One of the benefits of virtual reality is its ability to mimic the real world, but this also means that issues surrounding race and gender can cross over. Jordan Belamire describes being sexually harassed while playing a QuiVr game and feeling powerless. This is just one woman’s experience, but her piece ends by exploring how abuse like this should be handled. “As VR becomes … Read More
October VR/AR News #3: AR at work
Virtual reality provides an opportunity to recreate and explore the past, especially in areas where little is known about its history. The Plain of Jars, an ancient site littered with mysterious stone jars, is being replicated virtually by Australian archaeologists. Researchers from the Australian National University and Monash University are using a new mapping technology called Cave2 as part of the … Read More
Cartooning for Change
Marvel’s newest superhero doesn’t have any superpowers, and she sure doesn’t wear a cape. In collaboration with ABC News, Marvel has used the stories of a real woman to create Madaya Mom, a Syrian mother fighting to keep her family safe. This is part of a growing trend of comics focused on real world issues. With his graphic novel Maus, Art … Read More
October VR/AR News #2: Veterans, the Best VR Headsets and Aliens
First up, a brief (and fun) aside: Baobab Studio, who are behind the animated VR “Invasion!,” which you can see in its entirety here, released a preview of the Sci-fi show’s second episode. Check it out here. One of the great things about VR is that organizations can use the technology to raise awareness about a wide variety of issues. This Washington Post article … Read More
October VR/AR News #1: Oculus Touch, Immigration, and Women in VR
In hardware news, Oculus revealed its new Touch at its third Connect conference on Thursday, Oct. 6. The $199 pair of hand grips brings Oculus on par or even past other motion controls released by Valve and HTC through its use of motion sensing and haptic feedback. At the conference, Mark Zuckerberg also demonstrated a new social VR experience that allows users to … Read More
Weekly news in 360 video and VR
The first U.S. Presidential Debate on Sept. 27 highlighted the current political polarization in the country, much of which plays out online on social media platforms like Twitter. But can communal VR spaces be a solution to promote productive political discussions? AltspaceVR thinks so. The company has spent a year building a VR community mostly to share collective entertainment experiences like virtual Dungeons & Dragons games. … Read More
#LifeinGawair
In June we were delighted to be one of the recipients of the Innovation in Development Reporting grants from the European Journalism Center in Maastricht to use a combination of comics and 360 video to offer an immersive window into the lives of families based in Gawair, a slum north of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has been increasingly plagued by floods, tornados … Read More
This week in VR/AR: Dreaming, touching and education
This past week, there have been a series of tech developments in virtual and augmented reality. For one, Nikon took a step into the VR space with its new KeyMission series of cameras. In addition to the GoPro-like KeyMission 170 and KeyMission 80 chest camera, the KeyMission 360 is a strong new competitor for action. In addition to shooting 360 video … Read More
Can VR induce empathy? Behind our work with the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School
Can new technologies like virtual and augmented reality and 360 video induce empathy in users? That is what Empathetic Media founder Dan Archer is studying in collaboration with Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. A first of its kind project, this research will result in an analysis of empathy and whether users can more closely relate to characters and situations in a VR … Read More
360 film highlights the beautiful effects of protecting ecosystems
While we previously wrote about how virtual reality (VR) is being used to shed light on parts of the world that are being negatively affected by climate change and human intervention, this recent piece for Conservation International proves that VR can also be used to show how people are working to rebuild ecosystems. The Bird’s Head Seascape surrounding Papua New Guinea in … Read More
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