During the virtual reality demo in class today I experienced a border conflict taking place in Arizona. A fence had been built dividing a city, leaving half in the U.S. and half in Mexico. The story of how a young Mexican boy was shot over ten times through the fence by border patrol officers was told through narration, images and video of the area. Footage from a helicopter, the Mexican side and the U.S. side was shown to allow viewers to completely form an image of the area within their own minds.
I think that VR will add a whole new dimension to the publishing field. Just like we have book publishers like RandomHouse, I think that there will be VR specific publishers specializing in the field, seeking out talented VR producers and filmers to add to their teams. As VR becomes more popular I think that its section of the publishing industry will only grow.
Based on what I saw today I do really think VR can evoke empathy. Without having a visual representation of the scene where the shooting took place, it would be hard to understand the sort of environmental tension that the fence produced and the violence it creates. Both sides of the story were explained and it was easy to empathize with both the border patrol and the boy’s family. The added level of immersion that VR allows makes its ability to create empathy even stronger.