The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers

The Creative Penn Podcast For Writers


Virtual Reality For Writers, Publishing And Gaming With Rob Morgan

June 06, 2015

I've been excited about virtual reality for a while now and today I finally get to do a whole show on it! Rob Morgan explains what VR and augmented reality are, how the technology impacts writers and storytelling as well as discussing what the future might hold for gaming, education, retail and VR socializing.

** Sorry for the delay in posting this! I was cycling through Croatia last week and forgot to schedule!! **

In the intro I talk about finishing my draft of Deviance and also my next non-fiction book, How to make a living with your writing. It's been a big word count month so I talk about how my writing routine has changed. I mention the brilliant Masterclass course with James Patterson (http://www.masterclass.com/classes/james-patterson-teaches-writing/) – I have so many pages of notes from it. Plus, I talk about some exciting new audiobook developments.

(http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/99designs-logo-750x200px-300x80.png)This podcast episode is sponsored by 99 Designs (http://www.99designs.com/joanna/), where you can get all kinds of designs for your author business including book covers, merchandising, branding and business cards, illustrations and artwork and much more. You can get a Powerpack upgrade which gives your project more chance of getting noticed by going to: 99Designs.com/joanna (http://www.99designs.com/joanna/)

(http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/RobMorgan-294x300.jpg)Rob Morgan (http://www.gamestory.co.uk/home/) is a game writer, narrative designer and voice director. Rob is currently developing stories and writing scripts for upcoming virtual reality titles across multiple genres.

You can listen above or on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-creative-penn/id309426367) or Stitcher (http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-creative-penn-podcast), watch the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOXP1sz-rAs)or read the notes and links below.

* How Rob moved into VR and gaming. Rob did literature at University and then moved to a digital agency. He did some work with a Sony augmented book and game – the Wonderbook, which (http://wonderbook.eu.playstation.com/) led into a project with JK Rowling – Wonderbook: Book of Spells (https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/wonderbook-book-of-spells-ps3/). Then Rob moved into working on virtual reality projects.

* Defining augmented reality vs virtual reality. VR basically obscures your normal vision and replaces it with a helmet/pair of screens; replacing your normal vision with pixels. It has sound and haptics (touch) and smell are under development. Augmented reality is another layer on the existing world – superimposing onto your vision e.g. directions on top of the road that aren't necessarily seen by other people. This is already here with how we use smartphone apps like maps, Google Glass and more. For authors, doing a map of your fictional characters around a neighbourhood or have monsters pop out as you walk around. There are all sorts of possibilities.

* (http://www.thecreativepenn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Screen-Shot-2015-05-19-at-8.48.26-pm-300x191.jpg)Virtual reality is on the cusp of being mainstream commercial. The first VR headsets will be for sale in 2015 (http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/132945-virtual-reality-the-vr-headsets-to-buy-in-2015-whatever-your-budget#). Some of the options: Oculus Rift (now owned by Facebook), Samsung Gear, Sony Morpheus, Steam VR (http://store.steampowered.com/universe/vr/), Microsoft Hololens ... and cheaper smartphone options like Google Cardboard (https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/get-cardboard/).

* The aim of VR is getting to something like the Holodeck on Star Trek. They didn't use it for just gaming, they resurrected stories and experienced more nuanced entertainment there. All types of content creators are excited about VR. They want to tell a compelling story that people want to be immersed in.