One of the early promises of internet video was the ability to experience the world through the eyes of others. More than ever, that dream is coming true in realtime fashion as everything from conferences to concerts to tourist attractions are broadcast live to the world through their myriad attendees, allowing others across the world to see things through different eyes. What does this mean for the future of experiencing place?
In our mobile-first data-rich 4G world, it is only natural that people across the world would turn to their smartphones to live stream their life experiences.
Unable to attend a major product launch? Chances are that if the launch’s own live stream doesn’t capture what you’re after, at least some of the audience members will be live streaming every moment. Couldn’t get tickets to your favorite concert or sporting event? Once again, chances are that people across the stadium or venue will have their phones out, broadcasting every moment. Why pay a fortune for tickets so far back of the stadium that you need binoculars to see the field, when you can watch for free from home through someone’s live stream from a few rows away from the field?
Live streams can offer a solution around the time delays, restricted access and pay-per-view limitations of official broadcasts, making them particularly troublesome for events trying to exert absolute control over their media environment.
More interestingly, however, live streams can take viewers into the places and experiences missed by official broadcasts.
Take the example of a large technology company’s annual conference. The official broadcasts will cover the keynotes and a selection of major talks. Yet, look closely and myriad attendees will be holding their phones up live streaming everything from exhibit hall demonstrations to simply walking through the conference venue showcasing what it is like to attend, from the signage and crowds to the lunch being served to the customer service experience of the venue.
Exhibit halls are often particularly dense zones of attendees live streaming booths, products, talks and people of interest.
Live streaming at concerts and sports events has grown to the point that some venues have begun to explore technical countermeasures to prevent competition with their monetized official broadcasts.
While live streaming is still relegated to a relatively small portion of the population, as smartphones and mobile data networks improve, it is likely that they will become an ever more present facet of modern life, allowing us to increasingly experience the world from afar.
What does it mean to experience the world through the lens of another? Especially when the other is a stranger with different interests and perspectives from our own?
Cameras do not capture reality, they create it through the photographer’s choice of subjects and framing, meaning the same event could yield many very different stories. The ability to see an event through the perspectives of others unlike ourselves offers the intriguing idea of viewing live streams from others of the same event we are physical present at, to see how others are understanding it and to see all of the stories we are missing.
Most importantly, live streams allow us to look beyond the carefully choreographed official narratives of events to see them as those experiencing them understand them.
Take the public viewing of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Just one small camera phone is seen snapping a photograph in the lower right. In contrast, the 2013 election of Pope Francis is a sea of mobile devices photographing the event from every angle, with each image likely carrying a different narrative about how the event made the photographer feel.
Live streams are particularly powerful for the way in which they allow us to experience events that would not otherwise be captured, such as adhoc protests, informal interactions between citizenry and their elected officials and the myriad stories not shared by the traditional press. Participating in a protest from afar allows one to bear witness not only to the protest itself, but to any interactions it encounters with security forces and others.
In our image-saturated world, it is worth remembering that there was once a time when we walked down the street without being glued to our phones or live sharing our lives with others across the globe. As hard as it might be to imagine today, there once was a time when we would simply walk down the street and engage with our immediate surroundings.
We might not have known the latest breaking news from the other side of the planet, but we were far more connected to our local communities through a sense of place that was anchored in the local rather than the global. It is truly breathtaking to look back on 1993's New York City and realize that it was not that long ago that our sidewalk cellphone zombies were the exception rather than the rule.
Putting this all together, as live streamed video increases in popularity, the way in which we experience place and our ability to see the world through the lens of those different from ourselves opens up fascinating new possibilities for reimagining how we see and interact with the world around us, but all of this power comes at the cost of detaching us from our sense of place, casting us adrift globally rather than anchoring us locally.
