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Herald Angel: Judith Okonkwo is a
technology ex-evangelist, a business
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psychologist and a co-founder of "We will
lead Africa". In 2016 Judith set Imisi 3D
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creation lab, which is building the
ecosystem of extended reality technologies
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in Lagos, Nigeria. So, please welcome
Judith. And let's have her talk.
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Judith Okonkwo: Thank you. Thank you very much!
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applause
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JO: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you
all for coming today. I am going to talk
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to you a little bit about the work that
we're doing in Lagos, Nigeria. Just
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generally about that and then about some
specific projects that we've been involved in.
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So usually, when I'm speaking, people
say: Wow, you're doing virtual reality in
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Nigeria? How come? Why? How did you even
think of starting that there? Let me tell
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you a little bit about that journey. Now,
I don't know if many people here have been
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to Nigeria, but just to give you some
context: it's a country in the western
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part of Africa. Right now and the
population is estimated to be about 190
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million people. So, there are a lot of us.
The projection is that by 2050 though, we
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will be the third most populous country in
the world, right. Third after China first,
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and India second. It's also a country of
lots of different cultures and lots of
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different languages. At last count there
are well over 200 of these. Very diverse.
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So, in terms of VR, we started a creation
lab there in Lagos called Imisi 3D. Imisi
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is a Yoruba word and Yoruba is the
language of the Yoruba people who you find
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in the southwestern part of Nigeria. The
word means 'inspiration'. We started out
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really small. We, well basically I, got a
computer, a VR ready computer, a few
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headsets, a few books on virtual reality
and set up in one of the leading hubs in
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Lagos, called the Co-Creation
hub. So basically, that's what it was.
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That was the start. A desk in a corner
where we said: Hey, if you're even
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remotely curious about this technology, if
you want to know what's possible with it,
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then come on down. Because as you probably
remember, in 2016, a lot of people were
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saying: This is the year of virtual
reality. There was a lot of expectation
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that it would come into its own in some
way and there was a lot of excitement
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about it and we felt that that was a story
that we needed to be a part of as well for
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a number of reasons that I'll explore. So,
in Nigeria if you think about the country
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say 5, 10 years ago, certainly we weren't
on the, you know, on the global map for
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being creators. We were in some fields.
So, for example you would always be able
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to mention super talented Nigerian Authors
for example. But when it came to
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technology I don't think we were being
thought of as creators a lot. Even though
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a lot of creativity was happening, even
though a lot of innovation was happening
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in the country. And there's been a real
drive, a real need, to shift that
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narrative from one of consumption, where
we're just a market where electronics
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technology is being sold, to one where we
are actually adopting these technologies
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and using them for our own purposes.
Making them work for us as well. So, being
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able to move that needle from consumption
to creation. Back to the start. We began
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on the first week of July in 2016 and that
first week we had a virtual reality
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showcase. This is a picture from the
event. We asked people to come, you know,
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if you're curious, if you've never tried
it before. If you're wondering what this
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word that everybody's been talking about
is. And that day, over the course of about
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five hours, we had about 100 people come
down to try out VR, talk about VR, find
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out what the possibilities might be with
this technology, figure out if it's for
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them. And what's really interesting for me
personally is that, back then in 2016,
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that summer when we had people come into
our space, probably 90 percent of them had
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never tried out virtual reality before.
They maybe heard about it, might have seen
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a Google Cardboard, but you know, they
didn't really know what it was. Today when
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I have events like this, at least half of
the people coming in, at the very least
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half, would have tried out VR. So, it's
just great to see even with time and with
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activity, how things can change. But on
this day in 2016 we had people come in
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and, you know, they were challenged to
think about what is possible with this
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technology. But then it seemed like a lot
of talk. You know, you come in, you put on
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a few headsets, you try the Samsung Gear
VR, you maybe try a Google Cardboard, you
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start to talk. But then what next? And
that's something that we really wanted to
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make different. You know, let it not just
be talk. We wanted people to know that
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these were technology that they should use
to create as well. So we decided to have a
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hackathon. Then, when it held in November
2016, it was the first virtual reality
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hackathon in Nigeria. And promoting the
belief that we have, that these
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technologies are actually tools, that we
can use to create solutions, we challenged
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the participants to think about creating
solutions for either education, healthcare
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or tourism. Now we chose these particular
sectors because, we'd recognize that these
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are areas in which there was quite a bit
of scope for immediate significant impact
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from a place like Nigeria. And here's what
came out of it. In the picture there you
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can see what was the leading hack by the
winning team. It was a product that they
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called "learn" but actually spelt L E V R
N and it's an experience square, as you
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can see there's a leap motion attached to
a Samsung Gear VR. And it allows you to
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learn how to code using hand based
gestures. So it's really exciting to see
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people thinking about how they could push
the boundary beyond what was even just
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traditionally possible with the gear VR as
it was then. And to start thinking
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creatively about how you might use these
technologies and tools to learn.
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Especially, you know, in disciplines that
were always challenged about how best we
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can get people to learn and move with the
times. OK. So, I've got a few numbers up
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on the screen. I wonder if anybody knows
what they might refer to?
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silence
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JO: Anybody? No? Okay. So the first one,
263 Million, is a number from UNICEF from
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2014. And then, that was the estimate
about the number of children who were out
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of school in the world. The second number,
13.2 Million, is a number out of school
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children in just Nigeria. And that final
number, 1 Billion., that's a number of
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children in the world who don't really
have access to good quality education. You
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might wonder why have these numbers up
right now. And that's because I believe
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that virtual reality is something that we
can use to tackle these kind of
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statistics. One of the things that we're
exploring in Lagos, is looking at VR for
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schools. Now certainly back in 2016 when
we were starting out, quite a lot of the
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attention with VR was being put into
sectors like gaming and entertainment. But
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as I mentioned, we we've been wanting to
shift the needle to to other sectors to
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see ways in which we can adapt and use it.
