Wisdom From The Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries, With Bethany Boarts of Iron Mountain Entertainment Services
Stay updated on technology and trends. Keep your involvement in new tech solutions and attending trade shows, and conferences around these solutions at an all-time high. Education about new technology is critical when working with media customers.
The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, as a part of our interview series called “Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Bethany Boarts.
Bethany Boarts, the lead imaging project manager at Iron Mountain Entertainment Services (IMES) is leading the way to help clients across the entertainment, music and sports sectors adopt AR solutions. She joined IMES in 2004, and created the imaging department for IMDS; designing workflows, improving techniques, and crafting standard operating procedures. Boarts has worked to digitize assets using VR/AR to drive immersive experiences for clients by giving them the ability to look back through a company’s history and see models of original prototypes or unique parts or pieces of special units. Boarts believes that more companies will pivot to digital vaults to protect their assets, and she leads the development of offerings for 3D capturing for clients giving them a new way to relate to their customers using AR on their websites.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
My love for photography and obsession with cameras began at a very young age. I was mesmerized by the entire idea of stopping a moment in time, the intricacy of a camera, and the magic of processing film. When I started at Penn State University, I realized I wanted to be a photojournalist and landed a photographer position with the Daily Collegian. While in college the digital revolution of photography took hold. I had the unique opportunity to not only learn the film end of photography but also the digital side. After college I worked at a newspaper in Pittsburgh, PA for the next five years. As I grew in my career, I realized I wanted to pivot into the archiving field. I was able to get my foot in the door with a new archiving company called Xepa Digital. Xepa quickly flourished and was subsequently purchased by the global entity Iron Mountain in 2007.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Thanks to my love of photography, I broke the binders on every National Geographic magazine I could find. I was especially inspired by two photographers in particular, Ansel Adams and Steve McCurry. I read every book I could get my hands on that even mentioned their works. I was lucky enough to photograph in the same location as Ansel Adams at the Snake River in Grand Teton National Park and then visit his art studio in California. Steve McCurry’s popular photo of Afghan Girl inspired me to follow my dreams and work in photojournalism. It also really connected me to my alma mater, Penn State — as we are both fellow alumni.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.
In light of COVID-19, our IMES team was looking for a new way to archive our clients’ assets and give the client the ability to activate their archive in a whole new light — 3D was an easy leap! By adding 3D to our achieving solutions, we’re able to open up a whole new world to preserving our client’s archive and cultural legacies. The potential to grant more accessibility for our clients during a time where access is limited, provided more value from their assets.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
A few years ago, we had the pleasure of working directly with a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer. I had the opportunity to work hand in hand with this person to digitally capture their award-winning work! As someone with a photography background, being a part of this project and helping to capture their work in a digital format was exciting. Through this digitization project, the client was able to preserve their legacy so an entire new generation of people can enjoy it.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I was hoping to sweep that moment under the rug. When I first started, I was hoping to impress my boss by baking a cake for his birthday. I made a chocolate cake with a nut frosting — usually a big hit at friend/family functions. As I presented my best recipe to him, he smiled and kindly said thank you then promptly walked away. What I didn’t know is that he was severely allergic to nuts! Needless to say, I never made him that cake again.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Lucky for me, I have had more than one! Narrowing it down to one particular person, I’m most grateful for the support of VP of Technology at IMES, Denis Leconte. When we first started to go down this idea of creating a new solution using 3D he was supportive in listening to points about why our clients would appreciate this type of solution and ways this type of innovation will improve accessibility to assets. Denis challenged me to find a solution that would meet our clients’ needs and be on the cutting edge of technology.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
Yes, several! For starters, we are currently working through a vast archive of a popular American-born company. We are utilizing our new solution of 3D capture to document their unique assets. This is exciting for the future of media preservation because by using AI, ML and AR to capture details for various metadata and per each unique asset — we’re better equipped to enhance the way we preserve assets for future generations to come. We are also working with a popular US company that will be turning 100 years old this next year to digitize their collection, focusing mostly on their vast photography collection. Using AI and ML we can help this client find gems within their collection that they would have never known existed.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?
Three factors of the VR, AR, MR capabilities that we are excited to initialize would be the hands-on capability for our clients, capturing the historical reference of a specific asset, and the ability to create a whole new virtual world around an archive.
