Analysing the complexity of nature hikes with 360-degree and stereoscopic video recordings

Participants on nature hikes want to encounter nature ‘first hand’ and they also wish to learn about what they otherwise do not have direct access to. They partake in a moving gestalt which typically is populated by ad hoc groups and expert guides. The focus of the presentation is to explore how Big Video data (McIlvenny & Davidsen 2017) can better capture a (moving) nature hike gestalt from the participants’ perspective. Laurier & Philo (2006) remind us of Raffel’s (1979) notion that video recordings make it possible to “examine past activities not as past but rather as ‘formerly present’” (Laurier & Philo 2006). The talk presents the collection and multimodal interaction analysis of 360-degree and stereoscopic video footage from two nature hikes (one to a protected heathland and the other to a forest). In both cases, the participants’ mobile formation was in flux and in both of them an additional object (a rod sampler and a smartphone app) was introduced. The app seemed to create a disruption or ‘dilemma’ (Emirbayer and Maynard 2011) for the gestalt/participants. The analysis shows how the introduction, acceptance and rejection of the objects emerged as interactional and spatial accomplishments in the longer-term contingencies of the gestalts. This leads to a final discussion about to what degree Big Video data can be judged to be not just a pale documentation of ‘formerly present’ activities, but can be considered a chance to experience the situation as ‘being there’ volumetrically, that is, ‘first hand’, as a perceptually embodied observer. Emirbayer & Maynard (2011). Pragmatism and ethnomethodology. Qualitative Sociology, 34, 221-261. Laurier & Philo (2006). Cold shoulders and napkins handed: gestures of responsibility. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 31(2), 193–207. McIlvenny & Davidsen, (2017). A Big Video Manifesto: Re-sensing video and audio. Nordicom Information, 39(2), 15-21.