Sustainability, cloud technology and “The New Virtual”
How can we use media technologies to shape our society sustainably? The big question and the motto “It’s all MediaTech now!” of this year’s MediaTech Hub Conference 2022 hovered over the panels and workshops – international media makers and tech enthusiasts discussed the latest trends in media technologies over two conference days last week – from Web3, Metaverse, NFTs and synthetic media to green production, streaming, virtual production and VFX.
The MediaTech Hub Conference was held live and as a hybrid event on the studio grounds in Babelsberg, where innovative media technologies meet traditional film heritage. While cinematic masterpieces have been created here for over 100 years in the best tradition of THE BLUE ANGEL, everything at the MediaTech Hub Conference points to the future for two days: at Germany’s only conference on media technologies, industry representatives exchanged views on trends and innovations alongside 30 sessions and 50 speakers.
Media technologies are increasingly shaping our everyday lives. Every day we use touchscreens at airports, in cars or supermarkets and on mobile devices, we are constantly digitally connected – but this is only a small part of what media technologies mean in our everyday lives and what significance they have for companies. What is currently being designed as a new virtual parallel world around Web3 and Metaverse can drive developments in society as a whole and help other industries take a step into the future.
“It’s all MediaTech Hub now!” is the motto
Two heavyweights among the tech pioneers opened the brand eins Opening Talk and set the tone of the conference: Mei Lin Fung, founder of the People-Centered Internet and blockchain expert and founder of the Democracy Earth Foundation Santiago Siri showed in conversation with digital strategist and brand eins CEO Holger Volland: “Technology can help us and society to act in a democratic, people-centered and environmentally conscious way. Technology makes it possible – but people are behind it.
Mei Lin Fung evoked the power of community that the internet can offer us across the globe. The MediaTech Hub Conference could be the place where we get the space and the tools for the next “gold rush”. A comparison that will show how important it is to have the right tools in hand to respond to the upheavals of our age and shape resilient societies. Santiago Siri would like to think along similar lines with the conference participants: “Web3 can help us to overcome these crises. We can use it to coordinate ourselves better, network across the globe and organize ourselves decentrally. And become more resilient as a society as a whole.”
What we see here at MediaTech Hub and in games or videos could provide technologies for society as a whole. According to Mei Lin, this potential needs to be further exploited. She sees an advantage that Brandenburg brings with it in bringing “clean IT”, i.e. sustainable media technologies, to the local area.
Media industry and sustainability
Reduced electricity consumption on set, less waste, no unnecessary travel: Katja Bäuerle, Senior Creative Responsibility Manager at UFA, discussed how film production in particular can make a contribution here at the panel “Decarbonizing Film Production: Best Practices from the Pros”, together with Mercedes Eisert, CIO of Bavaria Film, Birgit Heidsiek, CEO/Founder Green Film Shooting and Adrian Wootton, Chief Executive of the British Film Commission and Film London.
Bäuerle described how a working group had developed new sustainability standards for several film productions.
It pays off to switch to green production in the long term, especially for longer shoots such as series and soaps, as this is more structured than on temporary locations.
She clarifies: “In the future, green production must be as self-evident as occupational health and safety, but we also need time to relearn and adapt.”
The “Green Production” workshop offered by sustainability consultant and producer Korina Gutsche allowed participants to delve even deeper.
In addition to practical insights into sustainable production, participants were able to discuss their own film projects.
And it’s not just environmental protection that means sustainability. This is shown by the example of Berlin-based founder Seneit Debese, whose Greta & Stark app makes autodescription available for the blind and subtitles for the hard of hearing and deaf in movies. All users have to do is bring their own smartphone with the app to the screening. Debese made it clear to the audience how easy and efficient it is to provide such a service if you use existing technology and workflows and collaborate with the community.
The Metaverse: New virtual world?
The second day of the conference clearly focused on the topic of metaverse – and the participants in the discussion emphasized this: The focus here is not on a short-lived trend or buzzword, but on something that we may all come to count as part of our lives sooner than we think. Sven Slazenger, CEO of Interlake: “This isn’t some ominous cloud, we’re not building it yet, it’s already here. We are working with digital information that leaves our computer screen and is all around us. It’s like many things: an exciting process that we’re starting now and then finding out where it takes us. A new level of technology that expands our universe. Media technology is for everyone.”
This also poses challenges for our media society, as deepfake expert Henry Ajder predicted in his keynote speech. “Synthetic content, i.e. content generated by artificial intelligence, has been around for a while, but what is new is its accessibility, its realism.
The two-day conference ended with an exclusive after-show party after the winner ArtistConnect was chosen for the start-up award of the Digital Hub Initiative’s pitch session. The platform connects music artists with producers and the creative industry.
All content will be available via the digital conference platform until October 30. Participants can therefore delve deeper into the program, catch up on missed sessions and continue networking via the platform.
More about the MTH Blog
The media technologies of the future are already being used today – not only in the entertainment sector but in a wide variety of industries. For our MediaTech Hub Potsdam blog, we talk to tech enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and researchers once a month and tell the stories behind their innovative business models, ideas, projects or collaborations.
