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A post-launch strategic planning model for Hiverlab

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A post-launch strategic planning model for Hiverlab

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A Post-Launch Strategic Planning Model for Hiverlab

By: Cong Zhang

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS)

May 2018

1
Table of Content
A Post-launch Strategic Planning Model for Hiverlab
0
Table of Content
1
I. Background
3
II. Business Goal
6
III. Statement of Problems and Opportunities
7
(a) Reputation 7
(b) Budget
9
(c) Competition and Acceptability
10
IV. Situation Analysis
13
(a) Strengths 13
(b) Weaknesses
14
(c) Opportunities
14
(d) Threats
15
(e) Strategic Implications
15
V. Research
16
(a) Research Goals 16
(b) Primary Research
16
(i) Methodology
16
(ii)Analysis
17

2
(c) Secondary Research
19
(i) Market Analysis
20
(ii) Competitive Analysis
22
VI. Communication Goals
25
VII. Objectives
25
VIII. Target Audiences
26
IX. Key Messages
28
X. Strategies and Tactics
29
(a) Pillar One -- Content 29
(b) Pillar Two -- Influencer Outreach
36
XI. Evaluation
41
XII. Timeline
43
XIII. Budget
44
XIV. Appendix
45
(a) Interview Transcript - Ben Kreimer 45
(b) Interview Transcript - Toshi Hoo
54
Bibliography
66

3

I. Background
Hiverlab is a start-up info-communication media technology company based in
Singapore. Ender Jiang, the founder of the company, gathered a small, professional team
specializing in media and technology and started Hiverlab in early 2015. Hiverlab specializes in
innovation and content production and it is currently focusing on content and system
development with immersive technology including Virtual reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR)
and Mixed reality (MR). Hiverlab is a leading technology company in Singapore and has become
a widely recognized name in that market.
A content creator and storyteller, Jiang entered the industry feeling less empowered then
he projected. It is not because the ever-changing technology limits his ability to tell stories; on
the contrary, the technology is too advanced to the point that it sometimes creates boundaries:
audiences cannot comprehensively understand the messages the storytellers want to deliver, and
they have very limited access to the content. Therefore, Hiverlab was founded to generate some
unique value propositions. Hiverlab’s main mission is to: push the boundaries of storytelling;
empower content creators and storytellers by lowering the technological barriers; advance
storytelling and communication experiences for the future generations
1
.
To pursue the aforementioned goals, Hiverlab has separated its work into two main
categories: content production and system development. The company started off with producing
sophisticated immersive multimedia content for its clients. The majority of their work revolves
around high-quality customized content including 360-degree storytelling and interactive VR
experience based on videos or Computer Graphic (CG). Over the past few years, Hiverlab

1
"Company," Hiverlab, accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/company.html.

4
established partnerships with individuals, organizations and businesses including the Ministry of
National Development of Singapore, National University of Singapore, Discovery Channel,
Huawei, American Express and more to help them create immersive content and share their
story. Aside from content production, Hiverlab also designs proprietary VR hardware solutions.
The hardware is designed to solve difficulties in aerial, underwater and remote-controlled
moving 360-degree filming
2
.
A team full of content creators, Hiverlab has long realized a fundamental and detrimental
problem of immersive technology: the sense of isolation. While audiences are able to fully
immerse in and interact with the objects within the virtual world, they are isolated in that
environment because the technology blocks people’s sensory experience. Experiencing VR is a
solo activity and those who enjoy the content usually lose the ability to communicate and share
their vision inside of the virtual world because that would create interruptions to the experience.
Thus, the question for Jiang and his fellow team members is how to make VR a group activity
instead of a solo one?
During the first year of the company, the team was trying to gain experience and
exposure for Hiverlab in Singapore. In the meantime, they were financially and technologically
preparing for the company’s greater goal – developing new software solutions to enable a better
VR experience. This goal coincides with Hiverlab’s mission of lowering technological barriers.
However, Hiverlab wants to develop a solution not only for the general audience but also mainly
for content creators. It wants to empower content creators by giving them more opportunities to
explain their work, share their vision and connect with their audiences all within the virtual
world. The product Hiverlab created is Storyhive.

2
"Company," Hiverlab, accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/company.html.

5
Storyhive, developed by Hiverlab’s in-house technological team, is the company’s
proprietary system and platform for interactive presentation, broadcasting and communication
with immersive technology. To fundamentally degrade the level of isolation in VR experience,
the pivotal element of Storyhive is interactivity. First launched in mid-2016, the main function of
the platform was to enable multiple users to enjoy the same immersive content concurrently on a
cell phone-based VR device under the guidance of a master control. To date, Storyhive has
undergone a couple of updates. Now, it allows content creators to easily upload and edit their
immersive content from the web portal of Storyhive and facilitate online virtual experience via
the Storyhive mobile app. Other functions of the platform include but are not limited to virtual
guidance, real-time dashboard, voice chat and data analysis. In other words, Storyhive is more
like a VR presentation system. A presenter can initiate and host a VR session on Storyhive and
this person is the master control. In this situation, the immersive content the presenter wants to
share is like the slides in a traditional presentation. Following the presenter’s guidance,
audiences can watch the same content at the same time. Audiences can be at the same physical
location for this presentation, or they can simply join the presentation like entering an online chat
room. During the VR session, the presenter serves as a virtual guide: they are able to directly talk
to the audience through voice chat, and lead the audience's’ attention using laser guidance. Using
Storyhive, the presenter can initiate a real conversation with audiences just like the one of a face-
to-face presentation. In addition to traditional VR compatible mobile operating systems such as
Android and Gear VR, Storyhive will soon be available for iOS users in 2018
3
. Storyhive was
developed for the purpose of lowering technological barriers for content craters and storytellers
and better support them to connect and communicate with their audiences.

3
"Storyhie," Hiverlab, accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/storyhive.html.

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Regarding Hiverlab’s financial standing, the company is currently profiting from content
production and system licensing. At the same time, the most investment goes to Storyhive
development. The company bought back all shares from investors in 2017 and is presently in the
first phase of becoming an employee-owned company. The team agreed to the decision on the
premise that they wanted to have more control over the product and service they provided to
their audiences. Rather than producing a product that merely fits the demands of investors and
becomes commercialized, the creative and technological team of Hiverlab is determined to
perfect its product and service offerings to bring convenience and satisfaction to content creators.
The beginning of Hiverlab is a success in Singapore. However, Singapore is a relatively
small market to develop cutting-edge technology and expand the company. Hiverlab has
previously partnered with many brands and organizations internationally and gained some
recognition, however, the exposure is not adequate for Hiverlab to raise broader awareness. It is
time for Hiverlab to enter bigger markets including the U.S., China, Japan, and other Southeast
Asia countries.
II. Business Goal
Hiverlab stated that its mission is “to advance storytelling and communication
experiences with media technology, to create social impact and enhance human cognitive
capabilities
4
.” A start-up company in a small market, they have grown and evolved its practices
to accomplish this mission. Hiverlab has distinguished its goals on its website as to
5
:
(1) push the boundaries of storytelling;
(2) empower content creators and storytellers around the world by lowering the technological
barrier for all of them; and

4
"Home," Hiverlab, accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/storyhive.html.
5
"Company," Hiverlab, accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/company.html.

7
(3) advance storytelling and communication experiences for the future generations.
These goals directly align with the company’s service and product offerings. By
suggesting that Hiverlab wants to push the boundary of storytelling, Hiverlab provides content
production service that enables individuals, organizations and businesses to all be storytellers
using a variety of media and technology. The development of Storyhive lowers the technological
barrier for content creators as well as general audiences in regards to immersive technology. It
also enhances the immersive experience by enabling interactivity and diminishing the sense of
isolation. Hiverlab is dedicated to advancing storytelling and communication with immersive
technology so that the future generations can enjoy a more open and inclusive world provided by
VR, AR and other emerging technologies.
In addition to goals designated for Hiverlab’s service and product, its business goals are
to optimize revenue, increase market share and heighten awareness in its targeting markets by
inviting more creators, organizations and companies to use Storyhive and Hiverlab’s other
services.
III. Statement of Problems and Opportunities
The future of immersive technology is unpredictable and a growing number of
opportunities are waiting for companies like Hiverlab to exploit. However, there are some
problems that need to be addressed in preparing Hiverlab to be qualified to defeat the challenges.
The problems can be summarized in three main categories: reputation, budget and competition.
(a) Reputation
To start with, Hiverlab does not have a strong reputation and awareness base as the
foundation of the company. The lack of exposure and the relatively small scale of the company
cannot support Hiverlab to quickly grow its reputation. A technology company, Hiverlab has

8
shown a high level of engagement in Singapore. It has previously partnered with world top
universities such as Nanyang Technological University. It has also collaborated with the
Singapore government to produce immersive multi-sensory content and interactive VR tours for
a number of national exhibitions. However, these collaborations and accomplishments have
minimal influence on helping them thrive in new markets, especially in North America.
Hiverlab’s work was featured in some of the major brands or organizations they have worked
with, but many projects did not get public recognition. For a company that seeks expansion and
growth in the U.S. and other countries, lack of public exposure is a huge disadvantage in the
sense that it cannot bolster the company’s credibility.
Another problem that should be addressed is that Hiverlab has not invested in PR and/or
marketing for the company and Storyhive. When I first got in touch with the company to grasp
the current landscape of the company, it was surprising to learn that it did not have a strategic
media plan for its service and product offerings. Team members are quite versatile in their scope
of work: most of the time, the person who is in charge of external communication is the same
person who carries a 360-degree camera and is responsible for the outdoor shooting. Hiverlab
failed to identify the “golden period” for product promotion both before and after launching
Storyhive. The company’s official website is being updated regularly, however, the company is
not active on any social media platforms that could positively help it raise visibility. What is
more, Hiverlab’s PR efforts are too scattered and are executed without thorough preparation. For
example, the iOS version of Storyhive is undergoing the final testing and will be available for
download by the end of February 2018. However, they had not yet started to look for influencers
and/or users in targeting markets to test and promote the product as of early January. With that

9
being said, the influence and the awareness of Hiverlab could have garnered was largely
diminished.
(b) Budget
The second problem is budget. As mentioned earlier, Hiverlab is transforming into an
employee-owned company with no investors in play. Employees now are able to purchase
company shares by investing a small portion of their monthly salary in the company. The plan is
to complete this transformation in three years. Cutting off investors raises a huge concern for the
future development of Hiverlab. As a start-up company that has not yet established a solid
financial foundation for long-term sustainability, external investment is a considerable source of
income. However, Hiverlab can only rely on profits derived from content creation and product
licensing. Hiverlab’s current financial reserve is capable of sustaining the company for another
six-month period if no projects and partnerships come in from this point. Their current resources
could be insufficient for a company that wants to largely expand its global market to several
countries at once and concurrently invests in the growth and advancement of Storyhive.
The limitations in Hiverlab’s budget also poses a challenge to the company’s external
communication and media outreach, which aligns with the shortfall in PR strategies and media
plans discussed in the previous section. Thanks to the majority of funding being allocated to
product and system development as well as essential equipment depreciation, the chance for
Hiverlab to foster its own PR and marketing sector or devote in communication outsourcing is
fairly low. A key point to note is that to reach its desired marketplaces internationally, local
communication companies in Singapore might not be qualified for the job. It also requires the
companies to have some connections within the targeted markets to cultivate awareness of

10
Hiverlab in the targeted environments. Therefore, the potential labor and financial cost to launch
in each desired marketplace can be burdensome for Hiverlab.
(c) Competition and Acceptability
In addition to the aforementioned problems, concerns revolving competition and
consumer acceptance also are obstacles for the company. The technology of Storyhive is fairly
advanced and the rationale behind it is indeed unique in the sense that there is no similar product
offerings in today’s market. But the problems are two. Firstly, the technology industry is very
mature and becoming saturated in the U.S. Secondly, other targeted marketplaces might not have
the technological infrastructure to bolster the expansion of Hiverlab.
The United States is one of the original birthplaces for technology companies as well as
entrepreneurship, however, statistic shows that almost half of small businesses fail before
moving into their fifth year
6
. Technology entrepreneurship is prevailing in the U.S., and with
immersive technology potentially becoming the fuel of future, there are thousands of start-up
companies in the U.S. specializing in VR. With all of these businesses seeking recognition and
investment in their organic developing environment, this marketplace is becoming saturated and
it could be extremely challenging for Hiverlab to make a prominent appearance in the U.S. It
also needs to consider whether there is space to thrive so that potential users can discover, accept
and trust a small foreign company with no support from investors or influencers. With that being
said, it is obvious that both the greatest opportunity and the most formidable competition occur
in the U.S.

6
"Startups Success and Failure Rate - Statistics and Trends [Infographic]," GO-Globe, February 6, 2017.
https://www.go-globe.com/blog/startups/.

11
In addition to the U.S., China ranks second on the list of Hiverlab’s most competitive
marketplaces. However, it is worth examining whether the holistic VR environment in China is
mature enough to accept Storyhive and where the entry point is. The Chinese government is
encouraging companies and developers to exploit immersive technology to drive industrial
revolution and establish an innovative world economy
7
. However, in the current phases, Chinese
VR and AR technology is still in its infancy -- VR headsets had only begun to spread on the
market in 2016 and the technology is mainly in a couple of economically powerful cities; the
available VR content on each platform are nearly the same because of the massive shortage in
original immersive content
8
. In other words, the content and system Hiverlab can provide are
more advanced than the market’s present capability. This could cause problems for Hiverlab
when trying to bring Storyhive into the Chinese market simply because presently the VR
environment for both system and content development is not well-established in this region.
Another rapidly growing force in the global economy is the Southeast Asia region. For
this strategic planning model, in additional to Singapore, countries that are grouped under the
“ASEAN 6” banner will be primarily considered – Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand and Vietnam. Traditionally Singapore has the most convenient geography which
enabled it to develop its business in this region. However, if considering to bring Storyhive and
Hiverlab’s content creation service into these markets over the longer term, it could face
problems that are similar to those in China. Instability in government policy, deficiency in

7
Stefan Hall. Ryo Takahashi, "Augmented and virtual reality: the promise and peril of immersive technologies,"
World Economic Forum, September 8, 2017. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/09/augmented-and-virtual-
reality-will-change-how-we-create-and-consume-and-bring-new-risks/.
8
Zake Zhang, “6 Things You Need to Know about Chinese VR Market,” Virtual Reality Pop, March 2, 2017,
https://virtualrealitypop.com/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-chinese-vr-market-ccd8a5c5b85c.

12
technological infrastructure and the potential insufficiency in financial resources could all limit
the development and adoption of Hiverlab in this region.
It is important for Hiverlab to also acknowledge and be familiar with indirect
competitions. Nowadays, media is taking up the majority of people’s time. The success of
mobile devices has encouraged people to experience emerging media more often. But the status
quo is that the time that people contribute to media rarely includes VR and/or AR. TV, laptops,
and mobile phones are still the main sources for people to acquire information and socialize
9
. It
is true that an increasing number of people is willing to experience immersive technology, yet it
is extremely challenging to make VR popular to a level that people perceive it as not only an
interesting experience but a useful tool that disseminates valuable and educational content. In
addition, the digital age has trained technology users to be multitaskers. That directly contradicts
the rationale of VR and AR -- a pure immersion. Thus, another problem for Hiverlab and other
developing VR companies is how to successfully change the status quo and the perception
towards VR, so people utilize it beyond the entertainment level.
Though considered successful in Singapore, Hiverlab faces a number of challenging
obstacles. However, many of the impediments discussed above can also be viewed as
opportunities. For example, the extensive number of competitors has constructed an environment
in which there is no domination in any part of VR and AR. The instability in technology
infrastructure and the insufficiency in original immersive content in some regions may also be a
strong force for faster development. The above-mentioned aspects will be summarized in the
situation analysis section, and a more in-depth market analysis will be incorporated in the
secondary research.

