Space 46 Stereo-capture for 2.5D Volumetric Video: 47 2.5D Video Interview Experiment Design: 51 2.5D Video Interview Evaluation 53 Spatial content and interactivity: AR basketball 55 Creating 2.5D content from archival footage: Bringing back Malcolm X 59 Conclusion 61 Appendix: 63 6 Part A: GlobAR application 63 Part B: Volumetric Video User Study 69 7 Chapter 1: Introduction and Background: Motivation: We live in the most connected time in history, yet it feels like we are more disconnected than ever. News is as old as the town-crier. Humans have always been sharing information about current events and rumors. News transmittance has evolved over the years with communication technologies, including runners, visible light communication (smoke signals, semaphores), print, telegraph, radio, TV, and eventually the internet. Along the way, there have been trends of concentration of news sources, culminating in a small number of channels during the golden age of broadcasting. Recent years have shown a divergence in news channels (cable news), followed by the blog which enabled anyone to be a written-journalist. As access to communication tools increases, one would expect a greater diversity of stories to be told. Instead, we've observed that most content interfaces are now feeds which only display a filtered set of sources. This combination of interface, algorithms, and advertisers has led to more news filters and social echo chambers. The question I address in this thesis is whether technologies can enable a link between space and news. Can a spatial-interface reduce cognitive load, focus our attention, and still present us with a breadth of sources. Can we build interfaces that can pop a user's information bubble while still giving breadth and depth? Additionally, can we utilize these spatial technologies as tools of production for both standard 2D media and new 3D content? By making this process more accessible, we can enable new stories to be introduced into the live-broadcast format. AR and VR have a lot of hope and hype associated with them. Journalists, users, and technologists alike are excited about the prospect of a new format". There isn't much precedent, however, as the format is still novel. Shedding more light on media in ARNR can alleviate the issues of disillusionment when the hype-curve comes down. Contribution: This thesis explores spatial technologies for the production and consumption of 2D and 3D media. The contributions of this thesis are: " A proposal for using spatial tools to produce news, rendered into practice through a VR studio for live-production broadcasting, as well as an evaluation of its use " A spatial-news interface which leads to greater news exposure 1 NYTimes spotlight: Immersive AR/VR https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/augmented-reality 2 Roberts, Graham. How We'll Bring The News Into Your Home. NYTimes website 8 " An algorithm for capture and processing of stereo video to generate 2.5D velimetfie video content " A mobile AR application to place 2.5D video in space and the design of a psychological study to evaluate AR videos and spatial memory Overview of the Thesis: This thesis explores the connection between news and space in three parts: spatial-tools for production, spatial-organization of news information, and spatial consumption of 2.5D videos. Chapter 2 of this thesis focuses on using spatial technology for production of media. This part of the thesis focuses on spatial interfaces for generating both 2D (linear video). The Broadercasting VR studio is introduced, discussed, and evaluated. Chapter 3 of this thesis focuses on the effect of spatial technologies on interfaces for consumption of news/media content. A spatial news interface called Globar is introduced, discussed, and evaluated. This section focuses on the problem of spatial organization. Chapter 4 of this thesis focuses on the issues of presence, interactivity, and spatial anchoring. The Popout project is introduced, evaluated, and discussed. This project focuses on the concept of presence and whether AR presentation of 2.5D video in a user's space has an effect on the user's perception of presence.