Innovative Individuals

Innovative Individual: Gary Hayes

This post is also available in Spanish

Sixteen months ago I wrote a blog post titled “FlarToolkit introduces augmented reality using Flash.” Thus began a side interest in learning more about augmented reality (AR) and transmedia storytelling. As technology advances, it is extremely important that we learn more about these storytelling capabilities to elevate our delivery potential. No longer does it suffice to throw up a passive video on YouTube – our viewers are increasingly eager for more. I am extremely excited to announce Gary Hayes as this week’s “Innovative Individual” for truly understanding this notion and breaking into the fields of AR and virtual worlds throughout his rich and impressive professional history.

After working for eight years as senior development producer at BBC’s Interactive New Media department, Gary founded the Laboratory of Advanced Media Production (LAMP), which was widely known as “Australia’s premier emerging media R&D production lab.” Now serving as CCO and Head of Virtual Worlds at MUVEDesign, a company he founded in 2006, he continues to push the potential of innovative storytelling.

I have been tracking Gary for awhile now and I suggest you do as well if you are interested in learning more about alternative multimedia formats and social virtual worlds. Make sure to subscribe to his blog Personalizemedia (and read his recent post “What makes the perfect Transmedia Producer?“), check out his company’s website, follow him on Twitter, watch his YouTube videos, and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Q) How do you drive innovation in your work?

A) Standing back is very important. Being extremely aware of what you and others have done in the past and then walking away from it and thinking laterally about the direction things are really heading. Once you see this heading, then you can innovate the future better – vs minor incremental adjustments to what is already there, align your compass and take a couple of big steps!

Q) What piece in your portfolio are you most proud of and why?

A) Even though at the time it is the bleeding edge technical ones that are most satisfying, getting over the barriers to actually get something delivered to users over a longer period it has been the ones that have had social significance. I devised, produced and headed up for example the BBC Musical Nomad project – in 1997 ahead of its time in that we were filming, recording and telling daily stories on the web, meetings with Shaman, Central Asian musicians, normal people and uploading them via a small satellite to the main BBC website. Most importantly for me was the feedback loop – receiving mails from around the world about what and where to go next on a daily basis. A tough project but one I feel we will see more and more of as the world becomes wireless, rich media connected.

In a similar realm I founded the build and in 2007 launched of one of the biggest branded areas in Second Life (The Pond, Telstra Islands) very stimulating in the first few weeks as I quickly found out the real challenges of managing and responding to a virtual community. As sole developer and having several thousands a day come into a space, it was satisfying doing rapid changes based on usage – that resonance and iteration became almost immediate and I learned a lot about how rewarded you can be from listening and instantly giving back to a community, especially a real time one like Second Life.

Q) Please provide a brief educational and professional history.

A) There is a lot more in my bio but the one line version – 80s Manchester UK recording engineer, film composer/editor and in bands, Degree in Music & Physics, 90s London – multi media & music lecturer, Guildhall, BRIT School, composer then 8 years as BBC Senior Dev Producer across all new media departments, 03 US LA, interactive TV producer/consultant, composer 05 Sydney – Innovation Lab Director, LAMP, Founded company MUVEDesign, Virtual, Alternate Reality & Augmented Worlds, Now developing ‘Story Labs‘ Training & Incubator Labs.

Q) Where do you believe multimedia fits into today’s society and how will that role change over time?

A) Transmedia and Multi Platform Social Media together, for me, make up what we still call multimedia and I feel since 2005 we are finally seeing it embed itself in our lives vs being something we ‘go to’ or ‘switch on’, the social aspect has made the multiple channels of web and mobile become a way to communicate vs the multimedia 1993 – 2005 which was a poor peripheral ‘pushed’ activity to the main media channels of TV, film, radio, press. Now it has come of age and two way, real time co-creation, collaboration and creativity means pushed or broadcast media really has to have a reason to be appointment to view. But 2010 and beyond my key area of work and research is pervasive mobile & social entertainment – so as our central computing & communication device goes with us wherever we are the big change in society will be about contextual connection. Objects connected to their data in the cloud, places connected to stories/reviews people have attached to them and taking rich media games away from the locked down screen and into open space. The interface to everything we need will be personalized and everyone will be producers of transmedia stories by the very nature of being part of multiple social networks and sharing portals.

Q) Whose work do you admire?

A) I admire everyone who pushed the envelope vs copying. So without firstly naming names we have a digital industry (agencies etc) who are 2-5 years behind innovation who simply monetize anything and everything, then we have a grass roots social media & open source community who are pioneering for very altruistic reasons and creating an ecosystem for great storytellers. These great storytellers though are not going to come from traditional areas, it is more and more about collective storytelling, how to nurture the principle that everyone has one good book in them and pull forth authentically originate story vs contrived and artificial. So great respect for people like Jane McGonigal who with projects like World Without Oil, Superstruct and Emote is attempting to develop alternate ways to tell community based stories but also developing new forms of gameplay. But I also admire companies, especially linked to educational labs pioneering our AR future, such as Oceania based HitLabNz.org and MagicVisionLab.com eventually of course which will be picked up by the digital agencies down the track.

Q) Where do you find inspiration for your ideas?

A) As expected there is never one place but it is a combination of routine around: 1 – A great batch of RSS feeds, at least 130 I regularly follow to pick up on the zeitgeist, quality live conferences and online watching the worlds best speakers on podcasts like TED talks, often great ideas come from tangential areas like science or psychology 2 – Getting out more, so I make sure I have time for photography & cycling, to take the mind elsewhere at least once a day 3 – Music. I still compose and create both film scores as well as a passion area of progressive trance which provides a great counterpoint to high tech development, as I find high tech music composition very similar to a typical transmedia, complex layered project. 4 – Trying anything. By that I mean by attempting to develop something yourself often gives you insights under the bonnet that a ‘proper’ developer might not see. So I make time to ‘fiddle’ with the lower levels of the tech and see what possibilities there are.

Q) What specific resources do you recommend for A) beginners, B) novices and C) experts to improve their skills in augmented reality?

A) This is not just about AR but works across transmedia, social media and other dev areas too –
a) Watch videos, research/read blogs in the area, make your own decision about what you think is actually valuable to people
b) Get in there and play. In AR for example, download the flAR toolkit and play with markers, sign up as a Layar or Junaio developer and make things work or have a play with open source visual recognition engines. Then start to develop a few fully finished products that you can use in a portfolio
c) Simple, create your own voice. It is hard in any professional area to become recognised by doing what everyone else is – so look across at other fields and think if there is something critical missing, something so obvious that everyone has missed it already or simply look at your own real life and see what can be enhanced by new tech delivered utility, story or education.

Q) What is one thing on your “To-Do” list?

A) I have around 356 items currently on my list, but one I might not get to in the next few months? Teleportation

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Want to nominate a deserving colleague, friend or inspirational figure to be highlighted in this series? Confidential nominations can be emailed to innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com on an ongoing basis. Self nominations are also welcome. A person will be featured every Friday, so look for the next “innovative individual” Friday, July 23rd!

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