35C3 - Reality Check! Basel/Lagos?? In virtual reality?

35C3 preroll music

Herald Angel: Judith Okonkwo is a
technology ex-evangelist, a business

psychologist and a co-founder of "We will
lead Africa". In 2016 Judith set Imisi 3D

creation lab, which is building the
ecosystem of extended reality technologies

in Lagos, Nigeria. So, please welcome
Judith. And let's have her talk.

Judith Okonkwo: Thank you. Thank you very much!

applause

JO: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you
all for coming today. I am going to talk

to you a little bit about the work that
we're doing in Lagos, Nigeria. Just

generally about that and then about some
specific projects that we've been involved in.

So usually, when I'm speaking, people
say: Wow, you're doing virtual reality in

Nigeria? How come? Why? How did you even
think of starting that there? Let me tell

you a little bit about that journey. Now,
I don't know if many people here have been

to Nigeria, but just to give you some
context: it's a country in the western

part of Africa. Right now and the
population is estimated to be about 190

million people. So, there are a lot of us.
The projection is that by 2050 though, we

will be the third most populous country in
the world, right. Third after China first,

and India second. It's also a country of
lots of different cultures and lots of

different languages. At last count there
are well over 200 of these. Very diverse.

So, in terms of VR, we started a creation
lab there in Lagos called Imisi 3D. Imisi

is a Yoruba word and Yoruba is the
language of the Yoruba people who you find

in the southwestern part of Nigeria. The
word means 'inspiration'. We started out

really small. We, well basically I, got a
computer, a VR ready computer, a few

headsets, a few books on virtual reality
and set up in one of the leading hubs in

Lagos, called the Co-Creation
hub. So basically, that's what it was.

That was the start. A desk in a corner
where we said: Hey, if you're even

remotely curious about this technology, if
you want to know what's possible with it,

then come on down. Because as you probably
remember, in 2016, a lot of people were

saying: This is the year of virtual
reality. There was a lot of expectation

that it would come into its own in some
way and there was a lot of excitement

about it and we felt that that was a story
that we needed to be a part of as well for

a number of reasons that I'll explore. So,
in Nigeria if you think about the country

say 5, 10 years ago, certainly we weren't
on the, you know, on the global map for

being creators. We were in some fields.
So, for example you would always be able

to mention super talented Nigerian Authors
for example. But when it came to

technology I don't think we were being
thought of as creators a lot. Even though

a lot of creativity was happening, even
though a lot of innovation was happening

in the country. And there's been a real
drive, a real need, to shift that

narrative from one of consumption, where
we're just a market where electronics

technology is being sold, to one where we
are actually adopting these technologies

and using them for our own purposes.
Making them work for us as well. So, being

able to move that needle from consumption
to creation. Back to the start. We began

on the first week of July in 2016 and that
first week we had a virtual reality

showcase. This is a picture from the
event. We asked people to come, you know,

if you're curious, if you've never tried
it before. If you're wondering what this

word that everybody's been talking about
is. And that day, over the course of about

five hours, we had about 100 people come
down to try out VR, talk about VR, find

out what the possibilities might be with
this technology, figure out if it's for

them. And what's really interesting for me
personally is that, back then in 2016,

that summer when we had people come into
our space, probably 90 percent of them had

never tried out virtual reality before.
They maybe heard about it, might have seen

a Google Cardboard, but you know, they
didn't really know what it was. Today when

I have events like this, at least half of
the people coming in, at the very least

half, would have tried out VR. So, it's
just great to see even with time and with

activity, how things can change. But on
this day in 2016 we had people come in

and, you know, they were challenged to
think about what is possible with this

technology. But then it seemed like a lot
of talk. You know, you come in, you put on

a few headsets, you try the Samsung Gear
VR, you maybe try a Google Cardboard, you

start to talk. But then what next? And
that's something that we really wanted to

make different. You know, let it not just
be talk. We wanted people to know that

these were technology that they should use
to create as well. So we decided to have a

hackathon. Then, when it held in November
2016, it was the first virtual reality

hackathon in Nigeria. And promoting the
belief that we have, that these

technologies are actually tools, that we
can use to create solutions, we challenged

the participants to think about creating
solutions for either education, healthcare

or tourism. Now we chose these particular
sectors because, we'd recognize that these

are areas in which there was quite a bit
of scope for immediate significant impact

from a place like Nigeria. And here's what
came out of it. In the picture there you

can see what was the leading hack by the
winning team. It was a product that they

called "learn" but actually spelt L E V R
N and it's an experience square, as you

can see there's a leap motion attached to
a Samsung Gear VR. And it allows you to

learn how to code using hand based
gestures. So it's really exciting to see

people thinking about how they could push
the boundary beyond what was even just

traditionally possible with the gear VR as
it was then. And to start thinking

creatively about how you might use these
technologies and tools to learn.