9
Tim Merel, “The reality of AR/VR competition,” TechCrunch, October 21, 2016.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/21/the-reality-of-arvr-competition/.

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IV. Situation Analysis
(a) Strengths
Hiverlab has a couple of strengths that can help it achieve its overarching goals. The
primary one comes from the creation of Storyhive. A proprietary system, Storyhive is the secret
weapon that can make Hiverlab stand out from its competitors. The majority of the most well-
known VR applications and platforms on the market such as Jaunt VR, Orbulus and VRSE all
focus on providing games, multimedia content and real-world simulation. Though a part of
Hiverlab’s specialization is content creation, the highlight of Storyhive is connecting multiple
users’ VR experience at the same time and allowing them to communicate and share views
within the virtual world. The concept of linking users and presenters together while they are
immersed in the same environment is an idea that most developers have not yet implemented in
their product design. With that being said, Storyhive is without a doubt a first of its kind in terms
of its unique rationale and cutting-edge technology. The company is special because it reinforces
the power of immersive storytelling and human communication. As mentioned earlier, today’s
technology sometimes takes away the most important part of content -- the story and its meaning.
The well-established foundation in Singapore is another strength that Hiverlab can utilize
for future expansion. The partnerships and collaborations Hiverlab currently has in Singapore are
mostly established with top-tier institutes, organizations and even the government. On an
international scale, Hiverlab has worked with leading brands including Google, American
Express, DHL, Discovery Networks and so forth. All of this working experience can help
Hiverlab construct a potent resume to reach new marketplaces and attract new users.

14
(b) Weaknesses
For weaknesses, the most critical one is the limited source of income. The relatively low
budget is a major problem for Hiverlab’s future development. As a start-up business with no
investors in play, it can be stressful to manage system development, content production and
international expansion all at the same time. Creating content and upgrading Storyhive are both
time-consuming and cannot quickly convert into cash flow generation. Also, Hiverlab is missing
the potential network that investors can offer. Secondly, while Hiverlab is recognized as one of
the most outstanding technology firms in Singapore, the company is too technologically-centered
and not multifaceted enough. The company is lacking a strong communication capability that can
attract exposure and coverage for the company. Also, though the general public is not considered
as its main target audience, the lack of awareness has caused Hiverlab’s profile and user
engagement to remain consistently low. They are most well-recognized within the technology
industry in Singapore. This is potentially problematic for Hiverlab because the Singapore market
might be too small to generate long-term influence. One thing to note is that Hiverlab has a few
pre-established connections in its targeted markets such as the U.S., China, Japan and Malaysia.
These connections can be entry points for Hiverlab.
(c) Opportunities
In the age of 2018, there is a wide breadth of new opportunities awaiting Hiverlab. To
start off, as the VR technology continues growing, new markets will open up and the existing
ones will welcome more companies like Hiverlab that offer fresh perspectives and unique
products. Emerging economies like China will be more likely to bolster the development of
advanced technology. The governments in regions lacking solid high-technology infrastructures
are supporting and stimulating the growth potential in technology and economy. Some of the

15
target marketplaces are gradually shifting focus from the popularization of VR headsets to the
advancement of immersive content production and the optimization of group VR experience. All
of those dynamics can create a growing demand for a software such as Storyhive. Therefore,
Hiverlab has the potential to attract an impressive amount of new business partnerships and
public recognition. What is more, in the current phases, no one is dominating in VR and AR
because the majority players in this industry are still constantly experimenting and changing
ideas and products. The instability of this still under-developed environment opens up
opportunities for companies that crave for innovation and revolution.
(d) Threats
On the flip side, the increasing number of potential competitors should be considered as
threats to Hiverlab. The more the opportunities, the harder the competition. Because Hiverlab
wants to enter several different markets at the same time, the number of competitors increases
exponentially. It is not only the high-profile VR companies that pose threats to Hiverlab. In the
digital era, new applications and systems are developed and published every day, and even whole
technological platforms are being replaced quite often. Other start-up companies with a stronger
financial base might soon adopt Storyhive’s concept and develop similar systems, thereby
creating threats.
(e) Strategic Implications
Overall, there are more problems than opportunities for the company right now. One of
the main issues is the limited source of income and other problems that come with it. Being a
start-up company, it is risky to operate without investors, especially when a solid and profitable
market has yet been established. Storyhive has finished its preliminary development, however, it
needs to enter target markets one by one to accumulate adequate funding, reputation and strength

16
for subsequent updates and modifications. The lack of exposure and relevance is another
concern. Having no presence on social media is detrimental for any company in the digital age.
The brighter side is that though competitions are strong, each identified market is welcoming to
new technologies. Using the pre-established recognition and the uniqueness of Storyhive, it is
highly possible that Hiverlab could gain more awareness and become a widely accepted
innovative company within the industry.
V. Research
(a) Research Goals
The main purpose of this research is to understand the perception of industry-leading
experts on the importance of VR and its development. It also assesses whether there is an
increasing demand for experiencing VR content and these individuals’ attitudes toward the
accessibility and affordability of VR from the consumer perspective. It is necessary to conduct
this research because there is basically no prior research dedicated to a VR communication and
presentation system that resembles Storyhive. In order to compile a list of concrete
communications goals for the brand and develop a feasible strategic PR plan, thoughts and
opinions from industry influencers were systematically gathered and analyzed. This research is
being used to determine the marketing direction of the company as well as refine its
communications strategies and goals for the near future.
(b) Primary Research
(i) Methodology
For the primary research, the qualitative research methodology was used. Two hour-long
interviews were conducted for this research. Interview transcripts are included in the appendix of

17
this plan. Interviews with influencers were conducted via Skype includes Ben Kreimer, a
journalism technologist focusing on immersive content production and the Beta Fellow for
BuzzFeed’s Open Lab Fellowship; and Toshi Anders Hoo, the director at the Emerging Media
Lab at the Institute for the Future. Both are pioneers in immersive technology and have extensive
backgrounds in content production and storytelling.
Interviews questions were tailored according to each interviewee’s specialization and the
goals were to learn:
(1) their views on the implications and importance of VR;
(2) the likelihood other professions would embrace and incorporate VR;
(3) the differences in experience among various viewing platforms;
(4) their expectations and projections on the development of VR and VR content distribution.
(ii) Analysis
From the primary research, some key insights were extremely useful to understanding the
VR industry at its current phase: the existing concerns of immersive technology industry, the
broader implications and the fundamental value of immersive technology and its future
application.
To start, the interviewees identified a couple of major problems of immersive technology.
One is the fact that most immersive technologies can only provide a solo experience rather than a
social or collective experience. The increasing sense of isolation is an obstacle for VR, and is
even more problematic in the world of AR. According to the interviewees, for any medium
existing in the world, the majority of people want to communicate with each other through the
medium and not directly to the medium. However, the medium -- VR and AR -- is so isolating
by design and interrupts the communication process because it provides a linear experience that

18
takes away the collaborative element. It does not bring people together, rather, it distances
people. Each individual loses the ability to interact with others during an immersive experience.
The second problem revolves around content and content distribution model. Generally
speaking, according to Kreimer and Hoo, there is not an open source for content designed
specifically for immersive technology. Hoo described it as a “siloed distribution” of content in
the sense that developers and creators want to keep the things that can capture the most users all
to themselves
10
. However, from the perspective of users, Hoo mentioned that the present
distribution model limits discoverability and adaptability. Content is the bridge that connects a
variety of communication platforms. However, if the distribution model is linear and not circular,
the chain of communication is partially broken. Thus, it will be more difficult for people to
discover and adapt to immersive technology and its corresponding platforms since they are less
exposed to one key connecting element: creative content.
The primary research also examined the fundamental value of immersive technology
which is, similar to any other media, interaction and communication. The quality of immersive
experience and the robustness of a software or platform are key elements in measuring the
success of the development of a certain technology. But it is always difficult to examine how
much users have learned from the content embedded in the medium and how inspired they feel
after an immersive session so that they are motivated to share and explore again. The current
climate of the industry sometimes causes developing companies to focus purely on the design of
technology, rather than the valuable information the technology can carry and empower. Kreimer
mentioned that when he worked at BuzzFeed, the 360-degree videos he produced were shaky

10
Toshi Hoo (former media technology consultant, current director of the Emerging Media Lab at the Institue for
the Future) in discussion with the author, November 2017.

19
because 360 stabilization did not exist at the time. However, there was no complaint in regards to
the video quality because the quality of content is what attracts audiences the most
11
.
In delving into the future application of immersive technology, both interviewees stressed
the importance of applying VR and AR technology to education. By education they meant not
only the traditional classroom teaching paradigm but also any areas that appear to have an
educational purpose such as museum exhibitions, historical iteration and development projects.
VR already poses a huge influence over a number of industries including journalism,
architectural design and medical studies. Based on this primary research, the need for immersive
technology in education is rapidly rising.
To briefly summarize, the core issue is not the technology but how human
communication and collaboration intertwine with technology. Technology is only the ever-
innovating medium that can better and more seamlessly disseminate the content that people want
to share with each other.
(c) Secondary Research
The secondary research for this plan looked at the development and application of VR in
recent years along with the mainstream expectations and efforts for its future. It was vital to
assess major VR companies’ plans and strategies on exploiting the creative content ecosystem
and how to continue innovating immersive technology. At the same time, it was critical to
examine the current climate of immersive technology in Hiverlab’s targeting markets. Thus, this
section is divided into two parts: Market Analysis and Competitive Analysis.

11
Ben Kreimer (journalism technologist) in discussion with the author, November 2017.

20
(i) Market Analysis
To reiterate, Hiverlab has four respective markets in mind for its global expansion: U.S.,
China, Japan, and ASEAN countries. Below is some basic information about the current situation
in the VR and AR industry in each region.
On a global level, the market is seeing great potential with VR and AR through 2020.
According to the 2017 Digital Trends Report conducted by Econsultancy and Adobe, 26% out of
5,358 companies and 25% out of 2,700 agencies expressed their excitement about the prospect of
engaging audience through VR or AR in 2020
12
. The report’s conclusions were based on over
14,000 digital marketing and ecommerce professionals’ response to a global survey. Based on
this report, the future for VR and AR technologies is definitely optimistic since immersive
technologies keep bringing surprises and opening up possibilities. But at the same time, it was
noteworthy that the report mentioned that customer experience and content remain the leading
factors representing the most opportunities to marketers and agencies. In addition to prioritizing
the customer experience, competitors in this space need to focus on design and creativity because
these are factors that attract the most consumers.
As of today, the U.S. has the most mature environment for immersive technology to
grow. It also has the most developing space for those technologies. eMarketer, a market research
company specializing in digital marketing, media and commerce, revealed its research data and
predictions on the number of VR and AR users as of May 2017. The research concluded that AR
was actually reaching more users than VR as a result of Snapchat Lenses and Facebook Stories.

12
2017 Econsultancy/Adobe Digital Trends Report, PDF, Econsultancy, February 16,2017.

21
Nonetheless, eMarketer predicted that by the end of 2019, both VR and AR users in the U.S.
would be reaching 50 million
13
.
On the content side, there appears to be a growing supply and demand for VR content in
the U.S. as well. For instance, major news outlets such as USA Today and The New York Times
both have a website designated for VR and 360-degree videos. Videos are also available on the
mobile application of these outlets as the majority of technologies are leaning towards mobile,
which is a more accessible and affordable way to experience VR. This leads to the main problem
of the U.S. market, which is the affordability of high-end PC and console VR headsets such as
Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. Though the cost has been decreased, the price tag of
devices has slowed down the wide adoption of immersive technology in the United States
14
. To
conclude, the future is bright and exciting in the U.S., but the cost and quality are still under test.
China, on the other hand, has impressively increased investments in developing an
innovative economy, and new technologies are definitely at its core. As a result, VR and AR
have established its foundation and are widely embraced in China. Though VR and AR have just
begun to popularize, the growing space is unlimited. According to the 2017 China VR Industry
Report, China will become the biggest VR market in the world by 2021 and revenue generated
from VR will reach 79 billion Yuan
15
. It is a luring market that is attracting world-leading VR
players. For instance, Oculus and Xiaomi have partnered up to build a standalone head-mounted
display named Mi VR Standalone specifically for the Chinese market
16
. Xiaomi is a private
software and electronics company that has become the 5th largest smartphone company in the

13
"Snapchat, Facebook Fuel AR Growth," EMarketer, May 22, 2017. https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Snapchat-
Facebook-Fuel-AR-Growth/1015892.
14
Natasha Lomas, "This VR cycle is dead," TechCrunch, August 26, 2017. https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/26/this-
vr-cycle-is-dead/.
15
2017 China VR Industry Report -- Market Data, PDF, iResearch. August 11, 2017.
16
Peter Graham, “Xiaomi And Oculus Reveal Mi VR Standalone Headset,” VR Focus, January 9, 2018.
https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/01/xiaomi-and-oculus-reveal-mi-vr-standalone-headset/.

22
world in 2017. This partnership can partially reflect the significance of the Chinese market.
Though there is an immense shortage of original high-quality immersive content, it indicates that
the developing potential of this market revolves around content. The report concluded that
around 40% of that predicted value in 2021 comes from consumer-oriented content. In sum, VR
and AR will continue to climb in China with high potential in education, offline experience and
entertainment.
Japan is another marketplace that has fairly advanced technology on VR and AR in the
sense it has a solid infrastructure for immersive technology. However, most of its hardware,
software and content are developed for entertainment purposes, especially gaming. The VR/AR
Market Report published by Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) predicts that the
technology will be widely applied to various industries in the near future
17
.
Last but not least, in Southeast Asia, immersive technology is being exploted and
developed in a smaller scale and at a slower pace comparing to other marketplaces. The
audiences for immersive technology are accumulated slowly over the years because the
infrastructure is not sturdy enough. Companies and brands are looking for ways to evolve with
VR and AR.
(ii) Competitive Analysis
As with any company, a competitive analysis is always in need to look at its direct and
indirect competitors in the market. By comparing and contrasting their strengths and weaknesses,
Hiverlab is able to pinpoint its loopholes and better exhibit its advantages in the future.
From a system design standpoint, Hiverlab currently does not have a direct competitor
that focuses on solving the same issue. For starters, Storyhive is designed to diminish the sense

17
Market Report VR/AR (Industrial Solutions), PDF, JETRO, October, 2017.
https://www.jetro.go.jp/ext_images/en/invest/attract/pdf/mr_VR_AR_en.pdf.

