Outside: 11 VR projects that allow to understand others and the world better
This is a translation of the article originally wrote in Russian (by Ania Khazina) for Theory&Practice magazine, where it has been published on April 18, 2018
Virtual reality can serve as a tool to study and expand the capacity of the brain, or as a means to fight against discrimination and prejudice in society by better understanding others. For Theory and Practice I chose 11 projects that use VR for social issues and asked Naomi Roth, VR researcher and journalist, to evaluate them to explain why we need to try on another bodies, experience lives of a prisoner or a homeless person, see the world through the eyes of a frog or turn into a tree.
Another body
Psychologists and neuroscientists are still arguing about what mechanisms are responsible for recognizing themselves and their own bodies. For the last couple of decades this issue has been extensively explored using VR, due to this technology’s extraordinary capacity to effectively “separate” consciousness from the body. VR has been successfully used in medicine (for treatment of burn patients and rehabilitation of stroke patients, PTSD therapy, etc.), which also points to the fact that our brain willingly confuses a virtual environment and a virtual body with real one. Studies show that when we observe other people, their bodily states can be partially felt as our own. Perception of the physical sensations of other people helps to better understand their actions and emotions, therefore this bodily “solidarity” is one of the fundamental pillars of empathy.
The Machine to be Another
This project is a pair of experiences that allow you to exchange bodies with another real person. The Machine to Be Another involves several sensory systems at once: in addition to visual stimulation there is touch and proprioception (physical sense of the position of one’s body in space). The moment you manage to synchronize your movements with those of your partner, your brain believes that you have swapped bodies. This experience involves a system of two VR headsets with videocameras, which makes it impossible to try at home, but can often be seen and tested at exhibitions and festivals in Europe.
Research shows that we are more prone to building empathy towards people who look like us. When you watch recordings of people who look like you and are experiencing physical pain, your brain responds more actively than it would in a case when they have different skin color, hair or nose. Virtual reality overcomes this distance by placing you in their body. Machine to be Another is a mindblowing project, which shows how easy it is for your brain to adapt to a new context. It’s a real multi-sensory hallucination, like an oasis in the desert: no matter how much you tell yourself that this impossibe or it’s not true, you still see it. — Naomi Roth
Equal Reality
Available for HTC Vive
A full-scale training in VR, designed to fight discrimination of different social groups. In Equal Reality you can embody an avatar of another sex, race, age or physical ability. The demo experience is available online and allows you to put yourself in the shoes of a woman or a man in a wheelchair in the workplace, and experience the prejudice of your colleagues.
In the case of Equal Reality, you’re changing your perspective with that of an avatar rather than a real person, and your actions are limited by a pre-planned scenario. These limits distort empathy: for example, in the case of a man in a wheelchair, the entire experience comes down to being disabiled and other people treating you differently. Life experience of real handicapped people is, of course, much more diverse and richer than that. Designing an experience like that is a big responsibility, because creators can shape people’s view on what it’s like to be part of a minority, which in reality is impossible to fully grasp. The empathy generated by a VR simulation of a few minutes in length is just the first crack in the wall between you and another person. — Naomi Roth
Another life
Empathy doesn’t necessarily require moving into the body of another person. The misunderstanding between people is not reduced to their physical differences; sometimes imagining someone living in different conditions is just as hard. The role of VR in this case is not necessarily to give you a new body but simply to place you in another environment.
6x9
Available on all devices
A simulation of imprisonment designed by The Guardian. In this experience you don’t have a virtual avatar. You’re left with only the physical sensation of your own body and the limits of the room, but you can partially control the environment with your eyes. The simulation is accompanied by an audio recording from a real prison, which helps to fully immerse you in the story.
This project is an excellent example of how a well-designed space alone can create a powerful sense of being present. The walls of the prison cell are pressuring you and your connection to other human beings is reduced to their cries and shouts behind the door. Isolation turns you into a ghost; you lose your identity, your humanity, your connection to others. — Naomi Roth
Becoming Homeless
Available for HTC Vive
This project created by Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab offers an interactive experience of being a homeless person, and, most importantly, becoming one; you lose your apartment, sleep in public transport and protect yourself from harassers. Despite having some control over the story, your character always end up on the street; this inevitability might make you question your previous views on fate and the choices of homeless persons.
We’ve all heard stories about how people lose their homes, get harrassed on the streets and discriminated against, but we have trouble imagining it because the gap between us and them seems too big. Becoming Homeless actually puts you through the stress of losing your home and experiencing isolation and violence. You don’t just witness it, but feel it with your whole body. This is an invitation to dive into something we’re all afraid to face, something that prevents us from looking into homeless people’s eyes — the unknown. More often than not we soothe ourselves with simple explanations like “they did this to themselves” or “they wanted that”, but sometimes your life situation is just a result of an unfortunate spiral of events. Becoming Homeless is a courageous tentative to make you acknowledge that there are just a couple of steps between you and becoming homeless. — Naomi Roth
Another story
Many well-known magazines, such as The New York Times, The Guardian and PBS have embarked on VR journalism. While in most cases their projects are in essense just 360-videos, the format itself provides a powerful sense of immersion; you can choose where you look, how you explore the space and it enables you to become a witness to the story.
The Displaced
Available on all devices
This film, directed by The New York Times and Within, revolves around the fates of three children from South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine forced to leave their homes due to war. The main characters seem to speak directly to you and tell their story to you exclusively. “If I could, I would turn into a lion, finish my enemies, and then turn back into a child”.
