Page 45 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

wishing to show their abilities to produce con- tent and/or hardware. The foundation stresses its interest in supporting and giving visibility to Spanish firms in order to show their potential and ability to compete nationally and interna- tionally in the world of virtual reality. The morn- ings are therefore reserved for professionals, while the afternoons are for the general public, who need to book in advance. The interest in afternoon visits is such that the most often repeated request made via the various communi- cation channels the centre provides is that the premises be enlarged and visiting hours ex- tended.
Fig. 9. Espacio Realidad Virtual belonging to Fundación Telefónica https://spaces.hightail.com/resolve/ download/ZWJWZGl2cGtuSlI4SjhUQw
The walkaround provides an interactive survey of the history of virtual reality and various devices such as glasses for travelling through space and gloves that allow visitors to touch everything they see on the screen. It likewise shows them how this technology is applied to sectors such
as education, training, health, communication, advertising, tourism, architecture, project sales, awareness raising, entertainment and countless other uses. The visit ends with a 360-degree selfie video to immortalise the experience.
The signs on the wall by the entrance – “Touch the virtual. Travel to the past or the future. Expe- rience new sensations” – are a clear invitation
to participate in this space which is managed by The App Date. In an interview given to El Mundo, its founder, Óscar Hormigos, stated that “this place is like a dream come true as it is a perma- nent space apart from hosting temporary events.
Places like this are starting to spring up, but many are devoted to only one type of device and that wasn’t enough for us. This is a very lively sector and new brands are constantly coming out. What we want is it to be as multidevice and agnostic as possible”. They promise to broaden their offering as technology evolves in order to bring the public the most advanced virtual reality gadgets and experiences to be had, and so far they have delivered on it. In order to stress the participatory nature of the initiative, Hormigos goes on to point out that “the problem with technology is that it cannot be spoken or writ- ten. In this sector, when novelties come out, they are no use in themselves. It’s people who give them meaning”.
Technology evolves in order to bring the public the most advanced virtual reality gadgets and experiences to be had.
As for the reason why virtual reality, presaged since the middle of the last century, is becoming increasingly present, the founder of The App Date believes that the answer lies in mobiles. “Today’s processers are very powerful, similar
to the computers of three or four years ago. What is more, the screen resolution is amazing. Whereas it used to be necessary to buy a costly computer and huge video card, you’ve got all that in a mobile now. All the pieces of the puzzle have come together. In 1900, for example,
there were already people who were making stereoscopes (a technique that gathers visual information in three dimensions), but there were no computers to combine them with 360-degree viewing or with fisheye lenses. Now they have all come together. And that is the incredible thing.”
As well as its work in promoting entrepreneur- ship and dissemination, Fundación Telefónica recently started up its own production line with the app Te Cuento en la Cocina (I’ll tell you in the kitchen), with the collaboration of chef Fer- ran Adrià and Disney. The application provides a browsing experience that transports the user to an interactive virtual kitchen with 360-degree
AC/E DIGITAL CULTURE ANNUAL REPORT 2018
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Digital Trends in Culture