Especially, you know, in disciplines that
were always challenged about how best we

can get people to learn and move with the
times. OK. So, I've got a few numbers up

on the screen. I wonder if anybody knows
what they might refer to?

silence

JO: Anybody? No? Okay. So the first one,
263 Million, is a number from UNICEF from

2014. And then, that was the estimate
about the number of children who were out

of school in the world. The second number,
13.2 Million, is a number out of school

children in just Nigeria. And that final
number, 1 Billion., that's a number of

children in the world who don't really
have access to good quality education. You

might wonder why have these numbers up
right now. And that's because I believe

that virtual reality is something that we
can use to tackle these kind of

statistics. One of the things that we're
exploring in Lagos, is looking at VR for

schools. Now certainly back in 2016 when
we were starting out, quite a lot of the

attention with VR was being put into
sectors like gaming and entertainment. But

as I mentioned, we we've been wanting to
shift the needle to to other sectors to

see ways in which we can adapt and use it.
And I think that actually VR, despite the,

you know, the common perception that it's
perhaps elitist, perhaps expensive, in its

low cost form could actually be a solution
for education. And this is how it might

work. Imagine if we took low cost VR,
something as simple say as a Google

Cardboard, mobile phones, and we all know
the story of mobile phone penetration

increasing daily in Africa across the
continent, solar portables because in some

places electricity from the grid is not
reliable. And with that you have a device,

that once you have the right content
available for it, is an all in one

learning solution that's fairly portable
and can be deployed really just about

anywhere. Now for me, this is one of the
super exciting possibilities with a

technology like virtual reality, that we
can go into schools, or even the 13.2

million out of school children, go to them
and give them a device with the right

content that will allow them to start
learning. And learning in ways that were

not possible because, if you were to go to
a traditional public school, I mentioned

we are 190+ Million people, the
infrastructure is challenged in terms of

trying to deal with that number, and
you'll easily have classrooms with over

100 children in them. Which means, that
you're very limited in terms of the

interaction that's possible between
student and teacher, and also with the

amount of infrastructure that you can
provide. But as you know with VR, whether

it's a virtual lab where they can do
experiments, whether it's the opportunity

to visit the pyramids in Egypt or even to
explore the solar system, all of a sudden

opportunities and experiences that would
not be available even if, you know, we

suddenly kind of like diverted our whole
budget to education, are now possible and

I think that's really exciting. And that's
just a picture from one of the schools

where we have been going in to explore
using virtual reality to supplement the

curriculum for education. Education is one
possibility, but something else that also

excites me about these technologies and
what is possible, is when it comes to art

and culture. This past week one of the
leading African philosophers, a Nigerian

woman called Sophia Oluwole, died and she
was a very, very big supporter, promoter

of African culture, of Nigerian culture
and of dipping into your heritage to take

that what was useful there and bring it
and use it to help to define the life that

you're living today and the one you want
to create for the future. And I

particularly like this, that you know,
from one of her papers where she says it's

up to us and she was really calling out to
everyone to discover and promote a

reliable African intellectual atmosphere
based on narratives presented in the truth

of their language and authenticity. And I
bring this up now because I think that

that is something else that this
technology enables us to, in a sense,

convey our reality and tell stories and
the truth of our language and authenticity.

