Why on the second anniversary of his death, it is important we remember Eric Garner

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When Eric Garner died during his arrest by police on July 17 2014 in Staten Island, Ramsey Orta filmed the incident, capturing Garner repeating “I can’t breath” 11 times while being restrained. It’s a video that fueled protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement and the phrase has been adopted by activists, celebrities and athletes. Now, on the second anniversary of … Read More

How virtual reality can help seniors live happier, healthier lives

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In her article, Kara Platoni explores if virtual reality can help seniors’ mental as well as physical health. In the United States, the elderly, especially those who live alone or in care facilities, often feel alienated and suffer from chronic pain, depression or anxiety, according to Dr. Sonya Kim. With her Aloha VR program, Kim is bringing virtual reality technology … Read More

Can virtual reality make people care about the environment?

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As Heather Millar writes for Yale’s Environment 360, one of the environmental movement’s biggest struggles is making people care about ecosystems that are often far away from them. Jeremy Bailenson, a professor of communication at Stanford University, said that ““Virtual reality can give everyone, regardless of where they live, the kind of experience needed to generate the urgency required to … Read More

Empathetic Media feat. in Austria

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Thanks to Lucas Plank, we were featured in the Austrian magazine Medien Manager. In an interview with our founder Dan Archer, Plank discusses the potentials of augmented reality in journalism. “With the help of AR, journalists can provide the readers with the possibility to experience the news from their own perspective,” said Archer. In general, AR production costs are much lower than VR (virtual reality). Users … Read More

Virtual reality, cultural exchange and empathy

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We think it is worth highlighting this interview with Grace Lau, the director of virtual reality for Global Nomads, which uses VR to facilitate virtual exchanges between students in the United States and other countries. This is a unique application of the medium, and while it is not totally storytelling-based, it is focused on the democratization of technology and touches … Read More

How Pokémon Go uses AR to bring people together

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On July 6, amongst global protests against police shootings, a little game called Pokémon Go quickly took over the world. The augmented reality (AR) experience, created by Niantic, uses GPS to let players capture Pokémon around their city and pick up supplies at Pokéstops, which are real world landmarks. After reaching a certain level, players’ avatars can battle it out … Read More

The Basics of Virtual Reality Storytelling

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Jesse Damiani (The Huffington Post) provides in his article Storytelling in Virtual Reality: The Basics an easily comprehensible breakdown of not only the components of virtual reality, but also how it can be used as an impactful storytelling method. He links to interesting VR examples and brings in various theories including reader-response criticism, the idea of point-of-view versus perspective, and empathy.

Last Week’s NISBER

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Excellent roundup of our involvement in last week’s #NISBER @EJCenter: “Daniel Archer (@archcomix), Founder of Empathetic Media, showcased some of their projects and explained how, through VR and 360, they put the viewers in “other people’s shoes and foster a connection between audience and storytellers”. For example, the Michael Brown Shooting project allows the user to become an eyewitness of the events occurred in … Read More

We are feat. in Cornell Tech: Challenges and Possibilities of Virtual Reality Startups

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Dan Archer, founder of Brooklyn-based Empathetic Media, which creates virtual reality content to enhance understanding of real-life events, said the technology is best suited for casual experiences that last about five minutes. This way, viewers can choose which parts of the story appeal the most and choose other entry points into the story. “Simply put, it’s the difference between being … Read More