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of isolation in immersive experiences. That is the reason why the platform allows multiple users
to view the same immersive content concurrently. It is also developed for the purpose of
empowering human communication and storytelling. It emphasizes the importance of the
meaning of stories and not just what people see on a superficial level. That is why Storyhive
incorporates the idea of having a guide in an immersive experience. Traditionally, in a VR
presentation, even if there are enough goggles, audiences not synced. Each view starts and ends a
screening at a different time. The leader of a traditional VR session usually acts as a moderator
that provides on-site technological support. There are cases when the leader is the creator of the
content, but there is no interaction between the creator and audiences while watching. However,
Storyhive has made the interaction during a VR experience possible and granted content creators
the power to explain ideas, share insights and exchange information by guiding audiences
through the VR session. With Storyhive, the experience is no longer solo, but collective.
Therefore, on a design level, currently there is no direct competitor to Storyhive.
But thinking from the content and content distribution side, there are a few names that
Hiverlab needs to be aware of and Jaunt VR is a primary one, especially in the U.S. market.
Jaunt is a company specializing in storytelling through cinematic virtual reality. The company
built ONE, the world’s first professional cinematic 360-degree VR camera. With the help of
ONE, Jaunt has produced premiere cinema-quality immersive videos for high-profile brands and
companies on topics such as entertainment, history and sports. Jaunt’s plan is to nourish the
public with cinematic VR content specifically via its mobile channel
18
. Its mobile platform is
sophisticatedly designed and serves as a collective source of its content. This all-around
company’s current reputation, ability and influence attract numerous creators to publish their

18
Ronald Grover, “Disney and other media giants are betting VR is the next big play in entertainment,” CNBC, June
9, 2017. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/08/virtual-reality-startup-jaunt-to-shake-up-entertainment-industry.html.

24
content on Jaunt. With that being said, Jaunt is a direct competitor that could largely challenge
Storyhive’s development in the U.S.
Another app that is similar to Jaunt is called Within VR. With the same passion for
powerful storytelling, Within gathers some of the best immersive content from world’s top VR
creators. Unlike Jaunt which provides VR hardware, software and content, Within only owns a
platform and includes content that is of exceptional quality. That makes Within an indirect
competitor in the sense that the company focuses more on collecting and distributing content and
not producing immersive experiences. Nonetheless, the well-designed platform and the fact that
it supports all major headsets will drive tough competition between Hiverlab and Within.
VizioFly is a noteworthy company that poses a threat to Hiverlab in Singapore. The two
companies have really similar service offerings which include traditional and immersive content
production as well as mobile application design. The difference is that VizioFly currently has
different apps dedicated to different projects. For instance, in the Apple App Store, apps such as
Florida VR and Singapore VR are both developed by VizioFly. Each one of them delivers an
independent virtual traveling experience. In that sense, VizioFly does not own a proprietary
technology like Hiverlab does that can differentiate it from other VR platforms. However,
VizioFly is dedicated to media and marketing development and providing consultation service to
businesses that seek help in multimedia marketing.
Some indirect competitors include apps such as VeeR VR and 871 VR. They are start-up
virtual reality companies based in China. These apps are mainly content outlets that share
immersive content. 871 VR has some original content produced and published by its mother
company, Escher VR, while VeeR VR acquires the majority of its content from online open
source.

25
VI. Communication Goals
The company’s priority is to attract as many industry-leading influencers as possible in
the targeted markets to use Storyhive and recognize its advantages and importance to their work
as well as to promote the product. The company needs to devote the majority of its attention on
building an influencer network that can speak on behalf of the company. At the same time,
recognizing the importance of content, Hiverlab wants to maintain and elevate the quality of
content that it produces and better integrate that content with its proprietary platform, Storyhive.
The key communication goals are to: raise awareness and visibility, strengthen the brand image,
promote the uniqueness of the product and demonstrate its long-term stability in content
production and system development.
VII. Objectives
In accordance with Hiverlab’s overall communication goals to strengthen its brand
image, emphasize its long-term potential as well as promote its product, the following objectives
should be set:
(a) To establish awareness of Storyhive among 50% of the target audience by 2019;
(b) To secure media placements in at least five media-outlets in Singapore within three
months after initiating the PR campaign;
(c) To secure media placements in at least 10 media-outlets in total in Southeast Asian
countries, China and Japan within six months after initiating the PR campaign;
(d) To secure media placements in at least three high-caliber publications in the U.S. by the
end of 2019;
(e) To increase the number of Storyhive users by 15% by 2019; and
(f) To bolster Hiverlab’s social media followers by 20% by 2019

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VIII. Target Audiences
Hiverlab has set its goal on targeting content creators as its primary users. Storyhive’s
design is beneficial for the general public in the sense that it is an additional content source to
view and experience immersive content. It also provides them with the opportunity to share their
experience and connect with other viewers including the creator of the content while enjoying
the same experience at the same time. However, the main focus of Hiverlab, which is also the
purpose of developing Storyhive, is still to encourage creative individuals and storytellers to
realize the power of storytelling and revitalize the ecosystem of immersive content. Therefore, in
addition to general users, the following groups of target audiences all play a huge role in
bolstering content creation and Storyhive’s uniqueness as a VR presentation platform that
reinforces on the power of communication and creates a collective experience.
(a) Employees
Employees place an important role in the process of promoting the company and its service and
product offerings. To start with, since the company has become employee-owned, any changes
of the company are closely related to employees’ personal interests. They have to fully
acknowledge the goal of the company and share the same resolution so that they can act as a
united force when taking initiatives and communicating with external parties. They are
essentially the brand ambassadors that represent the company as well as the trustworthiness of
the company. For a company to succeed, the quality and professionalism of its employees and
the unity of the team are vital factors.
(b) Content creators and storytellers
Content creators and storytellers are a huge part of Hiverlab’s target audiences because Storyhive
is mainly designed for them. They are and always will be the main pillar of Storyhive’s user

27
base. For this group of people, Storyhive would be a useful platform for them to publish and
present their projects by being a virtual guide for viewers who watch their content. Storyhive
provides them a pathway that can not only publish their stories in a creative and immersive way,
but also allows them to the satisfaction of sharing their insights and getting feedback at the same
time.
(c) Industry-leading Influencers
Since the system can be beneficial to many industries such as journlism, education and science,
influencers from these fields can also help raise awareness for Storyhive as they recognize the
value of the system. They do not necessarily have to be familiar with the technological details of
content creation or system development, however, this group is segmented out because they are
reputable and they may be able to see the potential of adopting Storyhive to their own work.
Also, they usually have a larger impact on building Hiverlab’s influencer network and even
facilitate possible partnerships during the process.
(d) Schools and Educational Facilities
Immersive technology appears to have profound educational potential and the desire for
immersive content and technology to be widely applied in education is rapidly increasing.
Therefore, schools and facilities such as museums and historical sites that have educational
purposes are main targets of Hiverlab. The company can produce original immersive content for
these institutions and also provide a platform that can distribute the content and serve as a
teaching tool. It would be a great promotional channel if these facilities could adopt the platform
and use it on a regular basis for events and learning sessions. A potential influencer network and
future partnerships could also be embedded if effective communication and solid relationships
are established between these facilities and Hiverlab.

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IX. Key Messages
To prepare itself for a global expansion that the team has never tried before, Hiverlab
needs to ensure smooth and effective communication with all target audiences. The messages
being delivered should be correctly expressed so that influence can be amplified. It is also vital
for Hiverlab to present itself as fully prepared for this huge transition. In order to do so, the
following key messages to target audiences should be highlighted.
To begin with, the most important piece of information is that Storyhive is truly a pioneer
and unique platform. The concept of having a guide to lead an immersive storytelling experience
has not yet been adopted by other companies in their product design. It supports a collective
experience that is completely different from the solo experience provided by the majority of VR
platforms. From the content aspect, a collective approach is bigger and more inclusive than
social -- it builds an information loop that comes back and forth between the creator and its
audiences and bolsters tighter interactions and better comprehension. The uniqueness of this
platform is a highlight of the company.
Another message that should be delivered is that Hiverlab’s value has already been
discovered and recognized by industry leaders. Not only have they worked with high-caliber
brands and companies, but Hiverlab is currently partnering with industry leaders including
Alibaba Cloud, Samsung, Autodesk, NVIDIA and more. The company’s trustworthiness and
potential can be proved by these existing partnerships.
What is more, Hiverlab has recently become an employee-owned company. It is looking
for partners and collaborators who can intellectually engage with its content and system
integration process in the long run. It is necessary for the target audiences to acknowledge that
the founder of the company, Ender Jiang, has a solid vision for the future of Hiverlab and

29
Storyhive. Because he started his career as a content creator and storyteller, he wishes for
audiences to fully understand his views and the perspectives that drove him to establish the
company and build Storyhive in the first place. Hiverlab is determined to develop the content and
system that can solve the isolation issue in immersive technology and give users a fresh
perspective.
X. Strategies and Tactics
Based on all the information and analysis provided in previous sections, there are two
pillars that the company should build strategies around to increase visibility, encourage
partnerships and drive engagement. The two pillars are content and influencer outreach. Content
is one of the highlights of Hiverlab, but content is not just what is on the platform -- it represents
the value of the company as well as the engagement that arises from it. Influencer outreach, on
the other hand, is the key to the company’s primary goal to successfully enter new markets.
(a) Pillar One -- Content
As a media production and system development company that focuses on the power of
storytelling, Hiverlab has extensive experience in creating original multimedia content. Most of
its content has great educational values and has been adopted by its partners for long-term use.
Hiverlab has always tried to challenge itself and surpass what it has achieved before on a
storytelling and technology level. However, a hole that is in need of fulfilling is content that can
accurately introduce and promote the company and its product. Hiverlab has unique product and
service offerings, and it is seeking a wider range of audience. By focusing more on repackaging
the company through owned and paid content, Hiverlab should be able to increase visibility,
heighten awareness, and generate a positive perception among target audiences.

30
Two strategies are designed for this pillar: (1) Digital media marketing through owned
and paid content; (2) Diversifying content offerings across different markets. The first strategy
aims at the opportunities and visibility that digital media can offer. These days, most forms of
media can bring exposure to individuals and companies. Following visibility, there comes
curiosity, hence engagement. The second strategy focuses on the differences in digital media
among target markets. Each region has its preferred media and distinct audiences. And each
media favors stories that best echo its style. Therefore, content diversification is important for
Hiverlab to be accepted and followed on a variety of media platforms.
To fulfill the above-mentioned strategies, three specific tactics should be implemented:
(1) Increase the usage of social media for strategic online marketing; (2) Enlarge owned content
and repurpose it for various platforms and (3) Target market-specific outlets for media outreach.
To elaborate on each tactic individually, the first initiative is to increase the usage of
social media for strategic online marketing. In the digital age, social media is becoming the
primary source for all kinds of information including news in finance, lifestyle, entertainment
and more. It is a cheap but effective way to quickly reach audiences. Today, most people learn
about names and brands that they have never heard before through social media because it
delivers information to users rather than the other way around, when users must search for
information in a browser. The power of social media is unlimited. Therefore, having well-
cultivated social media accounts that contain substantial information can really increase visibility
and make the company seem more approachable to its prospective customers.
Currently, Hiverlab is falling behind in the competitive social media environment. The
company only has a Facebook page that has about 560 followers and it has not been updated
since February 2017. A Twitter account exists but has never been used. And there is no presence

31
on Instagram at all. Its most recent online post was a one-minute video published on YouTube
introducing Storyhive 3.0 that is coming up in 2018, but the channel has fewer than 100
subscribers. The company’s official website is being updated regularly and contains sections
such as past work, company overview, news and blogs. However, the lack of brand awareness
has caused a shortage in website traffic. Therefore, an active presence on digital media is
desperately needed.
For Facebook, which already has a certain number of followers, posting photos and
regular articles would be a start. As a company specializing in media production, multimedia is
an essential element that should be added to its social media platforms. Videos and photos are
the easiest and the most effective way to draw attention and encourage engagement. So, it is
important to include Hiverlab’s creative work on Facebook. On the article side,
recommendations include starting from re-posting and commenting on industry-related news.
Firstly, this will encourage pre-established followers to comment and share opinions to drive
online engagement. Also, it may stimulate reposts, which can also increase visibility. From there,
to extend influence and enhance awareness, Hiverlab should post original content including
articles, photos and event details that feature the company and its product and projects at least
once a week. A simple way to implement this is to sync blog posts from its official website to
Facebook so that both sites’ traffic can be increased.
Twitter is the platform that may have the most impact on Hiverlab’s influencer network.
It is a platform where industry leaders, reporters, VR enthusiasts and the general public are all
active and connected. Hiverlab should be able to build engagement through retweeting relevant
content and talking directly to target audiences. Connecting on Twitter can greatly benefit
potential partnerships in the future in the sense that most of Hiverlab’s target media outlets have

32
an established presence on Twitter. Twitter is also where individuals and companies can show
voice and personalities. Therefore, Hiverlab should get on Twitter on a regular basis and actively
participate in industry-related conversations.
And lastly, Instagram and Weibo are two trending social media platforms that Hiverlab
needs to establish a presence on, especially Instagram. Hiverlab could draw from Veer VR as a
learning model. Veer is also a small company but it effectively users social media as its primary
channel to attract users. On Instagram, Veer publishes short 360-degree videos or photos every
day. A hashtag #letsveer was created by the brand and each day a small giveaway winner is
selected among people who use that hashtag. Small incentives on social media can be a potent
driver for engagement and visibility.
For Hiverlab, it’s recommended that they first set up an account for the company and use
it as a pathway to publicize the company’s product and service offerings. Another way to engage
audiences and increase visibility is to be active on Instagram Story. Weibo is a Chinese social
media platform. Over the past few years, Weibo has gradually evolved to become a combination
of Twitter and Instagram: its publishing format is similar to Twitter yet it has also added Weibo
Story as a new feature in 2017. Therefore, the same initiatives can be implemented on both
Instagram and Weibo, only the content needs to be tailored as they face distinct markets. For
both Instagram and Weibo, they could create the hashtag #BeTheHive that represents Hiverlab
and include it along with other VR-related hashtags in posts to raise awareness. Also, the public
is more willing to see humanized content that reflects personalities. Thus, for Instagram and
Weibo Story, Hiverla should share a mix of Hiverlab’s professional work and the team’s daily
life. Noteworthy is that Instagram and Weibo are two direct channels for paid media. Increasing
the usage of paid media would help promote the product as well. Creating videos for paid

33
advertisement on social media across different platforms could greatly benefit the company’s
visibility and awareness. As the majority of platforms that people use are paid advertising
channels, it is worth it to put money on it.
The idea of diversification leads to the second initiative which is enlarging Hiverlab’s
owned content and repurposing it for various platforms. This initiative is aiming at humanizing
the company, showcasing different characteristics of the team and making its product and service
offerings easy to understand in order to increase visibility and drive engagement. Because the
company’s official website is the only platform that is being regularly updated, online traffic is
not optimized. There are also times when company news is not published in a timely manner. For
example, it appears the company scrapes news and event reports for three months and updates
them on the website all at once. It is a detrimental move, especially for a small company that
wants to make a presence. Prompt communication with target audiences is an essential trait for a
strong brand because it represents a positive company culture and attitude.
With that being said, Hiverlab could start focusing on promoting effective
communication with its target audiences and also diversifying published content to attract a wide
range of viewers. This initiative goes hand in hand with the first one because setting up social
media accounts is the first step, however, what really matters is whether these accounts can
maintain and increase the quality and diversity of content to bolster viewership.
There are a couple of platforms that specifically could be repurposed. One is the blog
section of its official website. Currently, Hiverlab’s blog posts are written in a report style. Each
article features an event or project with only one short paragraph and a photo or video. The
information provided is usually too vague for readers to understand what the project really is.
There is no detail on the interesting and exciting parts of the events such as user experience,