And I want to tell you about two projects
that relate to that. The first is one that

brings Nigeria and Switzerland together.
So, earlier this year I was approached by

a team around the IAF festival in
Switzerland. It's a festival that is

focused on contemporary African art
predominantly photography and it's held in

Basel each year. Now each year, along with
photographies that are exhibited, they add

an element of contemporary art. This year
it happend to be virtual reality. And for

that, they said: Well, what would it be
like if we were to juxtapose living in

Switzerland - take a city, Basel - and in
an African country Nigeria. Let's take a

city, Lagos. What would that look like.
So, what we created was something called

Reality Check. It was a very simple VR
experience actually. But one with a lot of

potential and possibility. What we did was
map out a number of locations. So, we took

traditional places that you would visit.
If you've been to Brasel you know it's

quite compact, and it's really easy to
walk around the center of the town. And we

took places like a church, a shopping mall, a
school and map these, and then wanted

to do the same in Lagos. Now Lagos is
quite widespread. So we chose a particular

neighborhood, Yaba, and then did the same.
We went to a church for example and

captured the space with 360 video. And
what was then possible was that, when you

came to this festival in Switzerland, you
could go on a walking tour of the city.

But alongside that tour of Basel you could
also have one of Lagos. So, you could walk

to the church in Basel, seen in the
picture there. And while there, you would

then have an experience of a church in
Lagos. We have, you know, over the course

of the week that I spent there with them a
whole series of people come round to come

and figure out what it might be like, to
step into a space in Lagos, Nigeria if

only for a few minutes. Now each of the
videos was really short and just about two

minutes and I'm actually going to play one
for you to see. But what was exciting for

the people who tried it out, from what
they said back to us, was just being able

to shift your reality in a way that, as we
know, is not possible with traditional

media, not with the books you read, not
with the videos you watch in 2D. Well, let

me show you one. So here we are. This is
the church in Lagos.

JO mumbling Let's just get that...
voices in the background of the video

JO: And what we did is, during a weekday
we were able to go in. Where the camera is

positioned, is up where the choir
traditionally sits on Sunday. And it

happened to be a day when - it's a
Catholic church by the way - they were

getting ready, I believe it was a
benediction service, so you can hear he

has some of that going on down there. Here
we are now in the (???) ave.

voices in the background of the video

JO: And so this video is much like the

others. They were all roughly two minutes.
The camera was stationary. And what we

wanted to create was just the impression
that, much like you were doing if you were

doing the walking tour, where you'd get to
a location and stand and look around. That

you have that same experience in Lagos
that you walked into, you know, the

location in question. You stood at a spot
and you were able to look around and

observe what was going on for a minute or
two.

Video is still playing, no sound other than the voices in the background

JO: Just give me a second. OK.

And that experience that I just showed in
the church was also done in locations like a

university, a school, a library in Lagos,
a bank, a Medical Center. So, just little

vignettes if you will, of life, everyday
life in the city that you're able to

share. And we're hoping to do the flip
later on, where in Lagos you will then be

able to have the 360 experiences of these
locations in Basel for people who are in

Lagos. So, moving on and exploring art and
culture. I have this other quote that I'm

sure a lot of people have seen around
quite a bit. And I first encountered it in

one of Chinua Achebe's novels. It says:
There is that great proverb - that until

the lions have their own historians, the
history of the hunt will always glorify

the hunter. And of course you know, we
know how this applies in lots of ways. We

talk about the way, you know, history
might have been told. History as we know

it traditionally, might be repurposed if
it's taught from another perspective for

people around the world. But storytelling
I think, is particularly important with

360. And what was exciting for me as well
earlier this year is, when we had a member

of our community, the Imisi 3Dcommunity in
Lagos, actually go and shoot what was the

first 360 documentary. And this is just a
short, about four or five minutes long.

But it's the first Nigerian made 360
documentary in one of the internally

displaced people camps that we have in the
north eastern part of the country in

Maiduguri. And this short documentary in
Bakassi actually tells a story of a boy

called Modu, who is an insurgency orphan.
He's about eleven years old, but he has

lost his father to the issues with Boko
Haram in the north eastern part of the

country. And his mother as well. So, he
lived with his grandmother in an IDP camp

and you know, was someone who, through
whose eyes we could start to understand

what it really means to be in that space,
to understand that tragedy a little bit

more. We had a screening for this
documentary in Lagos in November, but even

before that, I think what's really
compelling is that we have had people who

had even been to IDP camps in the
Northeast and other parts of Nigeria. And

when they came and they experienced "In
Bakassi" what they would say is: This is

even more real than being there. Now, at
face value you might think: Well, what are

they talking about? And when they broke it
down, what they were telling us was, that

when you are actually there in the camps,
you're overwhelmed by all that's going on.

