The revitalization of Frankenstein into a modern-day virtual reality (VR) experience will help to not only pull out the real monsters from the eighteenth century but also help in recognizing the true monsters of today. The intended audience for this application is educational professionals that teach from high-school to undergrad programs. The secondary audience includes the students in these classrooms. These parties will be reached through interactive virtual reality. This application will retell a tale from over 200 years ago. The purpose and learning objectives of this game is to experience the world through the lenses of someone that sticks out from the rest. This chilling first person experience of the creature will invoke empathy in people who are different than us.
The research behind this is seen in “What Becomes of Empathy” by Tim Recuber. This article focuses on the empathy gap and the effect it has on others. It is when we feel and see our own subjective experiences versus the pain and experience of another person. This is also how bias, misunderstanding and miscommunication can spread. In the article, VR is mentioned as being a bridge for the empathy gap. The use of VR can also cause people to feel “a surge of empathy for those experiences we are immersed in” (Recuber, 2016).
This is an educational experience for these students because it will help them invoke empathy and relate to the creature. The game is set up so that the player does not realize that they are the creature until the game is almost over. This will help the player understand that it is important to get past a surface level appearance and instead focus on someone’s action. Through the revitalization of the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, both hosts and players will gain a better concept of empathy, feel empathetic, and help bridge the empathy gap with people who are different than them. This can also be used as a narrative on bullying and why its important to understand others and their actions before persecuting them.