I have just discovered Ryot, an online virtual reality and immersive storytelling company which has recently become part of The Huffington Post. The main idea behind Ryot is to make news stories more personal and to create opportunities for the audience to join in and develop the story rather than just consume it in a detached and often helpless way. In their words:

“We wanted to make the news empowering rather than depressing. To turn people on by what was happening around them rather than turn them off. Throughout RYOT’s journey, we searched for the next technology to bring us closer into the story and we found virtual reality.”(http://ryot.huffingtonpost.com/welcome-to-ryot/)

The short films in particular are very powerful and I could see them being used in class to stimulate discussion and develop critical thinking (if that is appropriate in the teaching context). They are also great for showing off new technology at its most impressive and innovative – virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality (with the App you get 360 video on your phone). I am hoping to look at one film in more detail in future and work on some ideas for a lesson. For now I would just like to make people aware of the existence of the site and give an example of what kind of films there are…