Nollywood and many content creators have become the vehicles conveying stories from Africa to the world. However, Meta, formerly Facebook, said Extended Reality (XR) provides a more imaginative and immersive way to tell the different aspects of these stories.
Many storytellers are embracing it but not as fast as the rest of the world, according to Meta’s latest Africa XR Report.
XR is the umbrella term for immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and other similar technologies – face filters on social media, spatial audio, and haptic devices that blur the line between physical reality and digital fantasy.
There is a difference between Web3 which is based on blockchain technology and immersive technologies. According to Meta, immersive technologies are sensory. An augmented reality experience, for instance, might allow one to see a floating goldfish swimming above a coffee table, a spatial audio experience would enable one to hear a chime coming behind and to the left, and a pair of haptic gloves would allow one to feel the weight of a virtual cube.
“None of these examples has anything to do with ledgers, mining, or consensual algorithms, which are integral to blockchain projects,” Meta noted. However, there are projects that integrate blockchain tools and immersive media tools such as Ready PlayerMe which collaborated with CryptoPunks to bring 2DNFT characters into VR and AR experiences.
The global XR market is currently worth $26.54 billion and is expected to exceed $396 billion by 2026. It is a market dominated by companies like Meta which acquired Oculus, the VR headset maker for $2 billion.
In Africa, the market has seen baby steps from young content creators and storytellers. The Africa XR Report describes the history of XR on the continent as “chequered”.
“Sit long enough with adventurers in technology in Nairobi, Lagos, or Johannesburg, and you are sure to hear stories of experimentation with mixed results,” the report noted.
In recent times, a few companies have been set up to offer different services in the space. For example, in 2015, Black Rhino opened the first virtual reality shop in Kenya. That same year, Electric South opened its office in South Africa while Imisi 3D set up shop in Nigeria in 2016. In 2019, Microsoft set up Africa Development Centre, the first XR engineering team on the continent for a big tech company. A few months later, Kachi Benson from Nigeria won the Golden Lion for the Best VR Story at the Venice International Film Festival.
In 2020, AR/VR Africa’s hackathon hosted for the first time expanded from 10 to 28 countries, making it the largest XR event on the continent. In that same year, the Lagos Business School secured a $234,000 grant for a two-year study on the use of VR for developing empathy and compassion from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
Last week, Meta unveiled an exclusive XR exhibition featuring the six finalists from the ‘Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds programme. The six finalists received grants of up to $30,000 and mentorship from Meta and its partners.
The programme was developed in partnership with Africa No Filter, Electric South, and Imisi 3D and forms part of Meta’s XR programs and research investment into XR talents across Africa.
“We know that Africa holds immersive talent, which we see reflected in the experienced curated, and as we set our sights on the metaverse, we believe creators, especially those on the continent, will play a key role in unlocking its potential,” Sherry Dzinoreva, Meta’s Public Policy Programs Director, Africa, Middles East, and Turkey said.
Apart from Meta, the report also noted that creators are starting to receive funding from organisations like Ford Foundation, British Council, and Goethe Institute. Nevertheless, creatives still want more funding because the biggest barrier to their businesses is cost and lack of supporting technology
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