There's so much activity, so much noise,
so much jostling, that you are not really

able to process what's happening around
you. But when you have the experience in

VR like this, through a 360 video, you're
then really sensitive and focused on the

experience as it is, on the story that
you're hearing, in this case Modu's. So I

am going to just play a little bit from
the screening, not the documentary itself,

for you to see what it was like sharing that
work with people in Lagos.

music

Toks Bakare: My experience watching the
documentary was intensely moving. I think

because I had a phenomenally different
experience watching it in VR. There's the

ability to look all around you and really
feel like you are immersed in the scene. I

felt like I was in the camp and almost
going through what the little boy is going

through. So that, that was an interesting
feeling that was different from watching a

regular film.

music

JO: OK. So, I've talked a little bit about
some of the projects that we've done or

been involved in in this phase with art
and culture, looking at things, like telling

360 stories or being able to share reality
across different geographies. I want to

talk a little bit more now about kind of
like the future and where we see ourselves

going. I have the words "bright future"
there because I think we all agree that

these technologies hold a lot of promise.
But there are particular challenges for us

in a place like Nigeria, and one of them is,
you know, even just access to the

hardware. So one of the things that we are
exploring is, what would it be like if we

were able to, you know, actually deal with
that obstacle. What if we created a VR

headset that was purpose built for our
locale. An all in one solar powered VR

headset. One that's me with locally
sourced materials. How would that change

things? Is that something that we are
trying to do a design challenge around. We

started one last year but tried to do it
virtually. We'll be looking at in the new

year having a team come into work on this
and attempt to build one. Now if we can do

that, it becomes really exciting for us
because yes, we have platforms like

YouTube where you can share 360 content,
and Vimeo, and others. But not a lot of

people have access to headsets and other
elements of the technology and we can

start to do something about that actively.
So looking at ways in which we can build

and, you know, do R&D to suit our
purposes it's something that's very big

for us. We are also working really hard to
build a community of content creators.

People who will work with these
technologies, the people who will create

the educational content that will make VR
for schools a reality in a country like

Nigeria. For that we have started to hold
community meet ups. They've been running

for over a year now. We have the very
first one at the Google office in Lagos

and have since, you know, had the
community grow with people coming from all

sorts of different sectors. From the arts,
you know, from technology, people from

business as well who are even looking at
the opportunities to commercialize the

technology locally. And we're excited
about what's possible when all of these

people come together. We're also trying to
connect communities across Africa because

we know that it's one thing to try and
build communities locally and grow

expertise there. But if we're joined up
together across the continent a lot more

will be possible a lot quicker. Earlier
this year we held what was at that time

the largest VR event on the continent,
where we had a Hackathon happen

simultaneously across seven countries. We
had over 35 teams take part and the

overall winning team was a team of three
females from Egypt. And much like that

first one that I mentioned in 2016 where
we said create for education, or health

care or tourism, we asked the teams to do
the same. So, create for education, health

care, tourism. However this time we added
the environment, it happened around Earth

Day, and also social justice. The winning
team created an experience that allows you

to learn about how to take care of the
environment. And it was built for the HTC

Vive. We also have a growing community
that is online on Facebook. They come from

over 20 different African countries. It's
over 900 strong and growing every day.

We're really excited about the
possibilities as we all come together and

start to figure out how we can work and
create. We believe collaboration is our

future, whether it's across these African
countries or further across the world, the

work that we did with Switzerland, whether
it's being here and connecting with you

all. But we know that together we can do
so much more. I usually end my talks with

this challenge to people particularly when
I'm talking about using the technologies

for the first time. Very, very excited to
know that the future is ours to create and

with things like VR and AR, solutions
created in a way that maybe we're not yet

imagining but perhaps we should. So what
will you do? I want to leave you with one

last video that shows what it's like in
the lab.

music

JO: Thank you.
applause

Herald: Thank you very much. We have time
for Q&A. There are two microphones

here in the room. One in the middle,
microphone number 2, and one out to the

side, microphone number 1. And there might
also be questions from the Internet. So

please come up and we have already
question from microphone number 2.

