Virtual reality is taking the District by storm.
Consider how organizations like the Newseum have embraced the technology, and the fact that D.C. scored the Northeast's first virtual reality arcade. Then, there's Academy Award winning director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s new virtual reality installation on Benning Road NE.
VR's D.C. explosion didn't happen all by itself, however. One of the catalysts? The influence of Joseph Cathey, the founder of Capitol Interactive.
While he's now considered one of D.C.’s virtual reality thought leaders in the virtual and augmented reality space, Cathey found himself on an eclectic path to the VR field.
A film student, he initially moved to D.C. as a video intern for a telemedicine company, VMedicine. As he climbed the ranks there, Cathey found himself interested in 360° video, eventually purchasing a camera that he brought on a trip to Japan where he filmed the entire experience in 360° format.
“It really gave me a crash course on what I should or should not do in video production,” Cathey said, “It was a brand-new medium — I got to write the rules and break them at the same time.”
After the trip, he was hooked. Cathey eventually left VMedicine, realizing it was time to pursue his passion more directly. Capitol Interactive was born, with a focus on immersive media.
Its first order of business was producing 360° virtual tours for other organizations, such as the AARP.
Cathey admitted that the group's interested in VR seemed a bit out-of-the-box at first.
“The AARP isn’t an organization you think of for VR,” he said. “But once I started talking to them, it started to make sense. Their new mantra was, 'disrupting aging,' and that’s how they are approaching new technologies as well."
In addition to the AARP, Cathey also worked with big clients like the Discovery Channel. Part of his work for that team involved literally swimming with sharks for Shark Week, sinking a camera in the Baltimore Aquarium to film the creatures feeding.
Then there were conversations with the State Department on how to best employ virtual reality.
“It was a brand-new medium — I got to write the rules and break them at the same time.”
“We’ve talked about how VR can be a tool used to generate empathy," Cathey said. "You could give someone a headset and immerse them in a Syrian refugee camp, or take them to places where there is no drinking water.”
It's a move that could have far-flung influence.
“If we can show video to decision makers, we can better inform and educate them on how policy is being made," he said.
Cathey added that policy isn't the only thing that VR could impact, citing his work with health care clients and the opportunity for the technology to help patients prepare for surgery.
“If you give a kid a VR headset, you can show them what to expect, all the while alleviating their fears and improving patient satisfaction scores," he said.
While the VR discussion is filled with many "coulds" as technologists consider the many ways it may impact the world as we know it, the future of Cathey's business has many "wills." For example, Cathey has "grow the Capitol Interactive team" on his 2018 to-do list, with a focus on hiring developers and internship positions for the summer as he also works to grow his clientele.
It's not a bad growth trajectory for a guy who didn’t think much of D.C.’s tech scene when he first moved here.
Cathey quickly came to realize his misread, eventually finding D.C. to have a "thriving tech scene" that he quicky became immersed in. It's so robust, in fact, that he believes the District has strong potential to become a unique VR destination.
"[D.C.] can definitely be a hub for virtual reality," he said. "VR and AR are impactful technologies, and with DC being mission-oriented, it’s a winning situation."