And I think that actually VR, despite the,
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you know, the common perception that it's
perhaps elitist, perhaps expensive, in its
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low cost form could actually be a solution
for education. And this is how it might
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work. Imagine if we took low cost VR,
something as simple say as a Google
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Cardboard, mobile phones, and we all know
the story of mobile phone penetration
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increasing daily in Africa across the
continent, solar portables because in some
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places electricity from the grid is not
reliable. And with that you have a device,
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that once you have the right content
available for it, is an all in one
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learning solution that's fairly portable
and can be deployed really just about
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anywhere. Now for me, this is one of the
super exciting possibilities with a
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technology like virtual reality, that we
can go into schools, or even the 13.2
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million out of school children, go to them
and give them a device with the right
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content that will allow them to start
learning. And learning in ways that were
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not possible because, if you were to go to
a traditional public school, I mentioned
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we are 190+ Million people, the
infrastructure is challenged in terms of
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trying to deal with that number, and
you'll easily have classrooms with over
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100 children in them. Which means, that
you're very limited in terms of the
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interaction that's possible between
student and teacher, and also with the
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amount of infrastructure that you can
provide. But as you know with VR, whether
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it's a virtual lab where they can do
experiments, whether it's the opportunity
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to visit the pyramids in Egypt or even to
explore the solar system, all of a sudden
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opportunities and experiences that would
not be available even if, you know, we
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suddenly kind of like diverted our whole
budget to education, are now possible and
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I think that's really exciting. And that's
just a picture from one of the schools
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where we have been going in to explore
using virtual reality to supplement the
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curriculum for education. Education is one
possibility, but something else that also
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excites me about these technologies and
what is possible, is when it comes to art
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and culture. This past week one of the
leading African philosophers, a Nigerian
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woman called Sophia Oluwole, died and she
was a very, very big supporter, promoter
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of African culture, of Nigerian culture
and of dipping into your heritage to take
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that what was useful there and bring it
and use it to help to define the life that
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you're living today and the one you want
to create for the future. And I
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particularly like this, that you know,
from one of her papers where she says it's
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up to us and she was really calling out to
everyone to discover and promote a
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reliable African intellectual atmosphere
based on narratives presented in the truth
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of their language and authenticity. And I
bring this up now because I think that
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that is something else that this
technology enables us to, in a sense,
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convey our reality and tell stories and
the truth of our language and authenticity.
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And I want to tell you about two projects
that relate to that. The first is one that
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brings Nigeria and Switzerland together.
So, earlier this year I was approached by
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a team around the IAF festival in
Switzerland. It's a festival that is
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focused on contemporary African art
predominantly photography and it's held in
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Basel each year. Now each year, along with
photographies that are exhibited, they add
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an element of contemporary art. This year
it happend to be virtual reality. And for
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that, they said: Well, what would it be
like if we were to juxtapose living in
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Switzerland - take a city, Basel - and in
an African country Nigeria. Let's take a
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city, Lagos. What would that look like.
So, what we created was something called
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Reality Check. It was a very simple VR
experience actually. But one with a lot of
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potential and possibility. What we did was
map out a number of locations. So, we took
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traditional places that you would visit.
If you've been to Brasel you know it's
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quite compact, and it's really easy to
walk around the center of the town. And we
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took places like a church, a shopping mall, a
school and map these, and then wanted
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to do the same in Lagos. Now Lagos is
quite widespread. So we chose a particular
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neighborhood, Yaba, and then did the same.
We went to a church for example and
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captured the space with 360 video. And
what was then possible was that, when you
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came to this festival in Switzerland, you
could go on a walking tour of the city.
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But alongside that tour of Basel you could
also have one of Lagos. So, you could walk
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to the church in Basel, seen in the
picture there. And while there, you would
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then have an experience of a church in
Lagos. We have, you know, over the course
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of the week that I spent there with them a
whole series of people come round to come
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and figure out what it might be like, to
step into a space in Lagos, Nigeria if
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only for a few minutes. Now each of the
videos was really short and just about two
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minutes and I'm actually going to play one
for you to see. But what was exciting for
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the people who tried it out, from what
they said back to us, was just being able
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to shift your reality in a way that, as we
know, is not possible with traditional
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media, not with the books you read, not
with the videos you watch in 2D. Well, let
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me show you one. So here we are. This is
the church in Lagos.
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JO mumbling Let's just get that...
voices in the background of the video
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JO: And what we did is, during a weekday
we were able to go in. Where the camera is
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positioned, is up where the choir
traditionally sits on Sunday. And it
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happened to be a day when - it's a
Catholic church by the way - they were
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getting ready, I believe it was a
benediction service, so you can hear he
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has some of that going on down there. Here
we are now in the (???) ave.
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voices in the background of the video
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JO: And so this video is much like the
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others. They were all roughly two minutes.
The camera was stationary. And what we
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wanted to create was just the impression
that, much like you were doing if you were
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doing the walking tour, where you'd get to
a location and stand and look around. That
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you have that same experience in Lagos
that you walked into, you know, the
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location in question. You stood at a spot
and you were able to look around and
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observe what was going on for a minute or
two.
