Virtual Reality was a technology poised to transform the gaming industry. Financial analysts predicted it would be a $30 billion market within five years, dominated overwhelmingly by the gaming industry. However, it soon emerged into popular awareness as an ideal technique of all types of storytelling, including journalism.
Virtual Reality, commonly abbreviated VR, is the method of narration that brings the audience to meet the story halfway, allowing individuals to transition from an “audience” to “users” and the media from “scenery” to an “experience.” In journalism, it requires 360-degree spherical cameras and surround sound audio so that, when the college sophomore holding an iPad in the seclusion of her dorm room turns a half-circle because she heard something “behind” her, she sees a group of Syrian refugees — mostly children — flocked at her feet.
Presumably, the kids have gathered to inspect the strange contraption housing multiple cameras and microphones that has been systematically filming their makeshift home. But to the user in her dorm room, it seems as though they’ve come to see her, just as she sees them.
That particular scene comes from a short VR film entitled Clouds over Sidra, which narrates the story of Sidra, a 12-year-old girl forced from her home in the recent Syrian refugee crisis. Created by Chris Milk, in collaboration with the United Nations, the film educates the user about the Syrian refugee crisis by reporting Sidra’s story while allowing the user to explore selected scenes within the camp.
The striking part of the experience is how much the user misses. While watching two boys wrestling on a mat, you — the user — cannot see the line of boys observing the match directly behind you. But you can hear them. However, to turn and look at those boys means that you have to actively turn away from the wrestling match.
The element of choice is the real key to the poignancy of VR journalism. Agency lends a level of control to the user that simple visual forms of media do not allow. Despite no more control over the story itself than any other medium would give its audience, virtual reality technology requires the users to take ownership over what they see, and what they do not.
VR films are still difficult to produce because of the editing challenges that shooting 360-degree footage presents. However, as the technologies become more user-friendly and the platforms broaden, VR could easily become the storyteller’s method of choice. Virtual Reality provides a personal platform to present inaccessible information. Especially when educating an audience about the more incomprehensible conflicts of the world, VR is a powerful tool.