YLE Launches VR Incubator

“Future Uncertain.” That’s pretty much the constant state of media companies in our day and age. Will we live in a world where everyone will consume media in Virtual Reality entertainment panels at home? Perhaps we will all have augmented reality implants in our eyes or an AI assistant in our ears that personalizes every little bit of information. Nobody knows for sure.

What is certain, however, is that the landscape is changing faster than anyone has ever imagined. We can tell from our own experience. So looking at machine learning, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and content robotics is a must for any media company, as the competition is not next door, it is global.

Technology and platforms define not only how we communicate but how and where we access, consume, experience and share information.

Virtual reality has been bubbling under a couple of years and the impact it will have on the media industry is uncertain.

Today it still takes time to develop a virtual environment which is not a good factor for news or on-site reporting but the technology is developing further and the opportunities are huge.

Hence if you don´t have the financial strength to compete with the big technology giants, then time is the crucial ingredient. That is where Yle wants to step in.

“If we want to be part of the media landscape in future, we got to participate in the game right from the beginning.” says Anssi Komulainen, Chief Partnership Officer at Yle, the Finnish Broadcasting Company.

On Tuesday Yle launched Yle Beta incubator for future media experiences. By cooperating with technical partners, the broadcaster wants to understand current and upcoming technology platforms to reach their audience.

Yle Beta_promo_01

With Yle Beta, the broadcaster aims to explore the disruptive potential of emerging technologies and identify the real game changers in media. It is offering a testing field for projects working on for example virtual reality and augmented reality solutions taking media experience to the next level. Robot journalism, artificial intelligence and machine learning are of high interest as those affect the way of storytelling and journalism.

The outcome is simple: by engaging with technology partners, Yle aims to stay in the media game now and in the future.

The broadcaster has heaps of content but is lacking the technical expertise. Their opportunity is to cooperate with partners bringing in the right mindset and skills in order to build something new. In exchange, they would be able to use Yle data and test in small-scale their wildest ideas.

Agility and fast learning are the keys bringing a valuable outcome for the broadcaster. Due to new technology and evolving platforms storytelling and journalism are undergoing a rapid change. No-one knows how the landscape of media will look like in twenty years.

Yle Beta is publishing Open Calls and upcoming events on Yle Beta blog and also here.

This is Media Honeypot sponsored article.