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Video is still playing, no sound other than the voices in the background
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JO: Just give me a second. OK.
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And that experience that I just showed in
the church was also done in locations like a
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university, a school, a library in Lagos,
a bank, a Medical Center. So, just little
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vignettes if you will, of life, everyday
life in the city that you're able to
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share. And we're hoping to do the flip
later on, where in Lagos you will then be
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able to have the 360 experiences of these
locations in Basel for people who are in
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Lagos. So, moving on and exploring art and
culture. I have this other quote that I'm
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sure a lot of people have seen around
quite a bit. And I first encountered it in
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one of Chinua Achebe's novels. It says:
There is that great proverb - that until
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the lions have their own historians, the
history of the hunt will always glorify
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the hunter. And of course you know, we
know how this applies in lots of ways. We
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talk about the way, you know, history
might have been told. History as we know
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it traditionally, might be repurposed if
it's taught from another perspective for
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people around the world. But storytelling
I think, is particularly important with
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360. And what was exciting for me as well
earlier this year is, when we had a member
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of our community, the Imisi 3Dcommunity in
Lagos, actually go and shoot what was the
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first 360 documentary. And this is just a
short, about four or five minutes long.
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But it's the first Nigerian made 360
documentary in one of the internally
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displaced people camps that we have in the
north eastern part of the country in
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Maiduguri. And this short documentary in
Bakassi actually tells a story of a boy
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called Modu, who is an insurgency orphan.
He's about eleven years old, but he has
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lost his father to the issues with Boko
Haram in the north eastern part of the
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country. And his mother as well. So, he
lived with his grandmother in an IDP camp
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and you know, was someone who, through
whose eyes we could start to understand
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what it really means to be in that space,
to understand that tragedy a little bit
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more. We had a screening for this
documentary in Lagos in November, but even
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before that, I think what's really
compelling is that we have had people who
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had even been to IDP camps in the
Northeast and other parts of Nigeria. And
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when they came and they experienced "In
Bakassi" what they would say is: This is
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even more real than being there. Now, at
face value you might think: Well, what are
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they talking about? And when they broke it
down, what they were telling us was, that
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when you are actually there in the camps,
you're overwhelmed by all that's going on.
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There's so much activity, so much noise,
so much jostling, that you are not really
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able to process what's happening around
you. But when you have the experience in
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VR like this, through a 360 video, you're
then really sensitive and focused on the
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experience as it is, on the story that
you're hearing, in this case Modu's. So I
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am going to just play a little bit from
the screening, not the documentary itself,
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for you to see what it was like sharing that
work with people in Lagos.
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music
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Toks Bakare: My experience watching the
documentary was intensely moving. I think
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because I had a phenomenally different
experience watching it in VR. There's the
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ability to look all around you and really
feel like you are immersed in the scene. I
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felt like I was in the camp and almost
going through what the little boy is going
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through. So that, that was an interesting
feeling that was different from watching a
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regular film.
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music
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JO: OK. So, I've talked a little bit about
some of the projects that we've done or
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been involved in in this phase with art
and culture, looking at things, like telling
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360 stories or being able to share reality
across different geographies. I want to
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talk a little bit more now about kind of
like the future and where we see ourselves
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going. I have the words "bright future"
there because I think we all agree that
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these technologies hold a lot of promise.
But there are particular challenges for us
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in a place like Nigeria, and one of them is,
you know, even just access to the
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hardware. So one of the things that we are
exploring is, what would it be like if we
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were able to, you know, actually deal with
that obstacle. What if we created a VR
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headset that was purpose built for our
locale. An all in one solar powered VR
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headset. One that's me with locally
sourced materials. How would that change
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things? Is that something that we are
trying to do a design challenge around. We
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started one last year but tried to do it
virtually. We'll be looking at in the new
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year having a team come into work on this
and attempt to build one. Now if we can do
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that, it becomes really exciting for us
because yes, we have platforms like
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YouTube where you can share 360 content,
and Vimeo, and others. But not a lot of
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people have access to headsets and other
elements of the technology and we can
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start to do something about that actively.
So looking at ways in which we can build
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and, you know, do R&D to suit our
purposes it's something that's very big
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for us. We are also working really hard to
build a community of content creators.
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People who will work with these
technologies, the people who will create
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the educational content that will make VR
for schools a reality in a country like
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Nigeria. For that we have started to hold
community meet ups. They've been running
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for over a year now. We have the very
first one at the Google office in Lagos
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and have since, you know, had the
community grow with people coming from all
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sorts of different sectors. From the arts,
you know, from technology, people from
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business as well who are even looking at
the opportunities to commercialize the
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technology locally. And we're excited
about what's possible when all of these
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people come together. We're also trying to
connect communities across Africa because
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we know that it's one thing to try and
build communities locally and grow
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expertise there. But if we're joined up
together across the continent a lot more
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will be possible a lot quicker. Earlier
this year we held what was at that time
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the largest VR event on the continent,
where we had a Hackathon happen
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simultaneously across seven countries. We
had over 35 teams take part and the
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overall winning team was a team of three
females from Egypt. And much like that
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first one that I mentioned in 2016 where
we said create for education, or health
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care or tourism, we asked the teams to do
the same. So, create for education, health
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care, tourism. However this time we added
the environment, it happened around Earth
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Day, and also social justice. The winning
team created an experience that allows you
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to learn about how to take care of the
environment. And it was built for the HTC
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Vive. We also have a growing community
that is online on Facebook. They come from
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over 20 different African countries. It's
over 900 strong and growing every day.
