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Furry Migration 2 by Geemo
I attended Furry Migration 2 in Minneapolis this past weekend. This year's theme was "Back to Migration" and much of the event was decorated and signed as if it were right out of Back to the Future! Past, present, and future were definitely recurring topics throughout the weekend. Reed Waller, Amber “Vantid” Hill, and Ken Fletcher were the Guests of Honor. Mr. Waller's claim to fame is the comic "Omaha The Cat Dancer" which debuted 40+ years ago and was a gateway to furry for hundreds and possibly thousands of people.
Two panels were devoted to the history of the furry fandom and discussing topics of a similar nature. The host of one panel, Dronon, had a very well written synopsis and did a great job. From his six page, incredibly insightful timeline, some trends began to appear:
- We'll likely see more and more digital artwork, possibly less traditional art and less print media
- Successful content will pave the way for more content; markets for cartoons and movies will continue to grow
- Greater interest in the fandom will lead to increased attendance and participation in events, locally and otherwise
- Niche events and gathers may grow out of larger conventions
- Furry will likely become more common in mainstream pop culture (music, TV, advertising, etc.)
- In the 90's, convention costume contests were replaced by fursuit parades, but will something eventually replace parades?
- We've used comics, fanzines, Usenet groups, FTP sites, personal websites, mailing lists, Yahoo groups, Google, BBSes, chat rooms, MUDs and MUCKs, IRC, AOL IM, ICQ, Livejournal, Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Livestream, Picarto and other media. What's next?
- Nerdiness will continue to become more socially acceptable as time goes on
- Cosplay will become more common and more popular
- The fandom will likely see new and different fursonas as people try to distinguish themselves as unique and original; more hybrids, new species, colorations
Interesting things to think about and consider.
My photos are posted here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHskfWg7gD
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I'm looking forward to the future. If it's anything like the past, it'll be pretty great.
VR seems like it's had a few false starts, but I don't think it's a gimmick or a fad. I mean, it's still around and still evolving. Every few years there's something new like AR or Oculus Rift.
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There certainly seems to be no shortage of folks dismissing it as both, or prophesying its failure. The comparisons I see to 3DTV are particularly baffling. The hype for VR in the 90's was based on its real, world-changing potential, but the technology was ages from being mature enough to justify the mainstream attention it got. Things are much different now, with the explosion of low-cost sensors and mobile displays, not to mention the staggering increases in computing power that've happened in the last 25 years (I remember playing Dactyl Nightmare in a movie theater, and that was running on a frikkin' Amiga).
That said, I think adoption is going to be slow, thanks to the high recommended PC specs. Enthusiasts will be all over it, of course, and they're always the ones who wind up subsidizing new tech for everyone else. I intend to be one of them. :)
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I loathed 3D movies in theatres and still do. The technology has improved, but I wear glasses already and additional glasses are annoying and uncomfortable. I just so happened to buy a Samsung HDTV last year that had 3D capabilities. It wasn't a feature I was truly interested, but after trying it out I was impressed with the brightness and clarity, something theatres haven't gotten right yet in my experience. I'd recommend a home 3D TV to anyone truly interested in such things. The glasses aren't even that bad but the model we have does require watch batteries.
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Never actually tried a 3DTV myself, but glad to hear that you've enjoyed yours. Do you have trouble finding compatible movies to watch on it?
The accepted narrative seems to be that 3DTV failed to find an audience, and is a dying technology. Some critics of VR like to equate the two, which strikes me as an apples-and-oranges sort of comparison. The only similarities are that they're 3D and involve wearing headgear of some sort. The immersive ability of VR sets it apart, IMO.
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Shrek wasn't bad. That's about all we've tried beyond the sample movies and clips.
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Tehrig
Those are some pretty hopeful trends, and I hope he's right. Some will, of course, respond negatively to the "mainstreaming" of the fandom, believing that what makes furry "weird" or "unique" will inevitably be diluted by greater public acceptance. My hope is that if/when assimilation really hits its stride, it'll be because popular culture is becoming weirder (and hopefully less fearful of sexuality), and not because furry is "selling out".
What's your take on all this?
Oh, and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I think VR is going to be a major new medium through which furries connect with each other. We already create avatars for ourselves, and Second Life demonstrates the appeal of taking those into a virtual world to interact with others. The next step is obviously actually inhabiting those avatars rather than watching them on a screen.