Technology for impactful storytelling
Reflections from Ona Stories’ Augmented Reality Photo Exhibition for USAID Tanzania Advancing Youth Impact Book Launch.
Storytelling has long been part of being a human being.Stories remind us we are not alone in the world.
Whilst we are seeing fast technological developments in the mediums by which we are telling our stories, the fundamental role of storytelling still remains the same.
Recently,Ona Stories partnered with USAID to launch an impact stories book for the Tanzania Advancing Youth Feed the Future program.
The event, whose guest of honour was Deputy Minister of Agriculture Peter Mavunde, was a closing of 7 years of tremendous work to up skill and upscale youth in the agriculture sector in rural Tanzania.
Ona Stories partnered with USAID Tanzania Advancing Youth to augment 5 impact stories of five young Tanzanians that benefited from the program.
Audiences were able to interact with the success stories through an augmented reality photo exhibition alongside the book launch.
Audiences were prompted to use provided tablets or their mobile phones, download the Black Terminus AR app, point their phone camera at the canvas or postcard and watch the pictures come to life!
It was amazing to watch the young beneficiaries’ eyes light up with curiosity and amazing as they unlocked their stories. An interactive and powerful experience.
“Augmented reality is a great way to tell your story and educate audiences, because it allows them to directly immerse yourself within the narrative.” explains Tulanana Bohela, Director of Immersive unit, Ona Kesho.
Watch the highlights video here
But what is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality is an enhanced, interactive version of a real-world environment achieved through digital visual elements.
AR incorporates three features: a combination of digital and physical worlds, interactions made in real time, and accurate 3D identification of virtual and real objects.
Simply put, AR places interactive virtual objects within our world, via a mobile phone. This might be a face filter that adds layers of content to your face, or a world effect that places objects in the real world through your phone camera.
Since our first AR Photogallery for Vodacom Foundation in 2019, we have been learning quite a few things in the world of technology and storytelling. Here are three lessons we want to share with you on using AR for impact storytelling
1. Channel Curiosity
AR is adding new dimensions to storytelling where audiences have the opportunity to act upon their curiosity.
In studies by the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, participants were randomly assigned to an interactive virtual reality condition or a control condition. Participants in the virtual reality condition showed a significant increase across curiosity dimensions compared to participants in the control condition. Participants in the virtual reality condition also showed a significant increase in positive affect and vigor, and higher levels of flow and interest compared to participants in the control condition. Change in the exploration dimension of curiosity prompted by the virtual reality experience linked the experience with positive affect and interest. Virtual reality may be a vehicle for inducing curiosity and associated positive characteristics.
Virtual Reality in this case can also be replaced by Augmented reality, the point being that the act of interactivity , placing the story in the hands of the user, spikes a higher level of interest.
2. Higher Engagement
Audiences are no longer passive. AR has sufficiently provided individuals with active brand engagement. With Augmented reality you can see what the future looks like. How your house will look like or test and drive a car.
It eliminates uncertainty by enabling people to try the product and match it with the needed audience items & other much needed information. For impact storytelling, we have countlessly seen higher attention retention with viewers compared to videos playing on an LCD screen at the corner of an event.
3. Barriers to Entry
The exhibition was another chance to experiment on how best we can break down the barriers to entry.To see there is further adoption of using augmented reality for impactful story telling.
From the interaction with the audience we learnt that since the technology is in its early adoption its better to always have an expert on board to continue offering guidance on how they can set up everything.
On the other hand there is an argument that these technologies serve as just gimmicks to attract audience attention. So how do we embrace technology but still hold onto meaningful storytelling?
“At the heart of communicating impact is stories & storytelling. In this area we have brought together Augmented Reality technology but we should not forget its not just about the technology, but showcasing the impact your organisation can have.” Princely Glorious, Ona Stories Director of Storytelling and Strategy
End of the day the technology offers us another chance to push the boundaries of imagination from days of gathering around a fire place as we echoed “hadithi hadithi” “hadithi njoo,utamu Kolea”
Written by Patrick Potter and Tulanana Bohela.