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We're really excited about the
possibilities as we all come together and
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start to figure out how we can work and
create. We believe collaboration is our
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future, whether it's across these African
countries or further across the world, the
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work that we did with Switzerland, whether
it's being here and connecting with you
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all. But we know that together we can do
so much more. I usually end my talks with
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this challenge to people particularly when
I'm talking about using the technologies
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for the first time. Very, very excited to
know that the future is ours to create and
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with things like VR and AR, solutions
created in a way that maybe we're not yet
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imagining but perhaps we should. So what
will you do? I want to leave you with one
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last video that shows what it's like in
the lab.
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music
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JO: Thank you.
applause
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Herald: Thank you very much. We have time
for Q&A. There are two microphones
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here in the room. One in the middle,
microphone number 2, and one out to the
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side, microphone number 1. And there might
also be questions from the Internet. So
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please come up and we have already
question from microphone number 2.
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Microphone 2: Hello. So, thanks for the
presentation. There is a concept that, I
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don't know how valid it is, but the
Innovator's Dilemma. Basically, if you are
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already in a comfortable spot, you're not
going to push yourself too much, either in
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your community or your company. You have
either a new player, that is going to make
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something radical and is going to
challenge you to make yourself better. And
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there was some discussion on this based on
the how for example maybe you not need the
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big DSL or fiber infrastructure to just
just use 3G or 4G and in some community
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with other infrastructure maybe for
example you do mobile payments, like in
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China. Could this kind of useage of your
free education be an equivalent of this,
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that maybe the classroom as we have now is
pretty good? But if you were so
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challenged, that you need to go much
further. Would it be like new oppurtunity
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to use much better way to do it.
JO: So thank you for the question. Yes,
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actually I think it might be. And you know
you gave some examples about how leapfrogs
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have happened in other parts of the world
apart from the West, just because they
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have accessed technology at a time that's
later than the West, and so they've been
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able to kind of like evolve in a way that
doesn't have to be anchored in the legacy.
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You know, the history of the technology
and how it actually grew. I think the same
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is true for for technology like VR being
used for education. And I think that
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because, you know the public schools I
mentioned, where you might easily have
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over 100 kids in a classroom, you'll be in
a space that is not like the modern
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classroom in a private school in Lagos or
you know or one in the West. It's not
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like, you know ,where you have maybe a one
to 20 or one to 10 you know teacher
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student ratio. It won't have all of the
infrastructure that aids learning as we
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know it today. So, you are then challenged
to think really creatively about what you
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might do with with VR, what you might do
with whatever tool is brought to you. And
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that's why you know worth thinking about
the low cost, you know, VR that might be
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mobile device driven or something powered
in a similar way, because we know one of
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the challenges will be power, you know, as
we know it. Because from the grid there,
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it's a challenge. And I think as you start
to innovate around those realities and
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create them, yes, we will be able to
leapfrog and potentially redefine what
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education looks like, certainly in that
space.
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Herald: We have question for microphone
number one.
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Microphone 1: Thank you very much for your
presentation. I have read a number of
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studies where people have found that, if
young children spend too much time in VR,
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if they're very young, it has a problem
with their cognitive development. And I'm
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wondering if you're thinking about a sort
of scaled approach at what age people are
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working with regular computer graphics and
then how they engage with VR.
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JO: Absolutely
Microphone 1: Get a good education.
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JO: Thank you very much. Yes. So for the
work that we're doing at the moment with
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VR for schools, where working with
children who are in secondary school. So
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those are children who are typically from
12 years up and we're very conscious, that
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there has been some information about the
you know side effects of VR. But there's
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not enough data yet. And so we're
consciously studying, as we're going
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along. We're about to start a formal pilot
in one of these schools, where we will
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actually have a researcher who's working
on the ground and documenting as we go on.
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We by default are limiting, you know, time
in VR, because we know, just from what we
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know generally about screens and eyes,
that it won't be great to have extended
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periods. But we're actively learning as
well.
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Herald: We have another question from
Microphone number 1.
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Microphone number 1: I see that you are
working with unity alert.
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But I was wondering if you're also working
with the more open standard of web VR?
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JO: We haven't yet worked with web VR. But
that is something that we are about to
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start exploring in the New Year.
Herald: We have a question from microphone
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number two.
Microphone number 2: Hi Judith, thank you for
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your talk again. I found it very
interesting and inspiring that you've
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presented the second talk where VR was
considered like an interesting or an
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important tool to create new narratives
maybe in a rather or historically rather
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oral based history culture or narration
culture and to use it for alternative
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narrations and create the new historian as
you say it like the maybe the non colonial
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historian if you want. And so I also
wondered as I saw also in your
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presentation and this is also my
perspective as I have been working a lot
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with Goethe Institute and have once worked
in Kenya with Goethe Institute and I
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notice that like the sort of still the
Western platforms and of course the
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institutions with money are kind of the
only places and spaces where these things
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especially the technological things can
happen due to money reasons, are the only
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spaces that exist basically. For example
in Nairobi it was like this space that
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could be used by artists. There's some
other spaces in Nairobi but still it felt
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like this strong like power maybe even
more infrastructural power that's there
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and you've used the Google space and I saw
the Facebook logo and certificate. So I
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wonder is this anything you feel doubts
about? Or do you just think, ok we'll take
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their money and that's cool?