Microphone 2: Hello. So, thanks for the
presentation. There is a concept that, I

don't know how valid it is, but the
Innovator's Dilemma. Basically, if you are

already in a comfortable spot, you're not
going to push yourself too much, either in

your community or your company. You have
either a new player, that is going to make

something radical and is going to
challenge you to make yourself better. And

there was some discussion on this based on
the how for example maybe you not need the

big DSL or fiber infrastructure to just
just use 3G or 4G and in some community

with other infrastructure maybe for
example you do mobile payments, like in

China. Could this kind of useage of your
free education be an equivalent of this,

that maybe the classroom as we have now is
pretty good? But if you were so

challenged, that you need to go much
further. Would it be like new oppurtunity

to use much better way to do it.
JO: So thank you for the question. Yes,

actually I think it might be. And you know
you gave some examples about how leapfrogs

have happened in other parts of the world
apart from the West, just because they

have accessed technology at a time that's
later than the West, and so they've been

able to kind of like evolve in a way that
doesn't have to be anchored in the legacy.

You know, the history of the technology
and how it actually grew. I think the same

is true for for technology like VR being
used for education. And I think that

because, you know the public schools I
mentioned, where you might easily have

over 100 kids in a classroom, you'll be in
a space that is not like the modern

classroom in a private school in Lagos or
you know or one in the West. It's not

like, you know ,where you have maybe a one
to 20 or one to 10 you know teacher

student ratio. It won't have all of the
infrastructure that aids learning as we

know it today. So, you are then challenged
to think really creatively about what you

might do with with VR, what you might do
with whatever tool is brought to you. And

that's why you know worth thinking about
the low cost, you know, VR that might be

mobile device driven or something powered
in a similar way, because we know one of

the challenges will be power, you know, as
we know it. Because from the grid there,

it's a challenge. And I think as you start
to innovate around those realities and

create them, yes, we will be able to
leapfrog and potentially redefine what

education looks like, certainly in that
space.

Herald: We have question for microphone
number one.

Microphone 1: Thank you very much for your
presentation. I have read a number of

studies where people have found that, if
young children spend too much time in VR,

if they're very young, it has a problem
with their cognitive development. And I'm

wondering if you're thinking about a sort
of scaled approach at what age people are

working with regular computer graphics and
then how they engage with VR.

JO: Absolutely
Microphone 1: Get a good education.

JO: Thank you very much. Yes. So for the
work that we're doing at the moment with

VR for schools, where working with
children who are in secondary school. So

those are children who are typically from
12 years up and we're very conscious, that

there has been some information about the
you know side effects of VR. But there's

not enough data yet. And so we're
consciously studying, as we're going

along. We're about to start a formal pilot
in one of these schools, where we will

actually have a researcher who's working
on the ground and documenting as we go on.

We by default are limiting, you know, time
in VR, because we know, just from what we

know generally about screens and eyes,
that it won't be great to have extended

periods. But we're actively learning as
well.

Herald: We have another question from
Microphone number 1.

Microphone number 1: I see that you are
working with unity alert.

But I was wondering if you're also working
with the more open standard of web VR?

JO: We haven't yet worked with web VR. But
that is something that we are about to

start exploring in the New Year.
Herald: We have a question from microphone

number two.
Microphone number 2: Hi Judith, thank you for

your talk again. I found it very
interesting and inspiring that you've

presented the second talk where VR was
considered like an interesting or an

important tool to create new narratives
maybe in a rather or historically rather

oral based history culture or narration
culture and to use it for alternative

narrations and create the new historian as
you say it like the maybe the non colonial

historian if you want. And so I also
wondered as I saw also in your

presentation and this is also my
perspective as I have been working a lot

with Goethe Institute and have once worked
in Kenya with Goethe Institute and I

notice that like the sort of still the
Western platforms and of course the

institutions with money are kind of the
only places and spaces where these things

especially the technological things can
happen due to money reasons, are the only

spaces that exist basically. For example
in Nairobi it was like this space that

could be used by artists. There's some
other spaces in Nairobi but still it felt

like this strong like power maybe even
more infrastructural power that's there

and you've used the Google space and I saw
the Facebook logo and certificate. So I

wonder is this anything you feel doubts
about? Or do you just think, ok we'll take

their money and that's cool?
JO: Great question, thank you. It's

interesting that you ask because for me
personally one of a kind of like the

buggers for me is that a lot of the major
tech companies, in my opinion they don't

see, they don't see African countries as a
real VR market. And you know you can see

that just by the fact that their products
aren't even accessible there. You know,

they are not available. That said you know
I think that I talked about collaboration

a lot. I think that the way forward is for
us all to work together. They already have