The Displaced does not require the viewers to actively participate, but rather invites them to observe and listen. Immersion is achieved simply by the absence of frame, this window through which we’re used to perceiving news and stories, which cuts out a lot of the context. In VR, there is no more barrier between you and the story; when the character looks into the camera, he or she looks you in the eye. This is a very powerful tool for raising awareness about global issues such as crisis. I have witnessed so many people crying after watching The Displaced, Clouds Over Sidra or The Crossing — simply because it was the first time they actually met and heard refugees. When there is no frame, no barrier between you and them, you cannot not turn away and ignore what you’re witnessing.
— Naomi Roth
Kiya
Available on all devices
Kiya is a short piece on domestic violence directed by Emblematic Group, a company led by famous VR journalist Nonny de la Peña (Guardian and Forbes call her “the godmother of VR”). In the experience, you witness a scene in which Kiya’s boyfriend threatens to shoot her and her family members try to stop him. Like other projects of Emblematic Group, this film is based on a real event which was recreated using computer graphics without minimal changes or author intervention. It is accompanied by the original audio recording from the crime scene and phone calls to the police.
Nonny de la Peña has her own specific view on what journalism could and should be; she refuses the role of journalist as a narrator entirely, and I find this idea both effective and dangerous. The “filter” of journalism is there to help you translate the experienced emotional impact into something that has rational value. Kiya, along with other films of de la Peña shocks you and leaves you powerless; the only thing can say after watching it is that you have watched a woman die. Such cruelty doesn’t only seem unjustified, but it also might be working against the very idea of immersive journalism; the spectator can simply refuse to let in what they are seeing or, worst case, get used to witnessing violence. Some sort of journalistic filter is necessary for putting the viewer in the context of story and guiding them to being journalists themselves. Showing something to others, especially in VR, requires great responsibility: it is important to clearly understand why you are doing it. — Naomi Roth
Another state of mind
Some health conditions affect not only the physical capabilities of the body, but also cognition and consciousness. Needless to say that showing an altered state of mind can be even more challenging than showing another body or environment.
Unrest VR
This VR experience depicting the world through the eyes of a person suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), was released last year together with a documentary about life of Jennifer Brea and other people suffering from this condition. Unrest VR shows you the everyday life of Jennifer which is mostly spent bedridden due to the disease.
A Walk Through Dementia
Available for all devices, but most functions (interaction with objects) are designed exclusively for Google Cardboard application
This project, created by Alzheimer’s Research UK allows you to experience common symptoms of dementia from a first-person perspective. Creators of A Walk Through Dementia aimed for it to inform viewers about the conditions and difficulties that patients face every day. The experience shows you symptoms of dementia in three settings: at the supermarket, on the way to your home and at home.
Notes on Blindness (by ARTE)
Available in Oculus, AppStore and GooglePlay
Notes on Blindness has been designed by the franco-german channel ARTE based on the audio diary of writer John Hull; over the course of several years, his vision gradually deteriorated until he went completely blind in 1983. The experience consists of several chapters which are followed by Hull’s narration. You become him, observing the elusive world, where fluid and shapeless objects exist in no relation to each other, but sound, smell and touch gain new meaning and importance.
All three pieces allow you to empathize with the people suffering from a health condition rather than to experience the condition itself. This is a journey into someone else’s mind, not someone else’s body. The crucial role here is assigned to the narrator, who gently guides you into the new reality changed by a disease. It’s a great example of the huge potential that audio has in VR; voice is a very powerful and intimate tool, the closest thing there is to a soul. Introducing the voice of the narrator allows a gradual immersion in a new context and a particular feeling of intimacy with the narrators; you are free to take what you can take from the experience. — Naomi Roth
Another living form
When embodying another human being is not enough, you can turn to other organisms. Of course, it’s impossible to know what it is like to see the world though the eyes of a mushroom or a tree (to begin with, they don’t have eyes), so in this case we ought to rely on the perspective of artists. Anyway, such a noble cause as solidarity with all living things can justify a little bit of cheating.
In the Eyes of the Animal
Available on all devices and in browser
IEOTA simulates a walk in the forest from the perspective of different animals. We rarely consider the fact that human eye in all its complexity is just one branch of the evolution of vision, very different from those of other animals. This experience allows you to imagine how a mosquito, a dragonfly, a frog can see the world around them.
Tree VR
Embodying a growing tree. In Tree VR, you are “embodying” a growing plant, going through all stages, from a germinating seed to the full-grown tree, whose trunk becomes your body and branches replace your limbs. During official presentations of Tree VR the impression is enhanced by the smell of the forest dispersed around you.
Apparently our sense of identity is extremely fluid, which allows us to be able to identify ourselves with lots of avatars: lobsters, trees, creatures of any shape or color. However, the experience of embodying another living form is more a reflection of one’s own metacognitive experience than an exchange with another organism. In reality, you can become homeless or sick, but you will definitely not become a tree. All these projects are purely anthropocentric, because they are created by people for people. However, they make us think about how we perceive other organisms, whether we can project our values onto them and whether we can connect with and learn something from them. It is also an excercise in humbleness; in the body of an animal and especially in a tree trunk you won’t have the same agency and potential of action as while being a human.- Naomi Roth
Ania Khazina is a master’s student in EdTech program at the Center for Research & Interdisciplinarity in Paris. Currently she’s working on a VR project on gender inequalities, which you can follow here.