JO: Great question, thank you. It's
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interesting that you ask because for me
personally one of a kind of like the
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buggers for me is that a lot of the major
tech companies, in my opinion they don't
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see, they don't see African countries as a
real VR market. And you know you can see
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that just by the fact that their products
aren't even accessible there. You know,
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they are not available. That said you know
I think that I talked about collaboration
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a lot. I think that the way forward is for
us all to work together. They already have
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done you know a ton of work in terms of
what is possible with the technology and
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even what will be possible in the future.
Just by virtue of their R&D budgets
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and what's possible. So I very much want
as we grow that we are working with them
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and not apart from them in any way. But
alongside that, I am very very concerned
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about as you know developing as ourselves
and creating as ourselves you know if it
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goes like truth and authenticity that
Sofia was talking about that we have our
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own voice and we can do it without being
obliged to any one party. In that vein for
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example the lab that we set up one of the
reasons was because we knew that access
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was difficult. We know that the equipment
is relatively expensive. Things like that,
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particularly given the purchasing power of
the naira. So we wanted to create a space
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where, if you wanted to do VR, or you
wanted to create you could actually come
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in and use the equipment and we provide
that and city and we'll be doing that in
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more states across Nigeria. But I think
its initiatives like that locally that
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will make sure that even as we partner we
can be true to ourselves.
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Herald: We have a question from microphone
number one.
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Microphone number 1: Thank you for your
talk. I'm sorry if you already covered
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this aspect. I came a bit late, but I want
to ask about if you are working towards
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minimizing the digital divide. How? What
are your effords about closing this. I
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understand that the project this is new,
but your long term vision, how does that
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help to empower the rural population also?
JO: Yeah. Thank you. That's a great
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question. Actually one of the things that
drove the creation of the lab in 2016 was
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even recognition of that digital divide.
By that time I just spent about two years
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in Lagos working within the tech sector
and just being able to kind of like tap
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into the talent that was there and see
what was possible. And I'd seen what you
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know young people were able to do there
with traditional technology, you know,
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with software development and all of that.
So I knew that in terms of you know a
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potential it was there in kind of like
limitless way but the challenge is always
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of course access to to the resources to
opportunity and things like that and
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that's what we try to do which is why that
element of community is so important for
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us. We we provide access to equipment and
resources in the lab. We also hold those
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community gathering so that people can
start to network with each other and
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collaborate together. We also look for
ways to support learning and growth and we
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do that by either holding activities or
sometimes doing things like offering
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scholarships for audacities virtual
reality nano degree, but we're very very
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particular about you know talent and
expertise being available kind of like
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locally and in country because that's
critical. That's why I don't know if you
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were here when we were talking about Amber
Cassady 360 documentary. But for me what's
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really exciting is that you know a
Nigerian filmmaker will go acquire those
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skills and be able to be the one to make
that in Nigeria because of course there
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have been other 360 documentaries made by
say Al Jazeera for example you know and
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other media houses but of course they'll
be bringing their teams in to do that. So
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yes very very conscious of trying to to
narrow that.
396
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Herald: We have two questions at
microphone Number one. Let's see. First one.
397
00:40:41,170 --> 00:40:43,400
Microphone number 1: First of all thank
398
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:49,406
you Judith for this great presentation.
Very short question and specific question.
399
00:40:49,406 --> 00:40:56,029
When it comes to VR in education there is
one major problem in my eyes. I don't know
400
00:40:56,029 --> 00:41:03,160
if you can answer this questions, but
there is no real business lobby for that
401
00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:10,150
right now. And when it comes to integrate
VR content into educational program there
402
00:41:10,150 --> 00:41:15,960
is one major hurdle which is how to
integrate that into the official program.
403
00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:21,690
Which content can be transformed into VR
content? Are you working closely with
404
00:41:21,690 --> 00:41:32,117
regular let's say official education
authorities? Is any board like trying to
405
00:41:32,117 --> 00:41:37,347
identify which content and how to
integrate it progressively into your
406
00:41:37,347 --> 00:41:44,490
curriculums? Are you thinking about that?
Because there is some nice attempt like in
407
00:41:44,490 --> 00:41:52,120
Egypt, in China to do that, but one of the
major hurdle is, it is really hard to
408
00:41:52,120 --> 00:41:57,584
integrate it one time into the official
curriculums. So how do you identify the
409
00:41:57,584 --> 00:42:02,159
content and how it is working with the
officials?
410
00:42:02,159 --> 00:42:07,210
JO: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Really great
question. Yes. I mean all of the
411
00:42:07,210 --> 00:42:13,270
things that you've just mentioned very
very real issues for us. When we wanted to
412
00:42:13,270 --> 00:42:17,230
start doing the VR for schools project the
first thing that we actually had to do was
413
00:42:17,230 --> 00:42:21,670
approach the education authorities in the
local area where we are the district
414
00:42:21,670 --> 00:42:25,450
office for education. So we had to bring
them on board really quickly because we
415
00:42:25,450 --> 00:42:31,141
even need their permission to be able to
go into a school and work. Beyond that we
416
00:42:31,141 --> 00:42:36,230
also decided to hold things like VR for
education roundtables where we would bring
417
00:42:36,230 --> 00:42:40,960
together different stakeholders. So, these
would be people from both the local
418
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:46,700
governments from both secondary and
tertiary education. And looking at both
419
00:42:46,700 --> 00:42:51,230
students faculty and sometimes even
parents because we very much wanted people
420
00:42:51,230 --> 00:42:55,200
to come together to help us cocreate what
a viable solution would be. And a lot of
421
00:42:55,200 --> 00:42:59,299
what you mentioned I mean that's what the
teachers were saying. How exactly does
422
00:42:59,299 --> 00:43:03,369
this actually work? You know with the
lesson you know, do you in the middle of a
423
00:43:03,369 --> 00:43:10,280
lecture put on the headset. You know what
makes sense. So, so far we've been doing
424
00:43:10,280 --> 00:43:14,160
the VR sessions and special sessions that
are carved out from the school time where
425
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:18,480
we go and see we're coming to do a session
with you. Going into the New Year though
426
00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:22,700
where we're going to actually start a
formal pilot in a school. We're setting up
427
00:43:22,700 --> 00:43:27,570
a lab in the school and we're going to
have somebody who's, you know there with
428
00:43:27,570 --> 00:43:32,069
them, so that we can start to work with
the teachers to see how we can make VR
429
00:43:32,069 --> 00:43:38,730
learning an element of the traditional
kind of like classroom plan. So, I say to
430
00:43:38,730 --> 00:43:43,860
people imagine what it used to be like
when you would schedule a video as part of
431
00:43:43,860 --> 00:43:48,589
a lesson. What if instead of the
whole class is going to watch a video.
