Eve's Week 9: VR and Empathy
The TED talk "VR is the ultimate empathy machine" by Chris Milk was very inspiring. Previously, when I thought about the uses of Virtual Reality, I mostly pictured video games. In his talk he explained that VR is not just used for video games but can also create immersive experiences about pretty much anything. He talked about his project "Clouds over Sidra" which follows a young girl who was displaced from her home in Syria. When you view something through VR, it allows you to get as close as possible to "walking in someone else's shoes." Reading Sidra's story or even just viewing it as a video does not have the same impact that viewing it in VR does. When you experience the story in such a personal way, you feel more empathetic towards the situation. I liked what he said about sharing stories like Sidra's to the people who can actually do something about it. If people become more empathetic to these types of situations through the use of VR, the more likely they are to find ways to help people in those situations.
I also looked at "Becoming Homeless" from Stanford VHIL. I couldn't actually play the game, but I watched the trailer and read about it. It's a little bit different from some of the other VR games and videos we've looked at because it is animated instead of footage from real-life. I think the message of this game is really important, because there are a lot of negative stereotypes about homeless people. The game serves as a reminder that becoming homeless could happen to anyone, and that many homeless people don't fit these bad stereotypes. VR games like this can help humanize different groups of people and potentially inspire viewers to make a positive impact and change their perspective.
Great post! I think it's really cool that you looked at the text "Becoming Homeless." It also caught my attention because I know that there are a lot of negative stereotypes which lead people to think that homeless people have somehow "chose" to live like that, as opposed to the thought that they want to do better but are stopped by socioeconomic obstacles to do so. It's cool that the game reminds us that a lot of unhoused people got unlucky, by getting some bad cards in life so to speak, and it makes me think about how much of what happens to us in life (and even our decisions) are within our control. I think this is an interesting display of the psychological phenomenon called the "belief bias effect," which the summary of the game mentions that the game took into consideration in its game-making process. This thinking pattern can influence people to think homeless people simply did it to themselves, and the game can help counter that oversimplified realization.
ReplyDeleteI love your analysis! I also looked at this project for my bring it to the table and I agree that it has a very important message. Being able to experience that situation from a first person perspective really sheds some much needed light on how homeless stereotypes are not true in the slightest.
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