34
funny stories, feedbacks from participants and so forth. The content is too stiff to the point that it
cannot perfectly represent the scale and achievements of those activities. It also makes the
company less humanized.
Raising awareness usually involves attracting target audiences with the company’s
personality and core value. And the messages delivered through any public channels can
influence how people perceive the company. Therefore, it is recommended to change the
currently style of the blog and incorporate as many details as possible to show the voice and the
soul of the company. It is a great way to let target audiences recognize the capability of Hiverlab
and encourage future partnerships. Then, Hiverlab could categorize their articles and form a
routine. For instance, a category named “Progress Monday” should include articles that
summarize progress of the company over the past week, recap past events and introduce new
features of Storyhive. Another category could be “OMG Thursday” which delivers fresh reviews
on VR- and AR-related products or provides insights on innovative emerging technology news.
On top of the blog section of the website, an FAQ page should also be added to the website
because currently the website does not have a section that comprehensively explain how
Storyhive works.
Another platform that Hiverlab should devote some efforts in is YouTube. As a pre-
established channel, YouTube is an asset for Hiverlab because it can reach a wide range of
unexpected audiences. Hiverlab could make tutorial videos on how to use Storyhive and separate
videos explaining complex features. Posting completed event and project videos can also help
Hiverlab to establish a digital presence and increase credibility.
After refining the blog section and its YouTube channel, it is recommended that Hiverlab
links all of its social media accounts to its official website to drive visibility and engagement. Of

35
course, the content on each platform should be different and complement each other. For
instance, following the publication of a new blog post or project video on Hiverlab’s official
website, a social media post should be created and published across various platforms as an alert
to audiences. What is more, the company should always link new blog posts from its official
website to Facebook so that both pages’ traffic can be increased.
Lastly, the third initiative for this pillar is to target market specific outlets for media
outreach. Because Hiverlab is at its early stage of expansion, the priority is to open up the doors
and establish a presence on a general level. Hiverlab should pitch industry-focused media outlets
to reach its target audiences through both owned and paid media.
To discuss each market individually, there are a number of VR news outlets that Hiverlab
needs to pay attention to in the United States: VRScout, The Verge, TechCrunch, CNET and
Mashable. These outlets all have a primary focus on the technology industry. VRScout, for
instance, is a news outlet that is specifically dedicated to VR and AR. It is influential because of
its niche audience base. For VRScout, it is necessary to reach out to Jesse Damiani, the editor-at-
large of VRScout who also has a special interest in immersive storytelling; Zeynep Abes, a
writer and media artist who has a background in both museums and the technology industry;
Jordan Wheeler, a writer and digital content creator. They have covered VR and AR news that
focus on storytelling, and their background and experience are related to Hiverlab’s
specialization. At The Verge, there is also a VR section which consists fresh articles written by
Adi Robertson and Tom Warren. Karissa Bell at Mashable is a top VR influencer and reporter.
With an emphasis on covering apps and social media, she would be a perfect reporter who can
provide great insights and review on Storyhive. TechCrunch and CNET are two special outlets
because they have branches in China and Japan. With that being said, building relationships with

36
journalists from these outlets can greatly amplify the effect. Some reporters that would be a good
fit are Lucas Matney at TechCrunch and Scott Stein at CNET.
Moving on to the Japan market, Sato Nobuhiko at CNET would be a potential partner. He
writes about the technology industry and also is in charge of translating foreign news source. At
TechCrunch Japan, Takuya Kimura mainly covers VR and AR. Other VR-specific outlets in
Japan that should be considered are VR Inside, Panora and ImpressWatch. These outlets are
similar to VRScout which only reports VR- and AR-related news. In China, some major outlets
to look at are TechCrunch China, Tencent Tech, ifanr and QDaily. These outlets have an
emphasis on the technology industry and are some primary channels for Chinese to learn about
emerging technologies. For outlets such as QDaily and ifanr, they are also mobile. Hiverlab
should target their mobile app and the paid advertising opportunities. To conclude these two
markets, the only problem is that most Japanese and Chinese outlets rely on translating foreign
source. Therefore, the United States is still the main focus for media outreach.
Lastly, in Southeast Asia, recommended journalists include Anna Mitchell and Hurrairah
bin Sohail at InAvate Asia Pacific; Weiqiang Ye at Lianhe Zaobao; and John Lui at Straits
Times. They cover technology news and Hiverlab was previously featured in these outlets as
well. Therefore, it is important to strengthen the connection and increase the exposure.
(b) Pillar Two -- Influencer Outreach
Support from influencers is what Hiverlab desperately needs in its current state to widely
raise awareness and boost visibility. Also, because Hiverlab is designed primarily to provide
easy solutions to content creators, it is important to focus on promoting the company and the
product to and through influencers because their power and resource are great assets to Hiverlab.

37
The strategies for this pillar are three: (1) Engage influencers through immersive
storytelling advocacy; (2) Increase brands and influencers partnership; (3) Establish and enlarge
a content creator community. These strategies are proposed for the purpose of increasing and
strengthening brand awareness, building a tighter connection with influencers and encouraging
partnerships that can exhibit long-term values. For each strategy, there are a couple of
corresponding tactics that will bring positive impact to Hiverlab.
The product and service of a company cannot communicate with target audiences, but the
voice and the belief of a company can. It is the message a company sends that talks and engages
with people. The uniqueness of Hiverlab is not only that Storyhive is a one-of-a-kind platform,
but also the rationale behind the development of Storyhive -- to reinforce the power of
immersive storytelling and human communication. Hiverlab should use it as a “secret weapon”
to gather those who share the same view. People are more likely to accept something once they
have relatable opinions or experience. Therefore, the first initiative for this pillar is to participate
in major technology conferences and expositions in target markets. And the most important
message to deliver on these events is the significance of immersive storytelling and human
communication. There are a growing number of VR expositions and conferences around the
world and the good thing about these events is that people come here open-mindedly. They are
curious about each product as well as the story behind it. Also, industry leaders and the general
public all come to the event. Therefore, VR conferences and expositions would be a robust
avenue to reach target audiences, raise awareness and generate engagement.
Another initiative that can integrate with the first one is to put Ender Jiang, the founder of
Hiverlab, under the spotlight to be the face of the company. Jiang is the beginning of Storyhive
and the core of the company. He identified the weakness of traditional VR storytelling and

38
discovered a way to provide a solution. He came into the media and technology industry when he
was in college. Thus, similar to other experienced content creators and technologists, he has a
distinct vision and philosophy to share. An advocate of immersive storytelling and once a
speaker on TED, Jiang and his compelling stories can be attractive to the company’s target
audiences. It is believed that the company is going to grow prospectively as Jiang’s recognition
heightens.
In combination with the two initiatives above, several events are recommend to attend in
2018. In the United States, VRLA and Silicon Valley VR Expo are great starting points for
Hiverlab to establish its presence. VRLA welcomes entries of all VR developers and content
creators. Also, a series of speech in regards to VR and Education is already scheduled for the
2018 Silicon Valley VR Expo. As education being a huge part of Hiverlab’s future focus, this
event will help it learn global trends, build connections and increase visibility. In Japan, Hiverlab
could potentially reach out to Japan VR Summit and ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality and
Technology, and VR/AR/MR World held inside the 4th Advanced Digital Technology Expo.
The 2018 Asia VR & AR Fair & Summit will be held in China which also welcomes
international businesses to enter. TECHSPO Singapore and the 5th VR World Singapore are also
great opportunities for Hiverlab to reinforce its reputation in its birth country.
The second strategy is to increase brand and influencer partnerships. Not only can
Hiverlab’s product and service offerings help influencers with their scope of work, but
influencers’ connections and outreach raise awareness for Hiverlab.The only tactic for this
strategy is to host regular interactive VR sessions customized for different audiences.
To begin with, a large group of Hiverelab’s target audiences are museums and other
educational facilities. Storytelling is the core of Hiverlab, and it is also an essential element in

39
education. Everything in nature has a story whether it is exhibited in museums or out in the
world. What is more, stories connect, inspire and educate people from one generation to another.
Hiverlab’s content creation ability is able to present stories in an immersive way, and Storyhive
can connect people and encourage interactions. Therefore, a recommendation to Hiverlab is to
pursue long-term partnerships with museums and schools by producing immersive stories and
hosting regular interactive VR showcases for visitors and students. For instance, in partnership
with the National Museum of Singapore, Hiverlab has created immersive content replicating
endangered UNESCO sites and held an interactive VR showcase in the museum. A way to
prolong this partnership is to make this showcase a recurring special event in the museum that
happens every three to four months. At the same time, Hiverlab can create one to two new
projects a year to ensure audiences can experience fresh content and learn different things.
Also, Hiverlab can host similar sessions in partnership with schools from middle schools
to universities. This recommendation is feasible in Singapore and other targeting markets where
transportation in between is convenient. For the United States, Hiverlab should secure at least
one long-term partner to host one or two showcases a year. Academy of Art University in San
Francisco could be a potential partner. It has successfully held two VR summits in the past,
meaning the students have a profound interest in immersive technology. Hiverlab’s work
featuring art and history would be a great fit for art students as well. Also, because the summit is
open to public, Hiverlab can quickly increase exposure among industry leaders, raise awareness
and secure future partnerships.
Another focus in this tactic is to partner with recognizable brands and companies. Their
reach and influence can catalyze Hiverlab’s growth in awareness and visibility. Hiverlab has
partnered with Toyota in the past to transform Toyota’s racing series to a mobile VR experience.

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There is not a doubt that Toyota is a world-leading automobile brand that can reach millions of
people. However, this partnership has limited impact on Hiverlab. The first problem is that the
content has a rather niche audience in the sense that it is only available on Toyota’s Virtual
Reality app. Secondly, people rarely notice the developer of the content which is Hiverlab on
that platform. Lastly, Storyhive has no position and value in this partnership. Therefore, another
recommendation is to extend this partnership, turn it into an interactive experience and take the
content from online to offline. This partnership can be established with any brands that Hiverlab
produces content for. Toyota, for example, hosts numerous events globally every year including
auto shows, racing competitions, ride and drives and so forth. Hiverlab can participate in a
couple of auto shows and provide interactive VR experience using Storyhive and the content
Hiverlab produces to exhibit Toyota car performance. By taking the content from online to
offline, both Hiverlab and Storyhive can get more recognition, hence increase awareness and
promote the product.
Last but not least, the third strategy focuses on establishing and enlarging a content
creator community which is the primary user of Storyhive. Currently, many content creators who
have worked with Hiverlab before are waiting for Storyhive to upgrade and be more stable to
use. They can be a strong force in promoting Storyhive and inviting more and more users. Thus,
Hiverlab should invest in building a content creator community that gathers users, shares ideas
and experience as well as invites collaborations.
The first initiative for this strategy is to start a weekly email marketing campaign to
registered users and previous partners. If social media marketing is intended to reach and
influence a more general audience, an email marketing campaign is more targeted and meant to
strengthen the relationship and communicate with current and potentials customers. An email

41
campaign is able to raise brand awareness through constantly referencing the product and the
core value of the company. It can also increase the user base because it can be shared easily. The
content of the email can be: fresh content alert, team members profile, new features introduction,
events promotion, advertisement and/or summarization, and recent achievements recap. Some
recommended subjects include “Top 5 Hive of the Week”, “Join the Hive”, and
“Weekly/Monthly Recap”.
The second tactic is to establish a tighter emotional connection with and among content
creators. To achieve this, Hiverlab should organize local meetups and small gatherings. This also
reflects to the idea of taking the online offline. In-person communication usually has a greater
effect than online communication because it triggers deep conversations and establishes
emotional connections. The more they engage, the more likely they can contribute valuable
insights. People can always bring in new members who could potentially be Storyhive’s next
users. The platform is developed to empower content creators, connect people through
immersive technology and cater storytelling. Therefore, offline meetups are more direct and
effective to boost communication, strengthen the community as well as heighten awareness.
Though it is more convenient for Hiverlab to host regular meetups in Singapore, special meet
and greet events should be arranged in target markets whenever possible.
XI. Evaluation
One last essential element of a strategic plan is to measure the effectiveness of
implemented strategies and see whether the results are optimistic. In correspondence to the
objectives proposed earlier, there ware a few categories identified to measure the success of the
campaign. Also, because the duration of this campaign is quite long and the range is really wide

42
as well, the company is strongly encouraged to monitor and evaluate the metrics every three
months and also perform benchmark comparison each time.
The first category to look at is the growth in media exposure. A huge part of Hiverlab’s
success can be measured by the number of media placements in each target market. The overall
goal of this campaign is to raise awareness and bolster visibility for the company and its product
and service offerings. Therefore, Hiverlab should keep track of the number of media placements
in various markets throughout the campaign. The company should also adjust their focus among
different markets based on performance in each stage.
Metrics in regards to social media followers, email click rate, website traffic and so forth
are also important to measure. These metrics can be categorized as the growth in user
engagement. The increase in the number of followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Weibo
and YouTube strongly proves the increase in visibility and awareness. The number of shares,
likes and comments and whether these numbers increase over time also represents the growth of
the company. These numbers are great reflections of content engagement which is a huge part of
the campaign. They examine the quality and attractiveness of the content provided through these
online platforms. For Hiverlab’s official website, some important metrics that should be closely
monitored are daily, weekly and monthly unique visitors. It is also important to measure the
average time spent on site to assess activeness and calculate user stickiness. Because the
company is facing different markets, the number of viewers in each market can help the
company to learn its current position. Lastly, a successful email marketing campaign would
require the company to closely monitor precise metrics such as delivery rates, open rates and
subscriber retention rates.