432
00:43:48,589 --> 00:43:52,930
Instead they were going to go and have a
VR experience as the content and the
433
00:43:52,930 --> 00:43:57,180
challenge around that and what's
appropriate to create. And that's really
434
00:43:57,180 --> 00:44:02,339
interesting, something that we've been
trying to tackle. When we first started to
435
00:44:02,339 --> 00:44:07,140
explore this. We were quite constrained in
terms of resources so we were just
436
00:44:07,140 --> 00:44:11,400
curating what was actually already
available and matching it to the national
437
00:44:11,400 --> 00:44:16,960
curriculum for the junior secondary
school. So, we have some content that we
438
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,339
have seen can match to some of the
learning outcomes that are there at the
439
00:44:20,339 --> 00:44:24,400
moment. But we know that we do have to
create custom content. We particularly
440
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:29,000
have to create content that is much more
accessible for people locally both in
441
00:44:29,000 --> 00:44:35,210
terms of language and in terms of kind of
the visuals that they are accessing there.
442
00:44:35,210 --> 00:44:39,089
We are working with a major education
publisher as well in Nigeria. And of course
443
00:44:39,089 --> 00:44:43,059
they have the expertise having created quite
a few of the textbooks that are in schools
444
00:44:43,059 --> 00:44:48,070
currently to help us figure that out as
well as collaborating with teachers in the
445
00:44:48,070 --> 00:44:51,819
pilot school.
Herald: And please don't be shy if you
446
00:44:51,819 --> 00:44:54,990
have any questions please come up to the
microphones and share them with all of us.
447
00:44:54,990 --> 00:45:00,420
We have time enough for quite a few more
questions. A question from mic number two!
448
00:45:00,420 --> 00:45:04,640
Microphone number 2: Yes. Thank you Judith
for taking on the journey. I have a
449
00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:09,599
different question but also missed the
first minutes of your talk. As I see your
450
00:45:09,599 --> 00:45:14,599
talk here also a contribution from the
Global South enriching us hopefully with
451
00:45:14,599 --> 00:45:21,020
your cultural perspective and my question
is: Do you think that this technology
452
00:45:21,020 --> 00:45:27,870
could help us to bridge cultural
understanding. Does it support empathy to
453
00:45:27,870 --> 00:45:32,990
get more of a picture. Well the trouble
from a Western perspective is that you
454
00:45:32,990 --> 00:45:37,240
know the African countries exporting
poverty that's not a major good selling
455
00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:42,079
good. But there is other elements that
might enrich or you might have to hack
456
00:45:42,079 --> 00:45:46,190
into our minds. My question is: Do you
think this technology can actually help to
457
00:45:46,190 --> 00:45:51,900
support people understanding other
cultures better? Or is this for the moment
458
00:45:51,900 --> 00:46:01,420
more an experimental thing within your
control as cultural context to do your own
459
00:46:01,420 --> 00:46:06,950
educational or other purposes?
JO: Thank you for that question. Yes
460
00:46:06,950 --> 00:46:12,750
actually I do think that it will help us
start to understand and experience other
461
00:46:12,750 --> 00:46:22,010
cultures better and even experience
empathy. And I say this because even just
462
00:46:22,010 --> 00:46:26,530
you know when we first started the lab in
2016. So, a challenge for Nigerians you
463
00:46:26,530 --> 00:46:29,559
might not know but one major challenge
that people have when they want to travel
464
00:46:29,559 --> 00:46:35,250
is getting visas. Yeah the stories you
hear about visa refusals can be quite
465
00:46:35,250 --> 00:46:40,910
heartbreaking. But people were put on
their VR headset and sit in a chair and if
466
00:46:40,910 --> 00:46:46,309
you know with Oculus you have this option
under Oculus 360 photos of explore the
467
00:46:46,309 --> 00:46:51,349
world. So, you can go to basically any
country and people would do that. They
468
00:46:51,349 --> 00:46:55,339
choose a country and go. And one thing
everybody would say is you mean I can
469
00:46:55,339 --> 00:47:00,000
travel and I don't even need to get a
visa. That's the first thing that really
470
00:47:00,000 --> 00:47:05,559
kind of like got people so curious and so
engaged and I think that cuts across
471
00:47:05,559 --> 00:47:11,760
regardless of who you are or where you're
from. Nigeria is not a known tourist
472
00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:16,339
destination right now but there is
actually quite a lot to see in the
473
00:47:16,339 --> 00:47:24,320
country. And most people don't realize [name of region]
the south of the country has possibly the
474
00:47:24,320 --> 00:47:28,570
greatest diversity when it comes to
butterflies in the world. So, some things
475
00:47:28,570 --> 00:47:35,450
like that are not known and are not explored
per se because it's not on the global map
476
00:47:35,450 --> 00:47:40,329
for tourism. But these are things that we
can then start to experience via virtual
477
00:47:40,329 --> 00:47:43,960
reality and that's looking at an angle
like tourism. I mean we can take it right
478
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:50,829
down to the everyday to people's lives and
stories. Much like, I think we've seen in
479
00:47:50,829 --> 00:47:56,080
a sense with YouTube and what bloggers
have been able to create. But in a much
480
00:47:56,080 --> 00:48:02,079
more personal way now with with VR 360
that you can actually, say, step into my
481
00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:05,280
home, step into my life and I think we'll
start to see more of those stories as we
482
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:09,789
go on.
