Change - a breeding ground for invention and creativity

During these unusual times, we find ourselves in unknown territory, wondering if things will ever be the same. It's tempting during this time of turmoil to look back and think we want things to return to the way they were, and to view the past with rose-tinted glasses. But looking backward is not the way forward. The only way out is through, and to get through, we need progressive thinking. The way to not just survive but thrive is to look for the solutions instead of focusing on the problems, and use necessity, the mother of invention, and the power of thought, as a motivator for creativity. 

With every destruction and end, there is a chance for creations and new beginnings. What history has shown us is that an enormous amount of inventions have occurred or been sped up during recessions, wars, and plagues; to name a few: blood banks, radar technology, stainless steel, plastics, digital photography, the jet engine, the internet, theories of gravity and optics, and many more.

Our brain is a tremendously powerful instrument with its neuroplasticity - an almost magical ability for the brain to reorganize and adjust. It's times like these that we can make a choice to be positive, adaptable, and bold, so we can motivate ourselves to create better systems for ourselves post-COVID.

The foundational research of neuroscientist Dr. Paul McLean, along with other neuroscientists' research since, has helped Mastertude to categorize motivators for creativity based on brain function and to create our system of edutainment.

Key Motivators for Creativity:

• Fear and survival instinct

Some people are motivated into creativity by fear in the face of perceived danger. They believe they operate best when in a threatening situation, trusting their 'gut instinct' to come up with unique solutions and strategies to get them out of it. The downside of the fear motivator is that it requires a person to be running on high alert, high adrenaline all the time, thinking of every moment as an act of survival, and constantly twisting non-threatening situations into threatening ones so they can act. 

• Instant gratification and emotional highs

This motivator relies on sensory pleasures to generate creativity. A person who dwells in this zone constantly seeks to recreate emotional highs and feel-good memories that satisfy the desire for immediate gratification and pain avoidance. Creativity happens on a whim or is driven by emotions. The downside of the instant gratification motivator is that projects, causes, relationships, and responsibilities are abandoned when they require persistence and patience.

• Logic and reason 

Some people are motivated by logic-based curiosity. Progress to these people happens in steps and stages, in an orderly, logical fashion. This motivator is all about inquiry, personal interest, analyzing information, and applying reason and logic. The downside of the logic motivator is that creativity is stunted by limited perception, and an inability to be bold and daring enough to take a leap of faith, so it is only possible for the person to improve upon existing structures. 

• Radical thinking and challenges

Some people are motivated creatively by radical thinking from which springs challenging tasks, spurring them into action. These individuals are altruistic, bold, confident, and reformative. They take on a purpose greater than themselves and persevere diligently until their work is recognized by society. The downside to this motivator is that it requires extreme patience and resilience, as the conventional system often considers the person to be as delusional as they are revolutionary.

All of these different motivators for creativity - fear, immediate gratification, linear thought, or radical thinking - can produce a 'eureka' moment of inventiveness. In these unconventional times when belief systems are shaken, each of these motivators could be channeled into inventing new systems to create a better earth. Old systems that are still hanging around from the dawn of the industrial revolution (such as the education system) could be reviewed and reinvented, or evolved, to be more aligned with the technological revolution.

Uncertain times like these affect people in vastly different ways; some become overwhelmed and their creativity is stifled, pushing them into a state of limbo; others distract themselves, while others go through emotional swings and paranoia. To master our moods, thoughts, feelings, actions, and dreams, we need to gain command over our brain. The brain is like any machine and it can be trained. Pythagoras stated, "No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself." 

We are endowed with the greatest power: the power of thought. 'Thought' is the essence of individuality. The flow of a person's life is centered in thinking. Thoughts are vehicles into undiscovered areas of existence and imagination. If we take command of the thoughts that inhibit our creativity - turning down the constant mental chatter that clouds our minds - then we can allow our creative imagination to roam freely.

It takes discipline and peace to know oneself. It is easy to amass the ideas of others, see how the populace is responding to a situation, and emulate this behavior - believing we are driven by our own motivations. Although the power to think is innate within us, most of the chatter in our heads belongs to other people. This time that we are living through offers a chance to break out of this pattern and create our own essence. It is an opportunity for a person to make their own unique 'mark' on this earth. 

The principles of pattern-breaking can also apply to investors during these unprecedented times. In an unpredictable and volatile market, the tried and true markers that investors once used to determine if an investment was safe or not are faulty. In this uncertain market, the 'safe' investments are actually the riskiest. Investors have the chance to think in novel ways, investing in projects they generally would have considered too revolutionary. It is now these radical projects that are vital to progress. As consumers' needs change and the market shifts, it is ground-breaking inventions that are a safer bet; the one thing that is inevitable is that post COVID things are not going to be the same. Now, the world is depending on brave, optimistic, broad-minded, creative inventors and investors to create solutions.

Aristotle stated, "Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intentions, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny." 

Tumultuous periods in history, such as the one we are living through, have been the most significant moments of change and invention. For example, Mastertude is creating a radical system that will change film and education. 

If those of us who are willing and able can command our brains and motivate ourselves to create, or support creations, using our gut instinct, emotional highs, logical thought, or radical thinking, we can transform this moment in time into a catalyst for incredible change.

 "At last, in a flash, understanding blazes up, and the mind, as it exerts all its powers to the limit of human capacity, is flooded with light." – Plato

Reinventing Cinema

The case for a cinema make-over after lockdown...

The case for a cinema make-over after lockdown...