done you know a ton of work in terms of
what is possible with the technology and

even what will be possible in the future.
Just by virtue of their R&D budgets

and what's possible. So I very much want
as we grow that we are working with them

and not apart from them in any way. But
alongside that, I am very very concerned

about as you know developing as ourselves
and creating as ourselves you know if it

goes like truth and authenticity that
Sofia was talking about that we have our

own voice and we can do it without being
obliged to any one party. In that vein for

example the lab that we set up one of the
reasons was because we knew that access

was difficult. We know that the equipment
is relatively expensive. Things like that,

particularly given the purchasing power of
the naira. So we wanted to create a space

where, if you wanted to do VR, or you
wanted to create you could actually come

in and use the equipment and we provide
that and city and we'll be doing that in

more states across Nigeria. But I think
its initiatives like that locally that

will make sure that even as we partner we
can be true to ourselves.

Herald: We have a question from microphone
number one.

Microphone number 1: Thank you for your
talk. I'm sorry if you already covered

this aspect. I came a bit late, but I want
to ask about if you are working towards

minimizing the digital divide. How? What
are your effords about closing this. I

understand that the project this is new,
but your long term vision, how does that

help to empower the rural population also?
JO: Yeah. Thank you. That's a great

question. Actually one of the things that
drove the creation of the lab in 2016 was

even recognition of that digital divide.
By that time I just spent about two years

in Lagos working within the tech sector
and just being able to kind of like tap

into the talent that was there and see
what was possible. And I'd seen what you

know young people were able to do there
with traditional technology, you know,

with software development and all of that.
So I knew that in terms of you know a

potential it was there in kind of like
limitless way but the challenge is always

of course access to to the resources to
opportunity and things like that and

that's what we try to do which is why that
element of community is so important for

us. We we provide access to equipment and
resources in the lab. We also hold those

community gathering so that people can
start to network with each other and

collaborate together. We also look for
ways to support learning and growth and we

do that by either holding activities or
sometimes doing things like offering

scholarships for audacities virtual
reality nano degree, but we're very very

particular about you know talent and
expertise being available kind of like

locally and in country because that's
critical. That's why I don't know if you

were here when we were talking about Amber
Cassady 360 documentary. But for me what's

really exciting is that you know a
Nigerian filmmaker will go acquire those

skills and be able to be the one to make
that in Nigeria because of course there

have been other 360 documentaries made by
say Al Jazeera for example you know and

other media houses but of course they'll
be bringing their teams in to do that. So

yes very very conscious of trying to to
narrow that.

Herald: We have two questions at
microphone Number one. Let's see. First one.

Microphone number 1: First of all thank

you Judith for this great presentation.
Very short question and specific question.

When it comes to VR in education there is
one major problem in my eyes. I don't know

if you can answer this questions, but
there is no real business lobby for that

right now. And when it comes to integrate
VR content into educational program there

is one major hurdle which is how to
integrate that into the official program.

Which content can be transformed into VR
content? Are you working closely with

regular let's say official education
authorities? Is any board like trying to

identify which content and how to
integrate it progressively into your

curriculums? Are you thinking about that?
Because there is some nice attempt like in

Egypt, in China to do that, but one of the
major hurdle is, it is really hard to

integrate it one time into the official
curriculums. So how do you identify the

content and how it is working with the
officials?

JO: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Really great
question. Yes. I mean all of the

things that you've just mentioned very
very real issues for us. When we wanted to

start doing the VR for schools project the
first thing that we actually had to do was

approach the education authorities in the
local area where we are the district

office for education. So we had to bring
them on board really quickly because we

even need their permission to be able to
go into a school and work. Beyond that we

also decided to hold things like VR for
education roundtables where we would bring

together different stakeholders. So, these
would be people from both the local

governments from both secondary and
tertiary education. And looking at both

students faculty and sometimes even
parents because we very much wanted people

to come together to help us cocreate what
a viable solution would be. And a lot of

what you mentioned I mean that's what the
teachers were saying. How exactly does

this actually work? You know with the
lesson you know, do you in the middle of a

lecture put on the headset. You know what
makes sense. So, so far we've been doing

the VR sessions and special sessions that
are carved out from the school time where

we go and see we're coming to do a session
with you. Going into the New Year though

where we're going to actually start a
formal pilot in a school. We're setting up

a lab in the school and we're going to
have somebody who's, you know there with

them, so that we can start to work with
the teachers to see how we can make VR

learning an element of the traditional
kind of like classroom plan. So, I say to

people imagine what it used to be like
when you would schedule a video as part of

a lesson. What if instead of the
whole class is going to watch a video.

