In this talk, Anthony Geffen, CEO and Creative Director of Atlantic Productions, will discuss his early work as a pioneering documentary filmmaker, and how he and his team evolved factual storytelling in different ways, including their early use of 3D in documentaries. He will talk about the emergence of Immersive technologies and how he and his team have created disruptive immersive content, breaking the traditional rules of filmmaking and utilizing the latest technologies in virtual (VR) and augmented realities (AR). Anthony will then talk about rapid evolution in Immersive Storytelling, including the addition of AI, photogrammetry and scanning, which he anticipates will reach beyond the entertainment sector to affect the corporate, scientific, academic and professional worlds in the next 24-36 months, and specifically its potential within the oceanographic community.

Please note: This event is intended for URI students, faculty and staff.

Anthony Geffen:

Anthony Geffen is one of the world's leading documentary filmmakers and a pioneer in Immersive Storytelling. Wired magazine said ‘he is behind some of the most exciting advances in VR, 3D, AR and AI storytelling’. He has won four British Academy Awards (BAFTA) and eight American Emmys.

His diverse films include 13 projects with David Attenborough and The Coronation with the Queen of England. His theatrical films include Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest and his most recent projects include Expedition Deep Ocean; a series following the first descent to the bottom of all five of the world’s oceans.

His award-winning Immersive Projects include BAFTA-winning VR experience David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef, Space Descent VR, Munduruku VR, as well as a healthcare app, Neuro AI, for the treatment of autism in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, and a location based VR experience Stephen Hawking’s Black Holes. Anthony is a fellow at St Cross College, Oxford University and has talked at TEDx, Facebook’s Hack the Future conference and multiple WIRED summits.

Immersive Storytelling:

In the next two years, we will see an extraordinary new phase in the digital revolution with the rise of immersive storytelling. This will be driven by new technology in virtual reality (VR), where the user is completely immersed within a virtual environment; augmented reality (AR), where the user’s normal reality is altered in front of their eyes; and mixed reality (MR) where virtual and physical objects interact together. The experiences will be interactive, and utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and touch sensitivity within the virtual world (haptics). The storytelling in these immersive platforms is going to be at the core of the evolution of this new digital change.

AR, VR and MR will become part of our everyday lives very soon with companies like Apple, Facebook and Google all working on their own immersive tech coming out within the next two years. You will no longer require the small physical screens on your phone or iPad, your smart-glasses will create screens on any surface, anywhere.

This technology will radically change both our professional and personal worlds. In the next year, VR alone is expected to generate $150 billion in revenue, and PWC anticipates that VR and AR will be a multi-trillion dollar industry by 2030. It will affect nearly every aspect of how you live your everyday life and cover every sector, from business, education, mental health, science and media. It’s going to be imperative for governments and businesses to start to prepare for this new digital age and its associated revenue streams.

About this lecture:

This lecture is part of the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography's annual Vetlesen Distinguished Speaker Series, and is presented in cooperation with the Metcalf Institute and the Alan Shawn Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies.

The Future of Immersive Storytelling with Anthony Geffen