It was already happening, but now more than ever, viewers have adapted to life without cinema, bringing the cinema experience home to their living rooms with the latest technology. Forced behavior change with COVID19 has accelerated the inhome cinema movement to the point where studios are skipping cinema release altogether and releasing online...screening at a giant flat screen near you...

Some argue (or hope) that people will return to cinema after lockdown, but, why...? Cinema has historically been a place to break new entertainment ground, worth a minimum $30 outing with the over-priced drinks and popcorn; you go to get a cinematic experience that you can't get at home. Except that now you can.

And so we have a case of change or die, if we're honest. But what does that change look like for cinema, or what could it look like with a little imagination, innovation and a change in attitudes from major studios and cinema heads?

Cinema has always been the home of break-throughs; Edison (and others) invented the motion picture, then along came sound; Walt Disney created the first full length animation feature, then we had CGI and IMAX, all the way through to when James Cameron truly gave 3D the raison d'être with Avatar, which became the highest grossing film for a decade.

And so now the glaring question: what is the next groundbreaking technology in cinema that is going to get people off their couches and back into the cinema? At Mastertude, we believe the answer is XR cinema. That is: cinema that enables viewers to not only experience the excitement of a huge screen, but also to participate in the big screen action, and to interact with the story as it comes off the screen and out to the audience.

For this tech-enabled generation to be motivated to leave their in-home screens or put down their mobile devices, the experience needs to be engulfing, productive, interactive, and high tech. Passive viewing in a cinema is not engulfing enough for this gen, who are so easily distracted. In fact, for anyone who has a mobile device, sitting through a 2 - 3hr film without interacting with it is difficult. Hence the plea to "turn off your mobile device" before screenings.

Observe any regular tech user, but in particular Millennials onwards, watching an SVOD film and you'll witness them performing multiple tasks simultaneously (beyond eating and drinking) - interacting with social media, gaming, browsing online, making purchases, texting, and even working and studying.

Therefore, to engulf the senses of these multi-tasking tech buffs, we need a more participatory approach to viewing great films. In other words we need to keep our viewers busy, or they'll take it upon themselves to get busy, and that's not something you can do in cinemas currently.

With an XR film in cinema, our viewers are wearing headsets and haptic gloves (although eventually the technology will evolve so that gloves are not needed), being immersed in a made-for-cinema experience. Like when you just had to see that epic sci-fi fantasy in cinema to get the full benefits of the VFX, before HDTV, Blu-ray, LED and plasma...

Cinemas will survive if they reinvent themselves to once again offer the ultimate film experience (because we can get comfy lounge chairs at home and Postmates will bring whatever you want to your door for half the price). A premium cinema experience today means upgrading to cutting-edge tech, which means the inclusion of XR (AR/VR/AI/3D) and productive, not passive, entertainment.

If cinema owners don't have the foresight to make this transition, they are going to get acquired by the Big Five tech giants who do have the vision, the innovation, and let's face it, the money.

So if this hypothesis is correct and XR cinema is the now, then who are the content makers? Well, Mastertude for one, but we consider ourselves to be pioneers of a new film format that is also being developed by other content makers.

With Polymath, our big-budget sci-fi fantasy XR music learning film, Mastertude is trailblazing the next-generation of immersive cinema, by evolving cinemas into edutainment hubs, combining passive viewing and interactive learning.

During the passive viewing segments, the audience takes in the story, guided by the director's vision; however, during the interactive segments the viewer finds themselves in a breathtaking Music Dojo, where each experience is curated by the film maker to meet the learning requirements of the individual, while never losing the motif of the film.

And here's the catch: forget the lousy $9 average cinema ticket price, it's going to cost a minimum of a whopping $80 a ticket to have the Polymath experience. For this, the viewer/user, let's call them the viewser, gets not only the use of the best in XR tech, not only an epic sci-fi fantasy film made with the highest caliber talent, but they walk out of the cinema having learned the fundamentals of music (scales, chords, reading music, composing music, playing songs, etc.) within an exhilarating story.

Aspiring musicians (and studies show that most of us are, but we find music learning hard) pay thousands of dollars for music tuition that is not particularly enjoyable; what better way to launch the concept of premium XR edutainment cinema than through the universally loved and desired language of music?

Our vision is that the Polymath experience will inspire other influential Hollywood filmmakers to create similar edutainment films in which adults and children can acquire new skills. The possibilities for learning through narrative topics are endless - some thought starters: learning a language through a spy thriller, forensic science in a murder mystery, quantum physics through a space adventure.

Tech companies will back XR technologies being introduced into cinema as it gets new tech to mainstream faster. Hollywood has always been used as a trendsetting tool to get brands into the hands of the masses, and XR is no different. Once XR technology has been introduced in cinema as a premium experience, consumers will buy XR products to recreate the magic of the experience inhome, as they have always done with other out-of-home media entertainment.

Our revolutionary XR edutainment system could save cinema, future-proofing it and giving it relevance and profitability by increasing the value that cinema can offer to audiences. The audience leaves this re-imagined high tech environment feeling accomplished; they've acquired a skill while being thoroughly entertained in a captivating story. The question is, are cinemas brave enough to take a step into this brave new world or will they cling to a Hollywood that doesn't exist anymore...?

Disclaimer: These views and opinions are not intended to malign any organization, company, or individual. The views expressed here are mine as an observer of Hollywood, tech industries, and the changing entertainment landscape in my role as CEO of Mastertude. Mastertude does not have a financial stake in cinemas, and the roll-out of our system is not dependent on the survival of cinema, so we have no agenda in which way the market goes. However, we still believe in the virtue of cinema, which brings people together for shared experiences, and we believe the magic of cinema can be restored with the introduction of our XR edutainment system.