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XII. Timeline

The timeline template above is what this plan proposes to Hiverlab in regards to
implementing the recommended tactics starting from May 2018. Given the fact that Hiverlab’s
social media accounts are currently so underdeveloped, the company’s top priority is to set up
various accounts and construct an initial online image as a decent, innovative technology
company. The setup process is fairly simple, however, it is time consuming to determine the
most appropriate tone for Hiverlab’s social media content so that it best resonates with the
company’s style and concept. Therefore, two months is given to Hiverlab to set up new social
media accounts and revamp the existing ones. In the meantime, Hiverlab needs to start devoting
efforts in content creation to fulfill the online space. Generating original content on social media
and other platforms should be a program that runs through the whole campaign. Even the
campaign is over, the company should still go above and beyond with its owned content because
these platforms are the most direct channels to heighten visibility and stimulate engagement.
For paid media advertising and target media outreach, these two timelines are designed to
fit the ones of other tactics. Though the company is able to sustain itself in the current phase, a
large expansion plan like this would still put pressure on Hiverlab’s finance state. With that
being said, paid media advertising should be implemented when it can prolong and amplify the
influence generated from other initiatives. That is why this plan recommends Hiverlab to focus
on paid media for two consecutive months every four months. The months for this program are

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the last month of brand and influencer partnerships and the first month of VR conferences and
expositions. Hiverlab is able to use this time period to largely increase its awareness and
visibility. Moreover, Hiverlab should constantly pitch to the media and find the perfect contacts
to build connections with throughout the campaign.
Speaking of brand and influencer partnerships, three sections are blocked out on the
timeline table, each for a three-month period throughout the campaign. Hiverlab is able to start
off the campaign with these partnerships because the existing ones with high-profile companies
already construct a solid foundation for Hiverlab. The plan is to repurpose and upgrade these
partnerships to maximumly promote Hiverlab and its product and service offerings, and also
exploit new partners along the way. Following each partnership period, the company can
continue to increase its visibility by attending VR conferences and expositions. Hiverlab is
scheduled for those events in Spring (March to May) and Fall (September to November) because
large events are usually held within this timeframe.
Email campaign is similar to the content creation program which should run through the
entire campaign because Hiverlab needs all the time it has to foster relationships with its pre-
established audiences. To further secure relationships with its users, community events for
content creators should be held every two months. The time slots also ensure Hiverlab’s
engagement with both domestic and international audiences as the team will be attending VR
events in other countries during this program.
XIII. Budget
Hiverlab decided to allocate an overall $40,000 for this campaign. This strategic planning
model is constructed on the premise that Hiverlab does not have a large budget for
communications and public relations. Many of the suggested tactics can be executed by the

45
internal team without external help. With consideration to the needs of each tactic, the most
resources will be allocated to paid media advertisement, VR conferences and expositions
participation and brand and influencer partnerships.
$4,000 will go towards content creation, email campaign and target media outreach. To
tailor the needs of each market and/or platform, content diversification may be a time-consuming
process. But as a content production company, Hiverlab already has a lot of great multimedia
materials prepared for these channels. They have also already invested in the majority of
software needed for creating content. The budget is mainly for any other products and/or services
that they need access to when creating new content. Hiverlab can save some money on target
media outreach as well as pitching through social media and emails has become the prominent
way for media outreach.
$11,000 will go towards to paid media advertisement. Paid media offers unexpected
opportunities and connections, and there are huge possibilities to exploit. Another $11,000 will
go towards VR conferences and expositions participation. This budget will mostly be spent on
transportation and entry fees since many events are held in Hiverlab’s international target
markets. In regards to brand and influencer partnerships, this is another program that is in need
of devotion in both finance and labor. $14,000 should be allocated for this program. Brand and
influencer partnerships usually guarantee the most payback. Regardless of the scale of the
partnerships, Hiverlab will be able to increase visibility, bolster awareness and generate revenue.
Therefore, brand and influencer partnerships will require the majority of the resources.
XIV. Appendix
(a) Interview Transcript - Ben Kreimer
Interviewer: Cong Zhang
Interviewee: Ben Kreimer

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Date of Interview: 11/27/17
Interview Type: Skype Call Interview
Interview Topic: Journalism and Virtual Reality

Cong: Hey Ben, how are you doing? You got back to the states yesterday, right?
Ben: Yeah last night.
Cong: You must be exhausting.
Ben: Actually, I figured I would be because the time difference between India and here is a big
jump but I'm pretty good.
Cong: That's the first day. I got back to China like two days ago. Yesterday I was feeling fine
and I slept for eight hours. But today I only slept for three hours.
Ben: Yeah, It’ll be worse. I mean I'm used to this kind of jumping around but I don't know about
this time.
Cong: I guess so. Do you mind if I record this conversations so that I can write the transcript
afterwards.
Ben: Yeah that's fine.
Cong: All right, I’ll jump right into it. So basically when I'm interviewing for is just to get
opinions from experts in other industries about how they think about VR in terms of how VR can
help them. Like how can it help you in journalism, and then to get an idea on how to make
Storyhive available and useful to other experts in other industries cause it’s a very useful tool but
a lot of people are not aware of its existence. So. First of all, I know on your website you
describe yourself as a journalism technologis,t so I know you're an expert in drone journalism
and also is doing a lot of 360 video content production. Just give me a little bit introduction of
yourself and your work.
Ben: Yeah. So, I call myself a journalism technologist because I'm interested in how emerging
technologies can be leveraged by journalists and storytellers, broadly speaking. I specifically do
not focus in a certain area like I don't just do drones, I don't just do 360 video because I believe
that given the all of these emerging tools and technologies that have become available and that
continue to, you know, show up like now augmented reality, the list goes on. All these tools
work together and they're complementary to one another.
For example, you know, I use my drone to shoot 16 by 9 video or to shoot 360 video, and to do
photograph imagery for 3-D VR. So right there, the drone alone is a tool that could produce
content for, you know, gosh, four different mediums: traditional video, 360 Video, 3D VR and
augmented reality because you can take a 3-D model and bring in to AR. So, these tools and
these mediums are very complimentary to one another. Over the past few years I've been
experimenting and figuring out how journalists and storytellers can best take advantage of these
tools and specifically the accessible forms of the tools so low cost, you know, accessible
platforms whatever. They may be for whatever medium or tool we're talking about.
And so in doing that I've worked with universities, like the University of Nebraska. I'm actually
working with a group of students that's going to Puerto Rico for three weeks and we leave on
Sunday. So, I do a lot of work with the universities kind of in the educational workshops sense.
So, a couple of weeks ago I was in Kenya doing a five-day 360-video training for storytellers
from East Africa. But I also work side by side with journalists. I was the founding fellow of
BuzzFeed’s open lab in San Francisco back in 2015, which is where I was for a year. I worked
with journalists there side by side doing a 360-video stories including BuzzFeed’s first 360 story
back in fall of 2015.

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But I've also done a lot of work in the development space in the past year. I left BuzzFeed a year
ago. About a year and a half ago, I've been doing a lot of work with Australian Aid and figuring
out how emerging storytelling technologies can be leveraged in the development space both for
development work and on the ground. So like how can we use VR as an educational platform for
children and Tonga Fiji. But then also doing, you know, telling stories about development
projects using 360-video and drones, etc.
Cong: That’s an impressive background. Okay, so then how long have you been in the business?
When did you first start to do all of these?
Ben: Well as an undergrad student. I would say January of 2012, it is when I got into this
particular line of work. I had been in broadcasting even as a student. I was working at a
broadcast organization since like 2008. And then in 2012, I got involved with the drone
journalism lab at the University of Nebraska. And that kind of took me in this direction of
emerging technology and storytelling. So since then, it was first drones and then doing sensor
journalism projects: building sensors with the Tower Center Columbia in New York, and then I
got into more of the 360-video and 3D side of things in 2014 or 2015. And that's what I've been
doing since then.
Cong: That’s a real long list. I guess my next question is that over the five years that you've been
involved with emerging technologies, what type of technologies do you use back then and then
what type of technologies do you use now that you feel like the industry has really changed.
Because I think that every year for technology is a big year now. Everything just happens so fast
and comes out, I mean, out of nowhere.
Ben: I mean drones are a good example because five years ago the drones that we were using
and the Drone Journalism Lab were notoriously unreliable and did not work well. You know,
DJI, for example, existed, but it was the early days of DJI so they had drone kits that you can put
together. They did not have, like the phantom hadn’t come out yet so that they didn't yet have
this sort of prepackaged ready-to-go drone in a box that you can get now that you just pull it out,
charge a battery and go fly. So, everything was a lot more DIY. It's a lot more you have to figure
it out yourself on the drone side of things and now it's just, it's so easy. And that's in the past five
years.
Same goes for 360-video capture. So, when I was at BuzzFeed, I made an open source 360-video
camera that was centered around two GoPro cameras. So, basically before the Samsung Gear 360
came out, I was sort of building my own version of that because I wanted a relatively high
quality but also low cost and easy-to-use 360 camera because I want journalists to use it. And at
the time and even now I mean using the six GoPro rig was just a huge pain, and it wasn't
reasonable to, you know, give it to a journalist and say “OK, go use this” because it's such a
painful piece of technology to use. Very complicated, cameras shutting off, overheating etc.
Anyway. So, I made a camera, a 360 camera, using two GoPros. I put in aftermarket lenses. So
basically, I was making a Samsung Gear 360 before it existed because I also had a cable that
would sync the two GoPros so you could, you know, you would use one GoPro camera to
control both. So, they were perfectly in sync so that it was easier to sync up the footage and post-
production for stitching. But again, you know that was relevant for about six months and then the
Samsung Gear 360 came out. And so obviously now 360 cameras were on the second version of
the Gear 360. You've got just an explosion of cameras available. So again, it's just become faster,
easier and more accessible for people, which is extremely important especially in the journalism
space, where you have to move quickly and oftentimes you're a one-person team out in the field.
Simplicity of equipment is very important in order to be able to use it.

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Cong: Definitely. So, I guess you kind of touched on this a little bit. From the transition you
were talking about, how do you think of this transition. How has it changed the industry from the
perspective of a journalist. But I think it's a perspective from a technologist as well.
Ben: There’s two sides to it. The first side is the sort of industry side but, let's not let's not think
about the consumer element which is on the journalism side of things. I mean there are two sides
in my mind. There's the consumer. There's the audience side of the content and then there's also
purely the journalism industry, which obviously the two are intertwined but for the sake of this
explanation I will separate the two. I'll say that on the journalism side, there has, especially in the
past few years, been a huge interest in figuring out the future of journalism and how reporters
think how it will work and what does that mean. Obviously, given the state of the media today,
the tension, fake news and all that, I mean journalism is kind of going through a period of
transition. I mean, just looking at the transition from newspapers and print to digital and all
digital. Right? So, a lot of transition and a lot of sort of figuring out or trying to figure out what
does it look like, what tools do we use, you know, to make the journalism of the future. And so,
from that side of things, 360 is a great example of a medium and a tool set that has come at a
time when journalism is looking to evolve. And obviously as with the advent of this new
medium it has created possibilities and opportunities, which is what, you know, it's an area that
journalists can move into to sort of help make that future of journalism for reality. No pun
intended.
But on the other hand, you have the audience side. And I think the challenge is, if we're talking
about virtual reality, how are people actually going to, you know, consume content? And so, it's
great to be able to produce 360-video, but in the end, there's the challenge of how are people
going to watch it. How are people going to experience it, given it's not a ubiquitous view even
with Google Cardboard out there. There's tension there, in a way, between wanting to evolve and
make the future when in reality, the public has to sort of catch up. And that, I think, presents
some problems. But nonetheless, 360 has provided, at a very crucial time, an opportunity for
journalists to enable the audience to experience stories in a way that lets a viewer, say a 360-
video, sort of draw their own conclusion to some level. Because in the past if you were watching
a 16 by 9 or fixed frame video, you know, in that video are shot and edited. And what you see is
exactly what the producers of that video wanted you to see. But in 360 video you can look
around, for example. And by being able to look around, that gives some impetus to the viewer to
engage at a higher level. I think. Because they're engaging with the content in ways that you
cannot with traditional video. And I think that's a powerful mechanism, when you have a
skeptical say when you have a skeptical that questions the validity of how truthful the news is.
So, there's an opportunity, given the state of media and journalism to leverage that kind of
unique mechanism of 360-video and the ability to explore.
So, timing wise, it's really interesting and really great. Again, you run into challenges around
distribution whether it's Facebook, YouTube or even people watching content in goggles and
others do it using the magic window. That's why some people are saying that we're in a VR
winter right now, which is fine. I suppose on paper that might be the case. But unlike in the past
waves of virtual reality. This time it's not going to go away because the tools that are used like
mobile phones are not going to go away. And so, it's not like there's a special technology per se
that's been developed specifically for VR. We're simply leveraging what is already available
which was not the case in the past. Although there is the element of VR goggles, I think that
there's enough momentum given the use of mobile devices for VR, given that laptops are now
capable of running high-end VR systems.

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It's easier because there are fewer hurdles today to the accessibility of VR. Though there’re still
challenges that we run into, there are fewer hurdles and I think those hurdles are only going to
get smaller and smaller over time. Slowly it'll take time but that there will be, over time, more
and more people who are viewing content. So, in a way, there was a huge kind of hype burst a
couple of years ago, specifically in the journalism space around VR. And I think that reality is
kind of setting in that, you know, it’s not there's anything wrong with the medium. It's easier
today, easier than it has been in the past to produce the content. You just have to wait for the
public to catch up and to have the ability to view and experience the content as we intended it to.
And I think that's going happen. We just have to wait and hope that after Christmas this year for
example in the US you know there's going to be a lot more headsets and people's hands. So we'll
see how that goes.
Cong: Let's move on to the content sites. You'were talking about VR’s advantages and
challenges. So, for all the projects you do, how do you usually present your work. How do
people usually see your work through what mediums and platforms.
Ben: It’s been social media. When I was at BuzzFeed, everything went up on Facebook and even
since then the projects that I've done, the 360 projects. I did a project in Tanzania earlier this year
which was published on Facebook and YouTube. With the exception of a project that I did with
USA TODAY Network in Southern California about the Salton Sea environmental disaster, that
went out on the USA Today app. But for the most part, usually it's on Facebook or YouTube or
both.
The work that I do has two purposes. One is the storytelling, you know, to broader audience
we're going to put this on social media, we're going to share it broadly speaking online that
people can access it. But there's also another side for the distribution and audience accessibility
that's one-on-one. For example, I do a lot of speaking conferences. I do workshops and trainings
where I've got VR goggles so that people can put the goggles on. They get to see it that way.
And the idea is, in that context, it's more about learning how the tools work, how to make 360-
video. So in a way it's like, the story matters, but half of the reason is that people are engaging
with the content and learning how to do it.
Cong: As you were saying that you use social media to present your projects and work. I guess
there are limitations. Can you talk about the limitations because a lot of your works are
immersive content, but having those content posts on social media, it kind of just takes away the
immersive element from it.
Ben: Yeah exactly. That's the challenge. Like when I was at BuzzFeed, we were publishing on
Facebook. We knew that nobody or virtually nobody was using goggles to watch the 360
content. So nonetheless, it worked well. Our first video got over 6 million views. There was an
audience for the content but it wasn't being viewed in the way that it is supposed to be viewed.
But that was just the realistic. That was the reality of the situation especially in 2015, early 2016,
hardly anybody had VR goggles. We are interested in a bigger audience compromising that kind
of goggle immersion. And that's I think the challenge again going back to journalism and 360-
video. That's the challenge -- there is the desire to innovate, to create the future of storytelling
and to use those tools now. But if your audience doesn't have goggles, or say if they don't have a
way to consume the content the way it's meant to be made, what do you do? Do you just not
make it or did you kind of go the lowest common denominator route which is the magic window,
you know, and the browser, click and drag, which obviously isn't great but that's what your
audience is using and you want it to be accessible, then that's the route to go down.