Instead they were going to go and have a
VR experience as the content and the

challenge around that and what's
appropriate to create. And that's really

interesting, something that we've been
trying to tackle. When we first started to

explore this. We were quite constrained in
terms of resources so we were just

curating what was actually already
available and matching it to the national

curriculum for the junior secondary
school. So, we have some content that we

have seen can match to some of the
learning outcomes that are there at the

moment. But we know that we do have to
create custom content. We particularly

have to create content that is much more
accessible for people locally both in

terms of language and in terms of kind of
the visuals that they are accessing there.

We are working with a major education
publisher as well in Nigeria. And of course

they have the expertise having created quite
a few of the textbooks that are in schools

currently to help us figure that out as
well as collaborating with teachers in the

pilot school.
Herald: And please don't be shy if you

have any questions please come up to the
microphones and share them with all of us.

We have time enough for quite a few more
questions. A question from mic number two!

Microphone number 2: Yes. Thank you Judith
for taking on the journey. I have a

different question but also missed the
first minutes of your talk. As I see your

talk here also a contribution from the
Global South enriching us hopefully with

your cultural perspective and my question
is: Do you think that this technology

could help us to bridge cultural
understanding. Does it support empathy to

get more of a picture. Well the trouble
from a Western perspective is that you

know the African countries exporting
poverty that's not a major good selling

good. But there is other elements that
might enrich or you might have to hack

into our minds. My question is: Do you
think this technology can actually help to

support people understanding other
cultures better? Or is this for the moment

more an experimental thing within your
control as cultural context to do your own

educational or other purposes?
JO: Thank you for that question. Yes

actually I do think that it will help us
start to understand and experience other

cultures better and even experience
empathy. And I say this because even just

you know when we first started the lab in
2016. So, a challenge for Nigerians you

might not know but one major challenge
that people have when they want to travel

is getting visas. Yeah the stories you
hear about visa refusals can be quite

heartbreaking. But people were put on
their VR headset and sit in a chair and if

you know with Oculus you have this option
under Oculus 360 photos of explore the

world. So, you can go to basically any
country and people would do that. They

choose a country and go. And one thing
everybody would say is you mean I can

travel and I don't even need to get a
visa. That's the first thing that really

kind of like got people so curious and so
engaged and I think that cuts across

regardless of who you are or where you're
from. Nigeria is not a known tourist

destination right now but there is
actually quite a lot to see in the

country. And most people don't realize [name of region]
the south of the country has possibly the

greatest diversity when it comes to
butterflies in the world. So, some things

like that are not known and are not explored
per se because it's not on the global map

for tourism. But these are things that we
can then start to experience via virtual

reality and that's looking at an angle
like tourism. I mean we can take it right

down to the everyday to people's lives and
stories. Much like, I think we've seen in

a sense with YouTube and what bloggers
have been able to create. But in a much

more personal way now with with VR 360
that you can actually, say, step into my

home, step into my life and I think we'll
start to see more of those stories as we

go on.
Herald: We have about 15 minutes left and

we have a question from mic number two.
Microphone number 2: All right. Thanks for

the talk. Maybe learning is not a
privilege only to young people or did you

consider teaching also older people or
people from other areas? And also are you

reachable outside Facebook? Do you have
some webpage or something else?

JO: Yes. So to address the last part
first: Yes absolutely outside Facebook.

So, if you do social media we are on
Twitter as a Imisi 3D and Instagram as

Imisi 3D as well. We have a website
imisi3d.com and you can also e-mail us at

[e-mail]. In terms of reaching
people beyond young people: Yes, that is

that's very very important to us even as
we reach things like say VR for schools

targeting students. We know that that is
not possible if adoption doesn't happen

across the board. We need the older
people, we need teachers, we need

principals to take it on board as well and
want to work with the technology. So, we

embrace all. I mean the targeted project
might look like it is very student and

young people focused but we work across
the board because we recognize

stakeholders in all demographics.
Herald: Two questions at mic number one

let's start with the first one.
Microphone number 1: Thank you Judith for

the fantastic presentation. I was
wondering about, I've never heard I think

VR and communal efforts and collective
working together in such a beautiful way

because in the global north I think VR is
in a lot of cases in the framework of

hyper individualized even isolated non-
social as in such an activity. So, I think