Herald: We have about 15 minutes left and
483
00:48:09,789 --> 00:48:13,583
we have a question from mic number two.
Microphone number 2: All right. Thanks for
484
00:48:13,583 --> 00:48:19,330
the talk. Maybe learning is not a
privilege only to young people or did you
485
00:48:19,330 --> 00:48:25,170
consider teaching also older people or
people from other areas? And also are you
486
00:48:25,170 --> 00:48:30,441
reachable outside Facebook? Do you have
some webpage or something else?
487
00:48:30,441 --> 00:48:37,849
JO: Yes. So to address the last part
first: Yes absolutely outside Facebook.
488
00:48:37,849 --> 00:48:43,320
So, if you do social media we are on
Twitter as a Imisi 3D and Instagram as
489
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:50,510
Imisi 3D as well. We have a website
imisi3d.com and you can also e-mail us at
490
00:48:50,510 --> 00:48:57,039
hello@imisi3d.com. In terms of reaching
people beyond young people: Yes, that is
491
00:48:57,039 --> 00:49:01,930
that's very very important to us even as
we reach things like say VR for schools
492
00:49:01,930 --> 00:49:05,940
targeting students. We know that that is
not possible if adoption doesn't happen
493
00:49:05,940 --> 00:49:09,829
across the board. We need the older
people, we need teachers, we need
494
00:49:09,829 --> 00:49:15,501
principals to take it on board as well and
want to work with the technology. So, we
495
00:49:15,501 --> 00:49:20,770
embrace all. I mean the targeted project
might look like it is very student and
496
00:49:20,770 --> 00:49:24,690
young people focused but we work across
the board because we recognize
497
00:49:24,690 --> 00:49:29,510
stakeholders in all demographics.
Herald: Two questions at mic number one
498
00:49:29,510 --> 00:49:32,900
let's start with the first one.
Microphone number 1: Thank you Judith for
499
00:49:32,900 --> 00:49:38,920
the fantastic presentation. I was
wondering about, I've never heard I think
500
00:49:38,920 --> 00:49:46,289
VR and communal efforts and collective
working together in such a beautiful way
501
00:49:46,289 --> 00:49:52,180
because in the global north I think VR is
in a lot of cases in the framework of
502
00:49:52,180 --> 00:49:57,780
hyper individualized even isolated non-
social as in such an activity. So, I think
503
00:49:57,780 --> 00:50:03,839
this was a brilliant new way of seeing
that potential. I would be very interested
504
00:50:03,839 --> 00:50:10,309
in how you see that's kind of maybe a
difference. Yeah and if you think a lot
505
00:50:10,309 --> 00:50:18,309
about this isolation part as well.
JO: Yeah. So thank you. I mean I really
506
00:50:18,309 --> 00:50:23,410
believe that collaboration is the way
forward. I think particularly in a place
507
00:50:23,410 --> 00:50:29,550
like Nigeria, a place where you're already
resource challenged. I think if you saw
508
00:50:29,550 --> 00:50:33,849
the divisions early then there are too
many problems. And I think given the scope
509
00:50:33,849 --> 00:50:38,329
of these technologies we haven't even
begun to approach the boundaries of where
510
00:50:38,329 --> 00:50:43,279
they will be, where there's so much left
to discover and explore that we must come
511
00:50:43,279 --> 00:50:48,980
together to challenge ourselves and work
together and push boundaries. And that is
512
00:50:48,980 --> 00:50:56,400
enough scope for everybody to get
involved. Yeah, I see the individualism
513
00:50:56,400 --> 00:51:02,710
that you talk about in other parts. I mean
when I was first starting out one of the
514
00:51:02,710 --> 00:51:07,220
challenges for me was just even the
multiple platforms that exist and the fact
515
00:51:07,220 --> 00:51:12,369
that things are gonna be unified in one
way that we could all tap into. I hope it
516
00:51:12,369 --> 00:51:18,329
will change. But you know don't hold out
too much but I think where we can work and
517
00:51:18,329 --> 00:51:22,200
where we can actually impact stuff and
effect change the way that we believe it
518
00:51:22,200 --> 00:51:26,700
should be then we must.
Herald: One more question from microphone
519
00:51:26,700 --> 00:51:28,890
number one.
Microphone number 1: Thank you also from
520
00:51:28,890 --> 00:51:36,131
my side for you talk. I do have a question
more like personally. What was for you,
521
00:51:36,131 --> 00:51:42,500
since you started two years ago with this
journey on VR in Nigeria. What was
522
00:51:42,500 --> 00:51:47,660
for you the most surprising thing in this
journey.