50
That's that's been the challenge. So which is why I like what we did. I was in the US Aid in
Washington D.C. back in October, there was an innovation week about basically about
innovation in the context of international development. And I helped around in the VR lounge
there. In that case, I was showing the work that I had done for Australian Aid. We had at least a
couple hundred people come through with a couple of vibes set up. That was kind of the best
possible situation. That was optimum but otherwise, it’s social media. Most people are using
goggles or cardboard to view the content.
Cong: For those limitations and difficulties, I know that not everyone can have the perfect gear
to experience VR but is there any solutions that you're looking for in the near future to elevate
the viewing experience and better present not just your work but also the thoughts and feelings
behind the camera when you filmed those footage.
Ben: For example, when it comes to actually shooting, I mean, let’s go back to use BuzzFeed as
an example. We took creative liberties in shooting those 360 videos because we knew that they
were not being used in goggles, meaning this was before the camera and 360 stabilization. The
video was shaky. If you view those videos in goggles, that would not be the most comfortable
experience. But we knew that people were not using goggles and they were just using the magic
window. They were just browsing in the news feed. It was fine. Nobody complained about the
videos being too shaky because people were not doing goggles. If, you know, today where the
content like I gave the example of the US Aid. Today I assume everything that I do is going to be
viewed in goggles.
So as a result, if I'm using my drone to shoot 360 video, I make sure obviously everything is
stabilized. I make sure that it's going to be a comfortable viewing experience. And so, when it
comes to shooting, I shoot for the goggles. There are not a lot of people that are going to view in
goggles but there will be cases where people do view in goggles, which is what I'm more and
more focusing on today, as the sort of quality over quantity experience. For example, I've been
talking to museums. Right now, I'm working on a project on education in the development space
where there will be goggles. It's not meant to be social VR or social 360. It's meant to be an
experience that not everybody gets to experience necessarily. But it's designed to meet the
quality of experience. In schools if you have a hardware there, the kids are there, they get to
experience in there for example. And just trying to think more about, you know, because there is
now widespread adoption of VR goggles, I'm thinking more about what kinds of projects and
stories and what kinds of experiences can be viewed or experienced either at a given location or
locations where people who don't own goggles themselves will be able to have access to them.
So really trying to figure out where VR fits into other contexts, so like I said, museums,
education, and development projects.
Cong: That’s exactly the mission of Storyhive.
Ben: And that’s why I like Storyhive.
Cong: Let’s talk about Storyhive. What do you like about it and what do you not just say not like
about it but hope that you can get better at a certain level.
Ben: Like I was saying, these days I'm very interested in the sort of captive audience where you
have people that are in a position where the goggles are sort of put on them. It's not up to them to
put the goggles. And to create experiences that are collective. I think like when we use Storyhive
for the Institute for the future on their ten-year forecast conference, that was awesome because it
was a collective viewing experience.
When I talk to people who are not in the VR industry, you know, I'm really curious what people
think about VR outside of the industry. You know the negative feedback that I've heard

51
repeatedly is that it's a very isolating experience. You know, you're cut off from people around
you in the space where you’re in, which has its pros and cons but especially the people element. I
think that when you can bridge the individual experience and make a collective, I think it really
can resonate with people and really in powerful ways that can that can make it a much more
powerful experience, versus if you're just viewing something by yourself.
That's what I liked about Storyhive -- I guess there's just the ability to bring people together and
do immersive storytelling at the same time. I think that's a great direction to go and I think it's
going to be really crucial moving forward given how people are.
I think of, when you go to a movie theater my favorite movie experience was in India with my
sister and a couple of friends. The people were just going nuts in the movie theater. And so, the
movie was great but also it was just so much fun from being there with everybody and
experiencing this together. And it's the same when you know families get together and watch
television together. Is VR gonna disrupt that? And now everybody is going to be in goggles
watching their own thing. I don't know. I think it is always going to be that collective
entertainment side of things and not only on the entertainment side but in other contexts too.
Like in education, if you have a class, I think a VR is going to succeed in an educational context.
That will be very critical that it's a collective experience for everybody who's involved in the
experience. It’s not just going to be a one-off: you do this thing and another student does
something else. I think to be able to bring everybody together into the experience which is partly
why education has a lot of value. Learning together and being able to talk about something
together and experience them together in the classroom. You know, that's what I miss from my
undergrad days in colleges, being in a classroom and learning together versus say learning online
and I hated online classes. Such an individual experience. I hated it because it wasn't a collective
engaging experience like that. There’s an enormous need to bring VR into the that collective
space. So again, I think that's one of the perks of Storyhive.
Cong: Yeah definitely. Togetherness, I think, is the core of basically everything. I really love
going to movie theaters in China because like people just give funny comments throughout the
movie and it makes a movie fun. That's the point of people getting together and watching movie
and eating popcorns all together.
Ben: Exactly. Even with the VR stuff, you know, I had a lot of cases when I'm sort of demoing
for people. It's funny because, like when I’m in a conference say, and I've got my V.R. stuff set
up and people can come through after giving the talk and try something out. On the one hand, it's
a sharing experience where I'm there to share this medium, the story, and they put the goggles
on. And then they kind of go off and they come back. And so, I guess I'm trying to say is, it's like
even when I'm demoing a VR experience for someone it starts and ends with “Here we are
together. I'm going to share this thing with you.” Right? And I think there's something, it's like
how can we make that more seamless where, it's not just, you know, I’m introducing what you're
about to experience. You go inside the experience. And then a little later you come back out and
we engage again.
It's like instead of having that break in between when I'm introducing and then when you're down
and we're kind of talking about what you went through. How can we make that more seamless?
Maybe that's not always needed. But it reminds me when I go through that that we are, as a
species, social and that's a very important part of how we get along with people and how we
interact. It's kind of a problem with the medium because it is so isolating by design. But if you
can leverage the strengths of that isolation, which is the immersion and figure out ways to

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elegantly and naturally make it a more collective experience that others can participate. And it's
not just you alone. And I think it could continue to be a really amazing tool.
Cong: I agree, the whole point of communication and the entire industry is to get people to
communicate and interact with each other. VR has that limitation but when there's a possibility
that this barrier can be lower and it might be gone in the future, it is truly exciting.
Ben: Exactly.
Cong: That’s perfect. So my last question to you is: what expectations and projections do you
have on the development of Storyhive so that it can bring new perspective to journalism to help
you to get your ideas out there. How can we make it better?
Ben: Well let me think. I got access to use it when I was in Kenya because I wanted to use it, just
as an aside. I wanted to use it in Kenya with this group of journalists and storytellers, digital
storytellers. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to because we didn't have standing to make it all
work. We just spent too much time on the production side of the workshop and there wasn't
enough time to get the content that they made into the Storyhive system. So which I guess is one
thing. Just to make it… OK, I'll give you a very specific example of what I'm getting at. Not only
should it be easier to get content into the system. But what we're trying to do in East Africa is
democratize VR storytelling. The challenge there is three. One is data. You know, if the content
is available online in some form via app, Facebook or whatever. people don't have the data
allowances to be able to consume. The content is too expensive for most people. So there's that.
You also have the limited Wi-Fi. A lot of people don't have Wi-Fi. They just have the phone and
their phone is probably not a high-end phone. It's hard actually to find a high-end Samsung like
an S8. There's a lot of other Samsung's that I'm not even familiar with that I see for sale and
people are not using. They're not capable of running the high-end VR. So that's that's an obstacle.
But what I'm getting at here is there's an accessibility opportunity, perhaps, which is to bypass
Internet and to go local for distribution.
So there's a company in South Africa called Eduze. What they have is a content box.
They've got thousands of these boxes I think， at least a couple thousand, that have been
distributed around Central and East Africa. They contain different kinds of multimedia content.
Primarily they're focusing on education right now, so these boxes have gone to schools but
they're not getting into the commercial domain. They’re working with the Matatus association.
So basically matatus are like buses, public transportation. And in African countries. So they're
working with Matatu associations in Kenya to get these content boxes into Matatus so that when
you're driving around, you're riding around, you can have access to these boxes which you
connect to when your smartphone. I think it's over Wi-Fi. It's over Wi-Fi so you can stream
content directly from the box. Anyway, point being I wonder if there would be you know if
there's something there in the context of Storyhive which is, you know, considering the
developing world is one, which is a question that we have. This is kind of off topic but does it
even make sense? Is there a demand or will there be a demand or need for this kind of content in
places like Kenya, Uganda or Timor Leste, etc.. And maybe the only way to figure that out is to
make it available, to make the content available.
Would there be an application for Storyhive, say in the context of these local types of content
distribution then rely on some sort of box or some non-Internet source. I don't know. It's just an
example of what we're working on, which has some overlap with Storyhive and that it's about
sort of local experiences that you're not pulling necessarily from the Internet and streaming
content.

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Other than that, honestly, I don't think I've played with Storyhive enough to have a very long
wishlist for what I'd like to see. I do remember I loved it. Even though it was a bit rough, I really
loved the 3D environment implementation or you can look around and fly. And it was very
simple. As I recall, it was a bit rough but I thought it was really cool especially compared to the
360-video content.
I realized part of a limitation is what the phone can handle so there's only so much you can do
with the app but you know making, continuing to refine the 3D content side of Storyhive.
Because you know I'll put a put my vibe on somebody and they'll watch a 360 video, and then I'll
give them a 3D VR experience. They practically forget about the 360 video after that because the
3D is just so mind blowing -- to be able to move around and to look around. I think that's what
I'm more excited about 360 versus 3D in terms of storytelling because it's so much more. It just
hits you at a much greater level than 360 video does.
Cong: These are very good points to start with.
Ben: I love it what it is so far. I've looked into other platforms to see what's out there and I
haven't come across anything that I feel like I would rather want to use. I was really disappointed
when we didn't have time to use it in Kenya. But the next time we do a workshop, we're going to
make sure that it's more woven into what we do because what we're trying to do, again,
democratizing VR in East Africa, is we're trying to create a network of people who are both
producers of the content but also play a role in distribution. And I think that Storyhive as a
platform… for example, the concept of traveling cinemas. When you have a cinema or you know
somebody who goes to a community, goes to a village and they project a movie me. Obviously,
you could do that with VR. And Storyhive could be a great platform to use. These influencers
that were doing workshops could take Storyhive and do showings in the community of content.
Use Storyhive as the platform to show. There is a lot more that I want to do with it. But I just
haven't been able to do yet.
Cong: Yeah, the platform is fairly rough now. They finished their iOS version of Storyhive just a
couple of weeks ago. And then I think they're going to launch that because… this is one of the
limitations that I presented to Ender because I think that not everyone has a Samsung. It's
obvious but it's a very big problem for a platform that rely so heavily on just one brand. And then
another idea that I will present a kind of parallel to your ideas that I wanted to make a story or
have a content outlet for 360 videos, for just anything related to 3D so that people can constantly
come back for it.
Ben: Yeah. Okay let me ask you this. This could have already existed. I just don't know about it.
It's hard to stay on top of everything and the VR industry. I guess Facebook is working on this,
but from my perspective, if you were to tell me that I could download Storyhive, sure it's a
content platform, I can access 360 videos, whatever. But if you were to tell me that in addition to
that, there was a social or social element so that I could, in some way, engage with people who
are also viewing the same content. I would go holy cow. I want to try that because… And I know
that's kind of what Facebook is going after. I have no idea if that's even within the scope of
Storyhive. But you know, you've already got the sort of collective experience built into it. So if
you were to take the content side of it in such a way that me sitting alone in my bedroom, I could
experience something with somebody else. I don’t know, is that even within the reality of
possibility?
Cong: Let me tell you this. Storyhive doesn't have that, obviously, but it's my ultimate goal for
them. It's actually my ultimate idea for my thesis. I just wanted it to be a content outlet where
people can be social. It's like a social media. Social media is a huge thing right now and people

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can't live without it. People have to talk to other people or have to share their life with others. So
if the Storyhive can be something related to that, I think it will be a huge hit.
Ben: Is there anything out there like this?
Cong: I don't think so. I know that Facebook is trying to do this but I don't think… because
Storyhive is really the first of its kind.
Ben: Yeah.
Cong: I was doing competitor analysis, but I really couldn't find something that resembles it.
Ben: there's one app. The people I was working with in Kenya one of the guys knew about it. It's
a similar concept. But it was weird. They really shot themselves in the foot because they… For
example, it works the same way that you have a master device and then the slave device. But the
master device has to be an Android tablet. Let me find the name.
Cong: It will be really helpful for my competitor analysis.
Ben: It's called Sync VR.
Cong: Think it's good. Yeah I think what they're doing is a lot like storia so I'm not actually use
the platform so I can't say for certain I'll definitely do some research on this. Anyway, thank you
so much. This took a lot longer than I expected but I really got some good stuff that I work with.
Ben: Yeah. Yeah. You’re welcome.
Cong: I greatly appreciate it. Take care. Bye.
Ben: Bye.
(b) Interview Transcript - Toshi Hoo
Interviewer: Cong Zhang
Interviewee: Toshi Hoo
Date of Interview: 11/20/17
Interview Type: Skype Call Interview
Interview Topic: Virtual Reality and Storytelling

Cong: Hi Toshi, how are you doing?
Toshi: Pretty good. How are you?
Cong: I’m good, let’s jump right into it. So I know you're really a pioneer in VR or any cutting-
edge technologies to be exact. So, to start off, can you introduction yourself?
Toshi: So, a brief introduction. My name is Toshi Anders Hoo. I am the director of the Emerging
Media Lab at Institute for the Future. Institute for the Future a non-profit independent research
organization based in Palo Alto, California. We're about to celebrate our 15th anniversary of
doing the work that we do, which is working with large corporations, governments, and
nonprofits to help them think more strategically and creatively about longer term future, typically
maybe 10 to 20 years horizon. Not so much shorter term, because, you know, organizations think
about planning for their short term.
We have a number of labs at the institute where we have everything from the future of health,
future of governance, future of food. My lab, the Emerging Media Lab focuses on the future of
communication and collaboration. We practice both more standard forecasting than the other
institutes does in terms of looking at emerging trends and doing analysis and scenario planning,
and working with clients to help them think about longer term strategies. Really not so much
how to develop products, but how to understand how the world might be changing in the longer
term and how to navigate as an individual and as an organization, as the context, the systems and
the paradigms are shifting. We also embark on a lot of prototyping and projects as well to work
with the emerging technology such as VR and AR. In the past year, some of our projects include

55
building an Augmented reality museum exhibit for a large organization in California based on
Google's mobile tango platform. we've created a collaborative data visualization VR experience
with Cisco that's exploring the idea of the future of spatialized data and collaboration in VR.
We've also created an internal project called Sim Taner which is a virtual reality simulation
platform for conveying ideas about future scenarios in general. And then we also of course
collaborated with Storyhive on building out some 360 programming as well.
So, our interests are wide ranging. We're looking at tracking the proliferation of these
technologies as they're emerging. We're interested in engaging and hacking with the applications
of them. We're mostly interested in looking at the longer term implications on the wider society -
- everything from education, health, general consciousness, government, politics and just kind of
the human condition and human expression.
So that's kind of the overview of cool.
Cong: Cool! So, I know that before we came to the Institute of Future, you were also an artist, a
content creator, can you talk about the shift in technology over the past decade? How many years
have you been in the industry?
Toshi: I've been working in industry over 20 years. It's been interesting, my career. I actually
graduated from high school in 1991 and I got into five top film schools in the United States. I
visited all those film production programs, and for the most part, they had almost no digital
media equipment at the time. So, I actually opted not to enter into film school because I realized
I was going to be learning to edit produce with real film stock, and things that to me, at the time,
seemed like they were going to quickly be overtaken and outdated by digital technology. So, I
kind of follow the side path where I know my career kind of mapped very closely to the
emergence of the digital media revolution. I worked at one of the first digital media post-
production houses in the country. I became an editor, a motion graphics designer, eventually a
director and producer as well. I had the first version of Final Cut when it came out. I bought the
first digital video camera and kind of was living the dream of the independent film producer with
my entire film production and editing and visual effects package in a backpack, which was quite
revolutionary for the time. So, I started working in film and video production. I also was a media
artist for many years. I cofounded a visual installation group called “Noise Laboratories” where
we created interactive multimedia installations for events, where we would provide tools and the
interconnected media systems and projection systems not just to make art but to allow the public
to create art with us. So, I was very interested in the idea at the time. This is all pre-YouTube and
pretty much the kind of early Internet days pre-media-rich Internet. Mediascape was very much
dominated by traditional broadcast and mass media organisations. So, our main mission for the
artwork at that time was around transforming media from one directional medium to
conversational medium, where people can participate and explore that. I also taught a lot. I
taught a lot of educational classes and filmmaking video production and even media literacy to
young people earlier on in my career. I worked a lot in museums -- producing media for museum
exhibits.
And then, kind of in the middle of my career, because of my experience with working with the
emerging technology, I started becoming a more consultant in that field. I've worked with
organizations looking to take research at projects that they are developing and helping to
communicate around the possible future use of those. So for the last maybe 10 to 15 years, my
career combined with a lot of production and making of media as well as consulting around what
the tools might be and how the tools are going to impact the production and creation process.
And I would say that all has culminated now in my new role as the director of Emerging Media

