#008 - How I got on BBC Breakfast to talk about VR (and why my nemesis is a baby jaguar)

My nemesis is a baby jaguar. And I met it 5 seconds after talking about virtual reality in front of millions of people on national television.

This was one of my stranger days. Let me explain.

Rewind to September 2017. I had recently started working at BBC Three after a couple of years in BBC's content innovation team. Virtual reality was still in its infancy. And at the end of the week I was due to go on holiday to the Lake District for a well-earned break.

I was pretty burned out. I was working hard on a series of films I'd developed which combined virtual reality, virtual production techniques, and mental health called Step Inside My Head.

The pitch was this: "Let's use nascent virtual reality creation tools to enable people with mental health conditions to express visually what it's like inside their heads." In their wisdom, BBC Three put their trust in me to pilot three episodes to see if VR could become a feature of new formats.

The only snag? I'd have to do it on almost no budget. No money, no problems. That's the phrase, right? Anyway, I was just chuffed to have got it commissioned. Not least because I'd recently become an early advocate for this new wave of virtual reality to affect perception change, but also because it was a totally original concept that I thought could achieve scale and reach where VR at that time could not (and arguably still cannot).

Let's skip a few beats where we actually made the films. We had a small but brilliant team (hat tips to Craig Bush, Pablo Melchior, Theo Gove-Humphries, Isaure De Pontbriand, Pete Styles) that banded together to make it all happen. We roped in YouTube Space London for some early mixed reality green screen filming with the HTC Vive and tapped up Google to use its Tilt Brush VR painting software (not sure how we pulled off both). We also got mental health charity Mind involved to work with their brilliant ambassadors and get crucial safeguarding support.

Watch the trailer to get an idea:

So, technology wrangled, headspaces visualised, films made... I got a phonecall. "BBC Breakfast want to feature your project". This is always a major thing in the BBC - get your project featured by another channel or department. "Great! When are they showing it?" I asked. "They aren't. They want you and the contributors on the sofa with Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt this Friday at 8:50am." Eek!

Long story shorter, I postponed my holiday by a day to get up to Salford, share a green room with Kelly MacDonald from Trainspotting, and record the segment. You can watch it here:

So I stepped off the red sofa happy that my aim of platforming people with mental health conditions via creative uses of technology had paid off. I had two brilliant young people talking about mental health in a new way in a prime time morning slot on BBC One to an audience of millions.

But at my feet, seconds after being live on air was Maya, the jaguar cub. I'd never seen a jaguar cub before. And now there was a real one at my ankles, padding around on a leash. First impression? Cutest thing I've ever seen. But when I got home, I started to realise the dark power of this tiny creature.

My family, friends, and colleagues had tuned in to see me on TV talking about a project that was a labour of love. I was excited to hear their thoughts on the chat. And what did they all want to know? "Oh my god, did you meet Maya the jaguar?!" Everyone had the same reaction. "You were good, but that jaguar was something else." I didn't even mention Kelly MacDonald.

So with my thunder stolen, I concentrated on getting the films out into the world. A couple of weeks later we got our release date on BBC social platforms confirmed and finally we hit publish to get those lovely shares and views.

But guess what other video was publIshed on BBC's social channels that very same day? You guessed it. Maya. The. Baby. Jaguar.

Go on, watch it if you must...

Maya's jaguar swimming lesson video exploded and raced to tens of millions of views while Step Inside My Head struggled to keep its head above water (relatively speaking). Twice now that shadowy cat had upstaged me, stealing those precious engagements and attention from my worthy cause. How dare it!

I decided, tongue firmly in cheek, that from that day forward my nemesis would be a baby jaguar. It would be Maya, the jaguar cub. I figured If you were going to have a nemesis, it may as well be the cutest animal you can find.

So, in the end my project got its exposure. My plan was to subvert the barriers of distributing VR projects by using it to create stories optimised for traditional channels. It enabled us to reach many many more people with important messages than if it had been confined to an online store or locked in a headset somewhere.

And, now 7 years later (!) I'm still working in XR and bringing creativity and technology together. The project was a big milestone for me. It remains an example I use for how to bring people on the journey with you through a strong and emotive central idea. It also contains a big lesson in how to achieve reach and connect with audiences: Don't promote them anywhere near cute animals.

Please share to spread awareness of jaguar attention thieves and subscribe for more XR and creative technology thoughts from me. Until next time...

I’m Ian Ravenscroft. I'm creative director of Green Raven and XR Strategy Lead at Juice Immersive. I help cultural and commercial organisations to create innovatively and innovate creatively. I apply XR and emerging technologies to creative ideas to engage your audiences. I’m often an advisor, consultant, or producer, helping you make smarter decisions, informed by experience and cross-sector knowledge. Visit my website to see who I’ve helped across arts and beyond.