Is the creative industry equipped to work with emerging technologies?

For those already working in the field, it comes as no surprise that creatives in other disciplines do not feel equipped. As pointed out by Depop’s product designer Chrystal King in our report, it’s not possible, as the industry isn’t set up to support the learning required: “A lot of the time the courses you’d expect to take don’t yet exist or aren’t accessible – and it shows, especially when you look at the landscape of the tech community,” she says. I’ve worked alongside many amazing designers, technologists and engineers, the majority of whom have either been self-taught like myself, or have gone through non-traditional education like bootcamps.” (You can read more of Chrystal’s thoughts in our report here.)

Equally unsurprised is Liam Walsh, creative technology director at Nexus Studios. When asking Liam whether we should be concerned about the lack of skills in this area, he sums up his feelings perfectly by saying: “Everybody feels like that, it never stops. So don’t worry: if you’re working in emerging tech, you’ll always feel unequipped to work with some of the technologies.”

Building from Chrystal’s point too, Liam agrees that it’s an area of the industry which requires continual learning – it always has been. “When I was studying interactive media at Bournemouth, I remember thinking that we aren’t learning enough about programming for the webinar Flash, because that was the new, hot thing back then.” It also makes sense that few feel confident with emerging technologies because they require consistent attention, but it doesn’t have to be so daunting either. “You just have to carry forward the tools, processes and ways of learning that you acquired from working with previous technologies. There isn’t a shortcut,” adds Liam, “It takes a while for the grammar and vocabulary to be established – but that quickly becomes second nature if the technology catches on.”

But while there is no shortcut, senior leadership within creative teams should be investing time due to digital technologies increasing importance. Put matter-of-factly by Liam: “I think digital skills are increasingly important in the creative industries because they’re becoming increasingly important in the world.” After all, our industry is built on the concept of “reaching and connecting with people,” as the technology director suggests and, “in the real world, people are increasingly doing this through digital means.”

Therefore, the weight on a senior leader’s shoulders is to assess this, and put it into action by placing opportunities where teams are “learning to learn”. By going through the motions of understanding software and its possible executions, it will allow teams to evaluate the option of utilising new technologies, “Not just so that you, as a creative or communicator can create in this new medium, but also so that you understand the constraints and pitfalls better than your clients do when, or if, they come knocking at the door wondering if they should use it,” points out Liam. In fact: “It’s as important to know when not to use a piece of new technology as it is to know what it can do.” In the experience and point of view of Nexus Studios, this approach allows the studio to “skilfully surf the novelty waves and hype cycles of any new technology; it’s something I’ve always done so I do think it’s important. If I ever stopped learning I’d be far less effective at my job.”

But where to start? Well, there are also areas of future-facing digital skills which our survey’s respondents were keen to learn more than others, which may provide a possible entry point. For instance, when asked which of the listed emerging technologies (VR and AR, AI and robotics, 3D modelling and printing, the internet of things), it was Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality that respondents felt would be the most valuable. Although it “can be dismissed as a fad,” as Liam points out, in recent years we have witnessed the rising success (and in some cases obsession) of AR, especially when “you consider Snapchat and Instagram as AR platforms, it’s actually huge,” he adds. “It’s not just Pokemon GO!”

The current situation of home working and social distancing due to Covid-19 may have swayed our respondents too, as Liam further explains: “As we move into increasingly virtual communications, it’s hugely important that we have ways of augmenting and understanding or contextualising the world around us.” Yet AR’s close component, VR, is more double-sided in its usefulness for wider practises. As Liam points out, this stems from it largely demanding so much from the user, making it more difficult to utilise in a commercially creative context. “You’re asking the user to give up their entire world and give away two fundamental senses – their sight and hearing.”

As a result the level of quality within VR needs to arguably be higher than other digitally focused visual simulations. “The world you are placing them in needs to be better than the one they are leaving behind,” as Liam puts it. From this perspective, VR doesn’t quite work in a commercial context – “No one would be willingly trapped in a helmet of capitalism” – and so the technology director suggests a more impactful use is when used artistically. An example of this at Nexus Studios is how the team utilise VR’s capabilities for storyboarding, actually for the exact reason previously discussed as an issue, “it gives you a sense of absolute focus and immersion,” says Liam. “It’s way better than just sticking your headphones on and hoping nobody bothers you! We’ll have directors and animators in VR, sketching in 3D where there are no physical constraints – it’s just your imagination.”

If you or your team are looking to get started with new technologies, Liam suggests first looking at tools social media platforms provide in these areas to dip your toe in. With AR, the director suggests trying Snap’s lens studio or Facebook’s Spark AR, both for being “really excellent” but also for the rate at which they are expanding. “Both keep evolving at a rapid pace and quickly import established grammars and patterns found in the outer wilds of more experimental AR work.” To top it off, they don’t let you dive in too deep at an early stage either, so it won’t feel like you’re drowning in the impossible. “The constraints they provide both keep new users from getting stuck and are also a really good way to ignite innovation.”