VR pop-up studio will help journalists track online shaming
It doesn't take long for social media to become antisocial. A tactless tweet, an inappropriate picture or even a mundane status update can create the perfect storm for online shaming. In an attempt to convert those rabid online tendencies into opportunities for empathy, the Center for Investigative Reporting (CIR) has teamed up with Google News Lab to create a VR pop-up studio. It invites newsrooms to collaborate and explore the visual medium as a tool for creating compelling stories. Journalists will be able to use practical tools like data visualization in a virtual setting and eventually progress to realistic experiences that will place viewers in situations that might otherwise seem far removed from everyday life.
From high school bullies to fallen PR exec Justine Sacco and most recently, lion hunter Walter Palmer, the discussion around cyber-ridiculing tends to reach hyperbolic heights. The first tool under the studio's collaborative umbrella, called Fader, will allow journalists to pull relevant activities from social media in real time. It's essentially a dashboard, powered by the Unity gaming engine, where they can use keywords and filters to search for shaming snippets and aggregate them. The "virtual room" is expected to help them analyze those instances better, so they can identify key influencers.
While identification will help clear through the online clutter that often misguides opinions, the pop-up studio could eventually encourage empathy with immersive experiences. Journalists like Nonny de la Peña have already employed the technology to demonstrate the power of emotions within the context of news. Her pioneering work with "Project Syria" and "Hunger in Los Angeles," for instance, places the viewers in simulated situations so they can witness the scene for themselves.
"VR can help in understanding bigger, very difficult subjects," Linda Rath-Wiggins of VRagments, a Berlin-based organization that has partnered with CIR, told Engadget. "When people are in front of a specific event, you can make it more understandable." It's the virtual equivalent of walking in someone else's shoes.
In addition to providing a network to create those experiences, Joaquin Alvarado, CEO of CIR, believes the studio will also encourage a unique a peer-to-peer relationship in the virtual space. He likens the platform to massive multiplayer games where the community network is just as integral to the experience as the environment and the action.
CIR isn't new to progressive experimentation. The organization has toyed with various forms of storytelling over the years including podcasts, animations, data apps and video games. As such, they're aware of the challenges that come with a new medium. "To me the problem is not technical; it's always creative and it's about the practice," says Alvarado. "What can and should journalists be doing in VR that significantly advances the story, that engages the communities and stakeholders and exposes the truth? Those challenges don't change in VR; they are not heightened or lessened; they're just tools that we can apply to journalistic practice."
The practice of journalism evolves with every cycle of technological advancement. Could newsrooms someday be powered by virtual reality? "Every time we get the new fever for a technology, we all feel like we've finally found the Rosetta Stone," says Alvarado. "Is this going to be a boutique with some superfans who like to geek out in VR or is it going to be a mass medium that will finally activate your game console around journalism?" In the absence of a mature VR market, it's hard to predict that just yet. For now, the studio hopes to bring the community closer in an effort to put a human face to a passing tweet.
[Images credit: Fred Hayes/Getty Images]
