It speaks on that using VR for journalism is a difficult thing to do ethically of course and that the producers of it must take the ethical issues seriously,
“With virtual reality, rather than telling a story, you are putting someone inside a story – and usually involving them in it,”
I think this makes a great point about the difference, instead of showing it you are making someone experience it and immerse them within the experience.
There have been a few projects in VR published so far containing sensitive issues, the Guardian’s first VR project, 6×9, let viewers experience solitary confinement, Within’s Clouds Over Sidra followed the life of a 12-year-old refugee, and the BBC’s Easter Rising: Voice of a Rebel took viewers back to the streets of Dublin to witness the 1916 rising that saw the attempted rebellion against British rule in the midst of World War One.
The article then goes on to note that you don’t know in what context the participant is using these headsets, are they suffering from PTSD. Do they know exactly what they are Going to see? Have they been involved in this before? Because it’s a completely different medium that involved simulation rather than representation you have to be careful when engaging with this content.
The article gives us five tips.
- Make a risk analysis, and understand the risks of your content. Who might it affect, how many you reduce this, and what can the outcomes be?
- Test your material as you go, really test the experience as people will have never experienced your content before, and have test subjects use it before release.
- Co-create with your audience, She explains it’s similar to a theme-park roller coaster, before you start the ride you are given rules and safety advice and that VR experiences should be the same.
- Get active feedback from your audience, you want active consumers and advocate for them to give you feedback, with that you can grow your content and understand more about how it affects users.
- Diversify your teams, having a diverse team will allow you to have integrity. Diversity could be gender, age, ethnicity, or experience level.