I am loving the hands-on capability that 3D captures will provide to clients in the VR environment. With all the effects of COVID-19, most companies cannot be on location to dig into their archives, therefore the ability to see their archives in a virtual environment is a reminder of the range of accessibility that digital solutions can provide. The files we create from the 3D assets will offer new historical reference for clients, especially those assets that are deteriorating at an alarming rate. Thanks to the capabilities of 3D capturing, we can preserve these assets for future generations.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
Some general concerns I have about the virtual industry are the ease of use for our clients to utilize the 3D captures we supply and the development of those user platforms. One issue that I have are concerns about best practices around the use of the VR, AR and MR specifications in general. It will certainly be interesting to see how that moves forward.
I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?
I would agree and think it’s obvious that this is a whole new opportunity for unique fan experiences for all types of industries, with the entertainment world at the forefront. From archives of set designs to viewing and having hands on experiences with your favorite musical artists instruments is the wave of the future. Even the sports industry can utilize this type of innovation to have a more immersive fan experience, and it’s interesting to see how the pandemic has forced many industries to think outside the box.
Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?
These types of ‘realities can give us a new perspective when it comes to viewing special assets. For example, if a client has a particularly interesting archive around 3D assets for costumes from a particular movie or TV set, a fan could visit a virtual museum and see these pieces up close. They would theoretically be able to zoom into the particular fibers of a hat or shirt that their favorite character wore during filming. To expand on the previous question, I see a world in which we would be able to sit behind our favorite drummer’s drum set and use that particular musician’s specific set up to create our own sounds.
Let’s zoom out a bit and talk in broader terms. Are you currently satisfied with the status quo regarding women in STEM? If not, what specific changes do you think are needed to change the status quo?
I think that is an ever-changing and evolving topic of discussion. I have been pleased to see growth in the resources available to Women in Tech. For example, the Women in Technology group has a wonderful online presence. More reputable conferences are realizing that they need to step up and recognize the value in speaking directly to women. I just received an email from CES that addresses gender and racial biases in AI. It gives me hope when I see these difficult but necessary conversations being had at such a high level. Internally, at Iron Mountain we have an employee resource group that is based around women in our company, and I hope more companies adopt similar internal programs to break barriers and support more women in STEM.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?
One of the most popular myths would be that women just aren’t interested in technology. This couldn’t be further from the truth. By nature, I am a problem solver, so my interest in technology comes naturally! Technology helps push us in so many ways — solving problems for our clients and creating new worlds of entertainment.
What are your “5 Leadership Lessons I Learned From My Experience as a Woman in Tech” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
- Team work. Build your team around trust and support each other by being present. Listen openly to your team’s opinions, frustrations, and ideas.
- Stay updated on technology and trends. Keep your involvement in new tech solutions and attending trade shows, and conferences around these solutions at an all-time high. Education about new technology is critical when working with media customers.
- Staying hands-on with solutions. I find value in working with each solution we offer to our clients. Understanding the solution from end to end helps me create solid workflows, competitive pricing for future jobs and research new technologies and solution options.
- Solid Communication. Communication between your team members is critical but keeping in mind creating a solid relationship with your clients is necessary. I find it so valuable to keep an open line of communication, even if it’s for a few minutes a week- speaks volumes to your clients.
- Find yourself a mentor. One of the best decisions made is finding myself a valuable mentor. In Lisa Rabasca Roepe’s article 10 Tips for Finding a Mentor I found guidance in finding the right mentor and how to establish our relationship to help me along the way. Having this person gave me peace of mind to have a reliable source to bounce ideas off of as well as guide me through my career.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would love to inspire a movement that brings together a media preservation course that’s available to colleges and focus on the importance of archival preservation, while teaching the necessary skills to keep preserving archival assets that the next generation can enjoy. From a personal mantra, I’d like to have more visibility to the people that work in the trenches of our company. There are so many people who show up, work hard, are good partners to their fellow coworkers and truly get the job done .Even through the effects of COVID-19, our team was able to find a way to survive, support each other and lean on each other during some difficult times. The team stepped up by showing a willingness to learn new things, work varied shifts and meet tight deadlines. Being a bit kinder and recognizing these smaller unique teams around all types of companies would empower people to have pride.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
I am a big fan of podcasts and multitasking, so one of my favorites is the tech podcast, ‘Accidental Tech Podcast’ — it’s easy listening and helps me keep current with new gear. The hosts Marco Arment, Casey Liss and John Siracusa, do a good job of mixing in the new tech talk with current tech issues, and it would be great to dive into a few tech conversations over lunch with one (or all) of them.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Wisdom From The Women Leading The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries, With Bethany Boarts of Iron… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
