It is as if it is virtual reality week. I hear about developments at Apple, Google and a virtual reality movie to be recorded, all within just a few days. News that I pick up via (Internet) radio, the newspaper and blogs. Yes, I am a slow changer. Though I work paperless for some years now, have a mobile office (my laptop with my wires) and put my notes in OneNote, I do like to read the paper news, the paper book and scribble lyrics on a paper note.

Making slow changes does move me forward however. I use Twitter, Facebook (but more as observer, checking what is happening), but not Instagram, Snapchat or Pinterest. I checked Meerkat and have Spotify, but have no Netflix account (we very rarely buy a movie via Apple TV.) I use my Samsung Galaxy Tab for minuting meetings or conferences, or for reading via the Kindle app when travelling. Adaptation mainly driven by office needs, adapting when things can be done more practical, but I am surely no new gadget adept.

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So how about virtual reality? I am not sure whether this would work for me. Would I have a VR experience instead of going to a museum? Would I enjoy a VR movie or documentary? Go for a dinner, always at the same place, but in a virtual world? I am not sure. I just watched this Raw Data game by  Survios – that is not the thing for me. Or have a look at Micosoft’s hololens. A different way to watch football, to interact, to have virtual avatars in the same room. For me it should probably first start in my working environment, a virtual board meeting instead of using GoMeeting, Lync or Skype.

My Library colleagues in Research & Development and our Programma Manager for the Library Learning Centre are investigating a possible VR happening in our Library, presenting faculty work. Read the blogs they now write on new Library trends, some are in Dutch, some in English. Great stuff, of course on virtual reality, but also on the new Beam(er) and a Library with a Pinterest account (and that of course could get me using it!).

We should be life long learning, right!? Learning about e.g. the future of publishing (“Don’t be disillusioned. There was nothing wrong with email, public transportation or cameras, but they were all flipped upside down by Facebook, Uber and iPhones. Digital will change publishing. In fact, it already has.”). The best source to learn from is of course young people. This week my daughter turned 12, she took my telephone, and showed me how I could use Whatsapp web on the PC, via the QR reader. I had no idea, and that is worrying. I know that we all should be learning how to code (reading, writing and arithmetic), and in the end I probably will … though I am a slow changer.