this was a brilliant new way of seeing
that potential. I would be very interested

in how you see that's kind of maybe a
difference. Yeah and if you think a lot

about this isolation part as well.
JO: Yeah. So thank you. I mean I really

believe that collaboration is the way
forward. I think particularly in a place

like Nigeria, a place where you're already
resource challenged. I think if you saw

the divisions early then there are too
many problems. And I think given the scope

of these technologies we haven't even
begun to approach the boundaries of where

they will be, where there's so much left
to discover and explore that we must come

together to challenge ourselves and work
together and push boundaries. And that is

enough scope for everybody to get
involved. Yeah, I see the individualism

that you talk about in other parts. I mean
when I was first starting out one of the

challenges for me was just even the
multiple platforms that exist and the fact

that things are gonna be unified in one
way that we could all tap into. I hope it

will change. But you know don't hold out
too much but I think where we can work and

where we can actually impact stuff and
effect change the way that we believe it

should be then we must.
Herald: One more question from microphone

number one.
Microphone number 1: Thank you also from

my side for you talk. I do have a question
more like personally. What was for you,

since you started two years ago with this
journey on VR in Nigeria. What was

for you the most surprising thing in this
journey.

JO: The most surprising thing I have never
been asked that question so I'm pausing for a

moment to think. Actually, so maybe not
surprising in the traditional sense but

like a couple of months after I started I
was at an event where Y-Combinator had

come to Nigeria. This was in September of
2016. So it was a year where quite a few

people were interested in what was going
on in Lagos. So Y-Combinator had come to

Nigeria for the first time. And in one of
the business schools they were having a

talk, a session and I was in the audience
and I just happened to look down on the

road below me. There were two young men
and they had a phone and they were

actually watching like a 360 video on it.
And stereoscopic the screen was split and I was amazed. I

talked to them and I said "What are you
doing?" And they're like "Oh, we're

watching this." I'm like: "Do you have a
headset?" "No" "Have you ever put it in a

headset?" No, they hadn't. So luckily at
that event I had a stand and the

exhibition space and I said well during
the break come down and we'll put it in a

headset for you so you can actually see it
the way it was intended. And so during the

break they came. They did that, they were
completely "wow". They after that went on

and bought a VR headset. But for me why
that stands out is because we started the

lab because we felt like we must do this.
This is time with these technologies if we

want to be part of the story we get
involved now. And I think that was a

beautiful example of the reality of that.
Herald: And please don't hesitate. If

you're sitting in your chair thinking I
have something to ask but I'm not quite

sure if there'll be time, there is time
for another few questions. So, please get

up behind the microphones if there is
something you want to know. We have

another question from microphone number
two.

Microphone number 2: Thanks for the day.
You mentioned during one of the answers

that one of the key indicator you crossed
were the schools basically is the ratio of

the student pretty true or better. And
then I'm wondering if let's say imagine

managing a school and I'm considering your
as a solution, I have to consider my cost

to go through what I get out of those
solution. So, which indicator is

traditionally used in education system.
Which would VR in the classroom improve the

most?
JO: Thank you. So for the VR for schools

part that I've talked about where we're
actually targeting public schools. The

real target that we want to address with
that is learning outcomes. We want to

significantly improve learning outcomes
with virtual reality. And do this in a way

where what children are not learning about
computers from a book of just from hearing

the teacher talk about it but they can
actually see one in that sort of thing. If

you want operate it where they are
learning about different experiments not

just by hearing it spoken about but by
actually being able to do it in a sense in

that virtual space. So, it's really
learning outcomes that is the key

indicator for us when it comes to the
returns that we hope to see. But I think

that we will see depending on kind of like
what school sector we're looking at that

change a little bit. So in the public
schools I think that it'll be easy to go

in there and work targeting just learning
outcomes. When we go to the private

schools with a lot more resources than
it'll be more new ones there because

there'll be scope to do more things. For
example we will have schools where they

can afford to set up labs to actually
create virtual reality. And for them some

of the indicators that they might be
looking at are technical expertise in

these students that sort of thing. Herald:
And if we don't have any more questions I

think we should all thank Judith for an
excellent talk!

JO: Thank you!
applause

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