Behind the Curtain of the 'Ultimate Empathy Machine': On the Composition of Virtual Reality Nonfiction Experiences

Chris Bevan, David Phillip Green, Harry Farmer, Mandy Rose, Kirsten Cater, Danae Stanton Fraser, Helen Brown

Research output: Chapter or section in a book/report/conference proceedingChapter in a published conference proceeding

41 Citations (SciVal)
369 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Virtual Reality nonfiction (VRNF) is an emerging form of immersive media experience created for consumption using panoramic “Virtual Reality" headsets. VRNF promises nonfiction content producers the potential to create new ways for audiences to experience “the real"; allowing viewers to transition from passive spectators to active participants. Our current project is exploring VRNF through a series of ethnographic and experimental studies. In order to document the content available, we embarked on an analysis of VR documentaries produced to date. In this paper, we present an analysis of a representative sample of 150 VRNF titles released between 2012-2018. We identify and quantify 64 characteristics of the medium over this period, discuss how producers are exploiting the affordances of VR, and shed light on new audience roles. Our findings provide insight into the current state of the art in VRNF and provide a digital resource for other researchers in this area.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationCHI '19: Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Place of PublicationGlasgow, United Kingdom
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages1-12
Number of pages12
Edition2019
ISBN (Electronic)978-1-4503-5970-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 4 May 2019

Publication series

NameCHI Conference Proceedings
ISSN (Print)2159-6468

Keywords

  • Immersive media
  • Interaction
  • Nonfiction
  • Virtual reality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Software

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