523
00:51:47,660 --> 00:51:55,349
JO: The most surprising thing I have never
been asked that question so I'm pausing for a
524
00:51:55,349 --> 00:52:05,880
moment to think. Actually, so maybe not
surprising in the traditional sense but
525
00:52:05,880 --> 00:52:14,730
like a couple of months after I started I
was at an event where Y-Combinator had
526
00:52:14,730 --> 00:52:18,589
come to Nigeria. This was in September of
2016. So it was a year where quite a few
527
00:52:18,589 --> 00:52:23,630
people were interested in what was going
on in Lagos. So Y-Combinator had come to
528
00:52:23,630 --> 00:52:28,279
Nigeria for the first time. And in one of
the business schools they were having a
529
00:52:28,279 --> 00:52:32,150
talk, a session and I was in the audience
and I just happened to look down on the
530
00:52:32,150 --> 00:52:39,549
road below me. There were two young men
and they had a phone and they were
531
00:52:39,549 --> 00:52:50,059
actually watching like a 360 video on it.
And stereoscopic the screen was split and I was amazed. I
532
00:52:50,059 --> 00:52:54,770
talked to them and I said "What are you
doing?" And they're like "Oh, we're
533
00:52:54,770 --> 00:52:58,721
watching this." I'm like: "Do you have a
headset?" "No" "Have you ever put it in a
534
00:52:58,721 --> 00:53:04,150
headset?" No, they hadn't. So luckily at
that event I had a stand and the
535
00:53:04,150 --> 00:53:07,839
exhibition space and I said well during
the break come down and we'll put it in a
536
00:53:07,839 --> 00:53:12,690
headset for you so you can actually see it
the way it was intended. And so during the
537
00:53:12,690 --> 00:53:16,869
break they came. They did that, they were
completely "wow". They after that went on
538
00:53:16,869 --> 00:53:22,660
and bought a VR headset. But for me why
that stands out is because we started the
539
00:53:22,660 --> 00:53:27,750
lab because we felt like we must do this.
This is time with these technologies if we
540
00:53:27,750 --> 00:53:31,700
want to be part of the story we get
involved now. And I think that was a
541
00:53:31,700 --> 00:53:37,340
beautiful example of the reality of that.
Herald: And please don't hesitate. If
542
00:53:37,340 --> 00:53:40,539
you're sitting in your chair thinking I
have something to ask but I'm not quite
543
00:53:40,539 --> 00:53:44,109
sure if there'll be time, there is time
for another few questions. So, please get
544
00:53:44,109 --> 00:53:47,420
up behind the microphones if there is
something you want to know. We have
545
00:53:47,420 --> 00:53:49,630
another question from microphone number
two.
546
00:53:49,630 --> 00:53:56,260
Microphone number 2: Thanks for the day.
You mentioned during one of the answers
547
00:53:56,260 --> 00:54:03,630
that one of the key indicator you crossed
were the schools basically is the ratio of
548
00:54:03,630 --> 00:54:10,380
the student pretty true or better. And
then I'm wondering if let's say imagine
549
00:54:10,380 --> 00:54:15,330
managing a school and I'm considering your
as a solution, I have to consider my cost
550
00:54:15,330 --> 00:54:21,690
to go through what I get out of those
solution. So, which indicator is
551
00:54:21,690 --> 00:54:31,500
traditionally used in education system.
Which would VR in the classroom improve the
552
00:54:31,500 --> 00:54:38,600
most?
JO: Thank you. So for the VR for schools
553
00:54:38,600 --> 00:54:42,440
part that I've talked about where we're
actually targeting public schools. The
554
00:54:42,440 --> 00:54:48,210
real target that we want to address with
that is learning outcomes. We want to
555
00:54:48,210 --> 00:54:52,760
significantly improve learning outcomes
with virtual reality. And do this in a way
556
00:54:52,760 --> 00:55:00,200
where what children are not learning about
computers from a book of just from hearing
557
00:55:00,200 --> 00:55:04,190
the teacher talk about it but they can
actually see one in that sort of thing. If
558
00:55:04,190 --> 00:55:08,299
you want operate it where they are
learning about different experiments not
559
00:55:08,299 --> 00:55:13,680
just by hearing it spoken about but by
actually being able to do it in a sense in
560
00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:17,590
that virtual space. So, it's really
learning outcomes that is the key
561
00:55:17,590 --> 00:55:24,639
indicator for us when it comes to the
returns that we hope to see. But I think
562
00:55:24,639 --> 00:55:32,750
that we will see depending on kind of like
what school sector we're looking at that
563
00:55:32,750 --> 00:55:38,980
change a little bit. So in the public
schools I think that it'll be easy to go
564
00:55:38,980 --> 00:55:44,720
in there and work targeting just learning
outcomes. When we go to the private
565
00:55:44,720 --> 00:55:49,230
schools with a lot more resources than
it'll be more new ones there because
566
00:55:49,230 --> 00:55:55,030
there'll be scope to do more things. For
example we will have schools where they
567
00:55:55,030 --> 00:56:00,750
can afford to set up labs to actually
create virtual reality. And for them some
568
00:56:00,750 --> 00:56:04,670
of the indicators that they might be
looking at are technical expertise in
569
00:56:04,670 --> 00:56:10,859
these students that sort of thing. Herald:
And if we don't have any more questions I
570
00:56:10,859 --> 00:56:13,600
think we should all thank Judith for an
excellent talk!
571
00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:17,585
JO: Thank you!
applause
572
00:56:17,585 --> 00:56:23,430
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573
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