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Lab in serving the role of both studying the impacts of these new technologies as well as also
producing media with them and about them, because I think especially with something like
media formats and particularly with the new immersions of experiential media, I don't believe
that you can really understand the implications the capabilities and the larger impact of these
technologies without getting hands-on experience. Because what I've learned throughout my
career is that, you know, the most exciting aspects of emerging technologies are never intuitive.
In fact, they're almost always counter-intuitive because we become the nature of media and that
we build literacies around the capabilities of the existing platforms. And as time goes on, we
develop these literacies, and we become more fluent and more expressive and more connected,
and then with the introduction of a new, any sort of fundamentally different or disruptive media
technology. It takes time for human beings to take this these new platforms and tools and learn to
say things that they couldn't say before and have conversations that they couldn't have before.
And I would say that is the crux of the work that I do -- really it's not really about technology; it's
really about human communication and collaboration. And I am always most interested in
looking at the emerging technologies to look for the capabilities and affordances of those
technologies that didn't exist in earlier platforms and formats. And I believe that it's through
those capabilities and affordances that we develop new forms of metaphorical expression. And I
believe that metaphor is the building block to storytelling. I believe that stories are art instruction
manuals for consciousness both as individuals, as collective groups. To me that is essentially the
the conceptual DNA of who we are as humans as a connected organism. So, I've also been
politically active in my career as an media activist and a lot of the work that I'm doing now has
kind of political implications in the sense of… I think it's very important to provide tools to a
wide range of social organizations to maintain the diversity and equanimity that I think is
important for a well-functioning society. And that's part of our role at the institute -- we believe
under the philosophy espoused by William Gibson who said that the future is already here. It's
just not evenly distributed. And so, I kind of operate under this kind of personal mission
statement at the Institute of Teachers Future distributed. And that is the idea there is how do we,
as particularly for media related work, how do we not only figure out the new ways that we can
communicate and the new types of discussions that we have, but how do we make sure that those
discussions are more inclusive and that those tools are supporting a wide range of voices.
Cong: Awesome. So let's move on to some VR related questions. I know you started to study
VR very early. I watched the real time VR presentation that you set up for TED, “the Making of
Ramona.” It really blows my mind that was like early 2000, right?
Toshi: Yeah, that was 2000 before TED was even public. I'm impressed that you found the
video. But yes, that was a collaboration with the world-famous futurist Ray Kurzweil who I
know from since I was a child because my dad worked for his company when I was a kid. So I
was familiar with Ray but was invited to participate in that project. And you know, it's
interesting working with Ray Kurzweil. Obviously, he's a visionary and he's a futurist who has
predicted many things but I have a slightly different kind of view on futurism. Ray is a brilliant
computer scientist and kind of playing out of all these technologies development and the
integration of humanity with our own technology, as you know, taking on and becoming our own
technology. While I think there's a lot of really great opportunities there, I'm not a utopian in the
same sense that I would say Ray is -- Ray really believes that this is going to evolve us to a better
place. I think that especially at the institute, we really try to, as I mentioned, figure out how these
these new developments can be more inclusive.

57
Our founder was Baran and he was one of the developers of the early Internet. And so it is in our
DNA, specifically this idea of distributed networks, and we believe that's a much more balanced
way for all systems to be operating under. And so, things like the Internet that are based on that
philosophy clearly had a major impact on the world. Sorry, I'm going a little off here. You want
to ask me what you are. To be honest, I would say that I work on that project with Ray and that
was a very early view into the idea of having a virtual alter ego and being able to control a virtual
character in real time. And you know that was a really early view. I did not do any VR projects
in the intermediary time between then and then in fact about a little over two and half years ago,
I got exposed to some of the earlier versions of consume- based VR. I actually looked upon VR,
right before VR I had done a bunch of immersive filmmaking but using films like projection
films and like planetarium theaters. I've done a lot of just kind of ambient media design and
installation work. I've kind of become a little disenchanted while I leaved in the kind of the
potential for these immersive experiences. (15:52) I found that production was very limited in
the sense that you were basically putting... It was more of an immersive movie than an
immersive view as an individual. To be honest, I know some of Hiverlab’s work focus on this.
Initially when I saw early mobile based VR and 360 video, part of this was my experience with
domm films, I was very unimpressed at the time. I thought, okay, this is suffering from some of
the same issues as domm films where, yes, you're producing the opportunity for people to see
anything they want, but for the most part, as a content producer, you’re producing lots of content
-- 80 percent of everything you're producing as content producer, people are not going to see
because they're looking somewhere else. And that I found to be very frustrating both from a kind
of economical production standpoint, and especially before you know we had easy-to-make
stitch cameras and 360 cameras. It was very challenging to make an immersive experience. And
it just didn't pay off in that way. But more importantly, they're kind of touching back to the idea
of storytelling, I felt that 360 video and d films really were cutting off something that is really
essentially in core. There's some real serious challenges around making an immersive user driven
interactive media and that if you believe as I do that a fundamental aspect of storytelling is that
this is a communication medium. We are living in an age right now where we're much like food
and calories -- we human beings are kind of evolutionarily predisposed to be hungry for story.
And I think that in the modern age, we've lost the fundamental understanding of what the
function of story is, just in the same way that we kind of lost the fundamental sense of what food
is for -- it's not just entertainment it's actually to survive. I believe the same thing is around story
that we use to have a scarcity of calories and we used to have a scarcity of stories, so our hunger
to make us pursue those things is part of our survival instinct. Now, of course, we have not only
an abundance of calories but we have an abundance of story, and we've recreated this new
category for both food and for story of entertainment. And what it's missing and I think it's
actually a big failure right now and a real threat to actually our human survival globally right
now is that this story is meant to provide valuable information. It's a communication from the
storyteller to the story listener or receiver. And part of the challenge when you start to create
consumer or user driven storytelling is that when you let the user drive the choices in the story or
drive the decision of what to pay attention to, you lose the ability of the storyteller to
communicate their point of view or a coherent story. Essentially, traditional filmmaking is made
with the idea of the frame. Many people think, oh, we've gotten rid of the frame, and so, isn’t
that freeing? Well, it's freeing. Yes, if you think that the whole experience is around the
consumer decisions versus rather than information being communicated from somebody who has
a point of view or information to somebody else. And so, you know, when you tell a good story,

58
you don't tell everything and let the user decide -- the story is essentially about framing. It's the
things that you choose to emphasize and the things you choose to leave out and the connections
you make between those. And one of the challenges around 360 video is that by removing that
kind of framing device and the connecting device, you lose that ability to communicate that.
My other critique of VR early. I mean, it's kind of ironic that I now run the lab, but I will say
before, up until about six months before I started this lab, I was very sceptical about the positive
implications of being able to deliver on VR as a you know positive impact on humanity. I was
very concerned both about the loss of storytelling capability and then also the loss and the
increased sense of isolation – yes, it's more interactive but, you know, at least in the early days,
even to this point, almost every VR experience is a closed solo, one-directional experience and
360 video even more so because it's generally linear experience.
Now I say all this to be frank but to say I was and continue to be very skeptical about the true
implications and impact of 360 video. But Hiverlab’s platform was an exception to that rule, and
I think that what you guys have has some really key elements that I think not only help deal with
those limitations but actually open up, you know, what I was describing before, is what are the
new ways that we can communicate, what are the new kinds of discussions that we can have.
And that would include the idea of a guide. You're doing it collectively and a teacher can act as a
guide and that you're connected in real time. The guide also has some feedback. I think your
ability to not only see where the viewers and the students are looking but because you are aware
of where the students are looking, you can guide their experience. You can say, you know, oh, I
see you're looking at that, well, let's all look at this collectively. And so I think you rebuild a lot
of storytelling function and the guide function is really a key to survival -- the survival function
of storytelling and that the information conveyance portion of storytelling.
Something that was interesting for us in our application of Storyhive technology was… I hadn't
anticipated this but we work with three of our researchers, two researchers and one external
partner who we're producing 360 content to produce three presentations. One in particular did
something that I hadn't thought of which was rather than having like a continuous in-headset-talk
for the entire thing. It was an intermittent usage of it. So they would ask people to take their
headset off and put it back on. And I thought that was a really novel use case where it was an
integration of 360 content with a more traditional in person conversation.
I think one of the big problems that any sort of media technology has with education is, from a
kind of bean-counting standpoint, from an efficiency standpoint, you know, kind of seeing
teaching as a mechanistic process where, okay, can we just plug students into this technology
and they somehow magically learn. I believe that there needs to be a role for the human
interpretation there. Obviously, there's a lot of aspects of current modern education which is also
not very modern actually. It's been kind of legacy practices. There's a lot of things that can be
removed and really should not be done -- we should not be using humans for. But I do personally
and professionally strongly believe that there's a human role in education – the role that teacher
as a guide, a storyteller, an ally, a conversation partner and an idea partner is super valuable and
very important. So, I like that aspect of you're having in-person experience that has a virtual
element but really a supplement to the human in-person experience that you're having. And it's a
collective collaborative experience where there's feedback loops and communication and
comments and exploration.
Cong: Yeah, I really appreciate that. You basically covered three of my questions. I was going to
ask you about the change of VR. And also, you know, right now we have the idea of isolation
that's like the core struggle in VR and how can we solve these problems. Just talk about this

59
isolation in general, is there something in the future that can be developed to solve this problem
in VR and AR. I mean A.R. I think it's also a very personal experience that it's not sharable.
Toshi: Yes. Yeah. It's, in fact, even more problematic. Well let me just say one thing to kind of
frame this question.
So I think that there's obviously a lot of excitement and anticipation around the potential of
mixed reality technologies. But what I believe there are three primary obstacles for us to really
look at what we have now and to really understand what the longer term potentials of these
technologies are. And those three are (1) solo versus social, (2) e-expert versus easy content
creation, (3) siloed versus open distribution of content. And just to quickly overview those, most
VR experiences now are solo experiences. And let me just say, I believe all these problems will
be solved. It's just that there are technological, economic and conceptual problems right now. I'm
very excited that we're able to play in the sandbox that we have now, but I guess, I offer this kind
of view of where the walls that we need to get over so that as we're in the early stages we don't
think too limited. We aren't limited by the limitations of our tools and platforms right now. And
so that we have a path forward over these walls and some of these walls are being kind of
eliminated sooner than others.
So, on the solo versus social. Very quickly, from a kind of application, technology and
experience design standpoint, it's just harder to develop a social experience than it is to develop a
solo experience. it's just much more variables from user interaction and all these things. So it
makes sense that people are making solo experiences. Also, as you know, probably Hiverlab is
aware of, 360 video is the easiest point of entry for more immersive content right now. Even
though I think it's not only limited but limited in some really critical ways around the true
potentials of full immersive interactive experiences. It’s a starting point to just begin to even
communicate in those right ways.
Obviously, for the most part it's a linear experience. And so, the idea of like a social experience
where we're going to share, even that is changing in the market. I mean there's a bunch of … I'm
specifically following a lot of social platforms. I could go into a lot more detail on that if you're
interested but I won't because it is an area where I focus quite a bit on and that's why we're
building collaborative tools. We're looking at things like Anyland, I'm looking at things like the
way of VR that are assuming the idea that this is a communication platform and a collaboration
platform. Just look at the impact of computers and the adoption of computers pre-email and
after-email. The way I say is that there's only a certain small percentage of the population that's
really interested in talking with machines. We want to talk through machines to each other --
that's a much much much broader application.
And since we kind of get over the early technology issues and the kind of network complexity --
that's what's going to happen and that's why Facebook spent all that money on Oculus.
So, and then the second is easy expert versus easy content creation. That’s just kind of an
obvious one. Look at people's interaction with the Internet pre-social media and post-social
media. Social media is not just about people expressing themselves – it’s about the fact that they
could because the technological barriers were removed. And not only is it just about, oh, there's
more variety of content, it's more variety of conversation and then the tools of all because they're
learning to support much wider ranges of communities, individuals in these cases. So that's
where the platform is get much more robust and valuable, beyond the initial applications of what
technologists think it's for.
And then in the third category is distribution models. This is probably the hardest one because
there's a lot of technological and economic barriers. You know, the app store, siloed distribution

60
model makes sense for a because all these companies that are early movers, they are making
massive investments into this area and they want to capture those users. And so, it doesn't make
sense to kind of open things up. But from a user standpoint, of course, it's like imagine…I can
only see… you know, if I want to share a website with you but I can only show it to you if you
have this computer and signed up for this monthly subscription kind of like the AOL. It removes
the network effect. The fact that we don't have linking. The fact that we're don’t have linking
doesn't just limit discoverability and adoption. It also eliminates the kind of major function of
having a collaborative networked communication platform, which is that it's not the collection of
information on that platform -- it's the connections that are made between those things just like
the Internet. And just like our brain. Our brain isn't about the neurons in individual cells that we
have in our brain. It's about the ways they're connected and that's where the story emerges，
that's where the sense emerges, and that's where the meaning emerges. So that's a little mini
lecture but I think a critical one to try to go back to this idea of solo versus social. You know, I
believe that part of what we've experienced in the last hundred years is this especially in America
is this idea that you know we are essentially individuals and that's the highest order of existence.
And I think that's been a major revolution in consciousness for the world. But I think we've kind
of gone a little bit too far. We’ve lost our memory that actually human beings as a species have
only succeeded because we do this collectively, and our ability to communicate and share
information and ideas and iterate on those ideas is what has really propelled us forward as a
species. I think it's a little broken right now and that's why things like the Internet coming in have
had such a big effect where it now had a diversity of voices included. Now we're getting the
backlash to that where it's becoming the needle in the haystack, the problem where we have so
much bad information we don't know how to sort through.
But the ability to be able to have an open network where people can not only view any content
they want but make connections between that projects, that's where I think the true value and
meaning comes from.
Cong: I think Storyhive is really moving towards the direction you were just talking about. The
three categories we're talking about the story is really developing itself on this path. The last time
I talked to Ender, I know that soon they will release the 2.0 version of Storyhive where content
creators have more abilities to edit their content and then users and audiences can export the
content. They can also interact within the app where they will have some kind of chat room that
runs like online session so that when the audiences are viewing this content, they also have the
presenters that can guide them and help them understand the content more easily. So I think it's
really fascinating to see how it’s gonna go.
At first, I wasn't really agree with Ender because I believe that Social VR is actually the big thing
but then Ender told me that, yeah it's the big thing but it's not the ultimate goal for VR.
Toshi: I mean social VR can mean a lot of things. This is why I actually think it's been
interesting trying to study social and collaborative VR. Right now there's a lot of, to my mind, a
lot of bad examples. And part of it is being driven by a kind of investment climate right now
where the expected return on investment based on the hyped expectations are kind of pushing
people to try to monetize as fast as possible, which makes sense from an economic standpoint.
But I believe, this is the title of my lab, that with complex systems like human communication,
things are emergent and that's why if you look at the Internet now, even if you go back ten years
ago, even the greatest minds who were major proponents of the future of the Internet, they didn't
even imagine social media or user generated content. A lot of them, there's a few exceptions. But
the idea of user generated content, they just thought, oh, this is great, you know, established

