The past 12 months at Empathetic Media Health has been a fascinating journey with brand new clients from US, Japan, UK, Ireland and projects in some of the most exciting areas of healthcare. The launch of the new Oculus Quest headset in 2019 meant that we were able to introduce mobile, interactive, immersive VR experiences to our clients in gene … Read More
Literature Review: Defining (and measuring) Empathy
Here’s an excerpt from one of the earlier drafts of our white paper on the link between cinematic vr and empathy, published as a white paper by the Tow Institute. Read that paper here. The purpose of this post is to contextualize the study within the respective fields of VR and psychology, drawing on empathy research published in academic journals, … Read More
3 VR “Booms” That Often Sneak Under the Radar
Virtual reality has generated countless headlines and news stories over the past two or three years. In fact, if you rewind back past all of the speculation and excitement that preceded the public unveiling of devices like the Oculus Rift, VR has been making headlines for longer than that. Even so however, the overarching focus tends to be relatively narrow. … Read More
Colombia VR Project #2: Medellin and the Colombian Book Festival
After a successful week in Bogota at the Centre for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation, I traveled to Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city, to give another VR workshop and present the immersive experiences at the Medellin Book Fair. The workshop was held at the Parque Explora, next to the Botanical Gardens, which has proudly jumped with both feet first into VR … Read More
Colombia Project: #LaPazen360 – Episode 1, Bogota
After 3 months of shooting 360 videos and photo/videogrammetry over the Summer, Dan is now currently back in Colombia, leading the second part of the project. This part focuses on a “socialization phase” in which we organize an event in each of the communities we met and worked with originally, showing them the stories we produced in their area, as … Read More
HOW VR can help us learn about the world
Is virtual reality too immersive? It’s a question that has been raised as the new technology has become more accessible to a wider audience of creators and users.”With virtual reality, rather than telling a story, you are putting someone inside a story – and usually involving them in it,” said freelance BBC VR producer Catherine Allen at the VR & … Read More
Global indigenous communities find their voices through new technology
In 2016, activists around the country gathered at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which they said could have detrimental environmental consequences. While the most publicized depictions of the historical event were photos and videos of protests between activists and police, The New York Times decided to create a 360-degree video … Read More
Celebrating Women in Tech
When it comes to technological innovations, women have always been at the forefront. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of poet Lord Byron, is considered to be the world’s first computer programmer for recognizing that a computer could have applications past simple calculations back in the first part of the 19th century. During World War II, it was largely female engineers who pioneered … Read More
February AR/VR News #2: Virtual gathering, a ‘spider glove’ and the digital equivalent of duct tape
Images of Magic Leap’s anticipated portable augmented reality device were leaked to Business Insider last week. According to Business Insider, Magic Leap, a $45 billion Google-backed startup, was hastily finishing building the prototype, known as PEQ0, in preparation for a board meeting this week. In other Google news, it is pushing for VR with a new update of the mobile app for Chrome … Read More
February VR/AR News #1: Tech updates, mixed reality and how VR is changing the art/music industries
Featured Image: London-based startup Opto might be the first company to make quality mobile VR mainstream. According to Wareable, the company’s “Opto Air is made from a lightweight foam, offers built-in speakers plus a 100-degree field of view via double-aspheric lenses which Opto says are 25% bigger than rival mobile VR headsets.” Costing £98, the headset is a strong competitor for the Google Daydream … Read More