61
content companies are now going to be accessible to people around the world and this is going to
drive new ways of producer consumer models. They didn't really get, you know, that we were
going to have all these user-generated content.
We live in an economic world and you know and right now people are looking for something
exciting to invest in. VR certainly seems exciting and there’s certainly a lot of excitement around
it. The problem I think that we have is that people who are under the gun to deliver for investors
right now are needing to make conclusions around what's the real value of these new tools that's
going to be before we've had enough time to explore, and see what emerges as we participate in
these platforms, not just design the underlying technologies.
Cong: So, you were talking about this earlier. This is also one of my questions. I would like to
know what qualities are you looking for in an app or a product regarding any emerging
technologies that can survive through this rapid changing world. You were talking about the
ability of storytelling, to rebuild the storytelling function, that's one of the keys to survive. What
else do you have in mind?
Toshi: Another area that I'm personally and professionally very interested in is this paradigm
shift. I believe we’re actually on a paradigm shift right now. This may be a little bit to my limited
forecast for the long term implications of 360 video which is that the paradigm shift we're seeing
is into embodied computing experiences and any platforms right now that don't support
positional tracking I think are useful places to experiment in, but anybody investing in
developing companies in technology in that space need to really be aware that is, to some extent,
a little bit of a dead end compared to what's going to be unleashed with embodied computing
experiences.
This theory is based on a couple ideas. One is that, you know, basically we spent around the
approximate last 50 years developing computing platforms. And even though they’ve become
highly evolved and very sophisticated and vastly easier for user interactions, they are
predominantly based on a two-dimensional flat abstracted information paradigm. And there's a
lot of value in abstracting our understanding and measurements of the models of the world. The
problem is that the world in our lives is not abstract or two dimensional.
And what I see is the real promise of virtual reality and augmented reality is that these are really
just interface technologies that will allow us to interact with all these other emerging
technologies like, you know, augmented intelligence, deep learning, machine learning and sensor
technology in the world. The way I frame VR and AR is that VR is immersive computing
interfaces and AR is ambient computing interfaces. And part of why I think that's really critical
is, number one, VR and AR have a lot of baggage in terms of people's preconceptions of them
and they're even getting a lot of baggage just from this first year or VR are like, okay, great, VR
is about 360 travel photos and zombie killing games and AR is about buying things from Ikea.
Those are the most obvious use cases right now and, of course, that's where we have to start. But
the kind of emphasis on embodied and positional spatialized experience is really… I think the
exciting promise there is that, from a neuroscience standpoint, you know, and this has really vast
implications for education: The way our cognitive systems work with two-dimensional
representational abstract information is not just a different type of thought, it's actually a
different part of our brain that deals with spatialized three-dimensional volumetric, and
particularly, when the interaction with that data is embodied, meaning my body is navigating
through that space and understanding those things not just from a visual standpoint but by adding
in by my sense of spatial understanding that comes through positional movement through that
space and embodiment and agency within those systems.

62
Human beings are spatialized being. The world is spatialized and hence our minds and our brains
evolved to deal with very complex and subtle and nuanced and interconnected understandings of
the world in a spatialized format. And probably the best and most classic example of this that
also has educational implications is the idea of the memory palace. So if you go and see the
memory, world class memory experts, for the most part, unless they have some strange brain
condition, the way they develop these memories is an age-old technique that was developed by
the Greeks where you visualize in your mind. Let's say you're trying to remember seemingly on
connected series of words, so the way they remember these incredibly long connections of these,
or even numbers is to imagine in your mind a palace that has endless rooms, and that the
sequence is remembered by placing in a word or a number in an imagined room and then placing
some memorable spatialized characteristic of that room like a pink elephant or a green fish or
shards of glass on the floor. It makes sense why you are being able to navigate and know how to
get home and remember, OK, turn left at the tree here and go over here. This is how our brains
are wired to understand the world.
I mean, we spent maybe several centuries or even millennia developing abstract representational
symbolic representations of the world.
But at its core, that's a layer on top of our spatial understanding and our embodied cognition.
There’s a theory called embodied cognition which says that: the model that we look at the world
and that we sense the world and we understand it with our brains is wrong; that actually we think
not just with our brains but we think with our bodies, we think socially, we think
environmentally and that it's all about the relationships between. So when you apply this kind of
framework and philosophy to looking at the implications of what it means when we're going to
be able to re-embody that data, what we're going to be able to take that data rather than look at
our spreadsheet on a screen but actually see that data overlaid on top of our world and to not
have to go through the cognitive overhead of translating between the abstract two-dimensional
representation and the three-dimensional real world. We can start to use that brain power and our
spatial understanding for making new deeper understanding. I think this is a really critical point
in human evolution in which you know we don't need kids to go to school to remember the times
tables anymore. I'm not saying it's not useful at all but we have machines and abilities to do that.
You know, how many of us use our complex math, unless they’re computer scientists or
engineers.
What humans are really good at and the mind is really designed to do is really understand more
complex systems and specifically spatialized information. And so, my philosophy is that we're at
a point in human history where our ability to use abstract computing tools to do was design very
complex technological economic and social and political system in the world has kind of
outstripped our ability to understand those things. We're all really good at sitting in our little
individual silos and dialing away that abstract problem and then we have all these ways to
collaborate and combine those now. A lot of the problems facing us as human beings are around
the complex systems that not only we’ve created but we were starting to understand that we need
to understand the complex systems of the environment that we live in.
And so one of my hopes for and around VR is specifically around the ability to understand how
to navigate and explore complex nested systems and to have collaborative communication
platforms that allow us to iterate our ideas around the models of those to simulate scenarios of
how we might interact with those in different ways and to explore from a design thinking
standpoint. So, to bring it back to your original question, that's why I would say my primary
interest in any sort of mixed reality platform right now are ones that have some sort of, or at least

63
a pathway or anticipating the future of having an embodied aspect. I mean just look at the
challenge around education, it's so clearly known and studied that most people do not learn well
sitting in a chair for eight hours in a day and learning to repeat back information to test. That's
like such a waste of human time and ability and leads people to think that they're stupid, even
though they might actually learn much better. Most people don't learn well in that kind of
environment. So educational system that can integrate in an embodied part of our cognitive
system and understanding, and integrate that into a collaborative, iterative, communicative
learning style. I think that's the area that most rich exploration to look at to.
Cong: Cool, this is really a fresh perspective for me. So, one last question: because Storyhive is
designed more for content creators not for traditional audiences, from the perspective of a
content creator, what expectation or projections do you have on the development of Storyhive?
Toshi: Well this might be just touching back to other things but just to emphasis, I think just to
remember that storytelling is actually about transmission of information and so transmission as a
point of view often, almost always, actually, stories are not about the information in the story.
Stories are about how the storyteller chooses to put that information together and what that larger
design and cognitive pattern means, what are the metaphorical implications of this story. And so
you know it kind of applies to this idea that you don't just teach students how to fish, show them
how you fish. So don't just teach a student what to think or what information is important, show
a student or an audience how you think is more important.
Also, the other problem with kind of the isolated solo experience is that people think VR as
cinema, but I think it's better to think of VR as an extension of the theater and architecture and
even and this is the esoteric one as shamanic journey. And just briefly touch on that. Theater, not
just because it's about spatialized storytelling but ideally because it's about intimacy. Theater
actors are very different than film actors. They know they're in a physical space and that part of
the interaction with their audience isn't just doing performances but feeling. There's a feedback
loop there. It’s a conversation even though they're not directly breaking the fourth wall. There's a
conversation and intimacy that's often missed in a lot of VR experiences now. Secondly, the idea
of architecture, that's much more around what I was talking about in terms of not only thinking
spatially but thinking about human experience in relationship to space. Not just how do I place
things around people but what does that mean to somebody. How is it different to walk through a
smaller opening than it is to a larger opening? What's it like to be in a rounded room versus an
angled room. These are considerations that are part of that communication that often are just kind
of tossed in secondarily by some 3D designers, but is an essential part of the learning process and
the human experience process. So that's the kind of architectural sensibility.
And then lastly as I mentioned the more esoteric one is the idea of shamanic journey. We live in
a time where there's such a fervor around futuristic technologies and such an excitement that
and… kind of a sense that we kind of living in the future now that I think people take for granted
the powerful impact it has to put on a VR headset and transport somebody fairly convincingly to
another place. And I think one of the biggest mistakes that VR developers are making right now
is they’re only thinking about the experience from the moment the headset is on and then the
experience when they take the headset off. I think part of my background in museum exhibit
design is that you don't just think about the moment that they start interacting with the video
kiosks. You think about: who are they when they walk in that door? What have they walked
through when they got there? What happens to them after they leave? That's where the learning
impact happens after the experience. So you design more holistically and that's also bringing a
kind of sensibility of architects: what's the sequence of events?

64
Another really important design element, if you look at kind of… We have to recognize that
when we put somebody in a convincing VR experience even if their conscious mind knows that
they’re in a VR experience, most people know even if you're seasoned, you forget that you're
when you're in a virtual space. And particularly if it's embodied, that's even more important
because the body actually has a new category for fake. If it's experiencing genuinely what
matches up specifically temporarily with the visual input, the body thinks it's real and it will
remember it as real. And this is why I think we need to look to the shamanic journey because if
you look at kind of the classic idea of the hero's journey as a mythological process, which is the
basis of storytelling and you know that we've talked about earlier, there is a really important role.
Again, this is where we often fail with kind of modern individualistic idea kind of content design
which is it's all about the individual. Well, actually there's a really important role in the human
individual journey that involves its relationship to other characters. If you look at the hero's
journey, they talk about characters like the ally or the gatekeeper. But, specifically, within this
kind of format of the Shamanic journey, you know in traditional cultures, the Shamanic journey
involves a Shaman, meaning there is a guide that's helping you go through this journey into this
special world where you retain some sort of magical items or knowledge, you go through some
challenges and then you return. You have to return to the natural world. And that's something
that struck me again that I really liked about Storyhive. And I don't know how it's evolved since
we've interacted with you guys, but at least when we work with you the idea of the teacher was a
guide to this virtual experience, I think is incredibly important and unique. And actually, the one
bit of data that I will share on this is that a good friend of mine worked as a director at Jaunt
which is a 360 media company. He shared some of my views around the limitations around 360
video as a format, and with all the hype, everybody always says, oh yeah, tried VR, tried 360
video. My big question to them was always “would you do it again,” meaning was it really more
about the novelty factor and the ability to brag that you tried VR? Or did you really get
something valuable out of that experience and did it inspire something there you'd want to
explore more?
From the data I learned from Jaunt is that most people aren't experiencing their content as
immersive, they're just watching it on a standard web browser. But number two, the only reason
that those organizations are staying afloat right now is because of increased investment. They're
not actually successfully bringing in viewership. But one of their few success stories right now, I
mean, a lot of that is because they just imagine. This is just like cinema. We just bring in a list of
directors and content people and spend a lot of money on attack and effects, and this will be
impactful. But actually, one of the most interesting case studies from Jaunt was that the most
successful 360 video played that they had was from a YouTube blogger who was like a social
media influencer ,who produces 360 video that wasn't anything spectacular but the take away
from it was that, what I was just describing, she hyped this video or she got her community to get
interested and excited about the 360 video through her standard YouTube channel ahead of time.
And then when the video was there, you had her as your host character. Following up, there was
like an ongoing discussion around the impact of it and where people could comment and she
would comment on people's comments. And I think that, to me, is an indicator of the importance
of doing a more holistic extended experience design, not just thinking what happens when you
put the headset on and what happens when you take it off. The real the impact of learning comes
from understanding how people are coming into the conversation and the real outcomes come
from and also what happens after they have experience. And that's often not considered in this
general content development.

65
And that’s something that I've seen Storyhive already do that really got my interest.
Cong: Yes, I do think that Storyhive is a very unique platform. It just needs time to grow and to
raise awareness because a lot of people don't know about it and they don't realizes there's such a
form of VR that they can explore and they can use. But I think in the future it will be a very
unique platform.
Toshi: Yeah. I was just going to say, I mean just to get a little bit less philosophical or more
practical. I haven't done a wide spread survey but I know that there's thousands of if not millions
of teachers in the world that would love to have a new way to engage with their students, and not
just to put them in technology experience but to engage with them in that experience. And I think
that's to me something that really should be emphasized.
If you guys are trying to get… I don't know what your market strategy is but if you're trying to
get into educational environments, ease of use for teachers, demonstrating and emphasizing that
they're going to be with them in this guided experience I think can be really critical.
Cong: We have some ideas in mind and I think you’ll definitely see those actions in the near
future. Well, thank you so much for taking the time and share all these valuable insights with me.
Toshi: Yeah, I love what Hiverlab is doing. I think what Hiverlab is doing is very special and I
would love to see you guys successful and be a leader and show other folks way of doing it. Feel
free to follow up and say hi to enter for me and I would love to. When they're ready if you guys
can reach out and let me know. I would love to evaluate the latest version of software. We still
have all our gear. And honestly, I’d love to revamp that and I'd love to get some content that we
could show off using them.
Cong: That's perfect. Will do. Take care, thank you!
Toshi: Take care, bye.

66
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"Company." Hiverlab. Accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/company.html.
Graham, Peter. “Xiaomi And Oculus Reveal Mi VR Standalone Headset.” VR Focus. January 9,
2018. https://www.vrfocus.com/2018/01/xiaomi-and-oculus-reveal-mi-vr-standalone-
headset/.
Grover, Ronald. “Disney and other media giants are betting VR is the next big play in
entertainment.” CNBC. June 9, 2017. https://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/08/virtual-reality-
startup-jaunt-to-shake-up-entertainment-industry.html.
Hall, Stefan. Takahashi, Ryo. "Augmented and virtual reality: the promise and peril of
immersive technologies." World Economic Forum. September 8, 2017.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/09/augmented-and-virtual-reality-will-change-
how-we-create-and-consume-and-bring-new-risks/.
"Home." Hiverlab. Accessed December 5, 2017. http://www.hiverlab.com/storyhive.html.
Lomas, Natasha. "This VR cycle is dead." TechCrunch. August 26, 2017.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/26/this-vr-cycle-is-dead/.
Market Report VR/AR (Industrial Solutions). PDF. JETRO. October, 2017.
https://www.jetro.go.jp/ext_images/en/invest/attract/pdf/mr_VR_AR_en.pdf.
Merel, Tim. “The reality of AR/VR competition.” TechCrunch. October 21, 2016.
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"Startups Success and Failure Rate - Statistics and Trends [Infographic]." GO-Globe. February 6,
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67
"Snapchat, Facebook Fuel AR Growth." EMarketer. May 22, 2017.
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Toshi Hoo, interview by Cong Zhang, November 20, 2017, transcript.
Zhang, Zake. “6 Things You Need to Know about Chinese VR Market.” Virtual Reality Pop.
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vr-market-ccd8a5c5b85c.
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Asset Metadata

Creator Zhang, Cong (author)

Core Title A post-launch strategic planning model for Hiverlab

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Strategic Public Relations

Publication Date 05/04/2018

Defense Date 05/04/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Hiverlab,immersive technology,OAI-PMH Harvest,start-up company,Storyhive,strategic planning model,technology company,VR

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Tenderich, Burghardt (committee chair), Brabham, Daren (committee member), Jackson, Laura (committee member)

Creator Email cecilia.r.zhang@gmail.com,congz@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-500408

Unique identifier UC11268545

Identifier etd-ZhangCong-6307.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-500408 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ZhangCong-6307.pdf

Dmrecord 500408

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Rights Zhang, Cong

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

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Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA