Soumen Ganguly, a management consultant with more than 14 years experience in the telecommunications, media and technology space, thinks there is a lot of potential for virtual reality (VR). Unlike 3D, which at a pointin the 2000s was seen as a game changer in media consumption, virtual reality is more widely applicable, leading to “diverse, high quality content.” In addition, it … Read More
Can VR induce empathy? Behind our work with the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School
Can new technologies like virtual and augmented reality and 360 video induce empathy in users? That is what Empathetic Media founder Dan Archer is studying in collaboration with Columbia University’s Tow Center for Digital Journalism. A first of its kind project, this research will result in an analysis of empathy and whether users can more closely relate to characters and situations in a VR … Read More
360 film highlights the beautiful effects of protecting ecosystems
While we previously wrote about how virtual reality (VR) is being used to shed light on parts of the world that are being negatively affected by climate change and human intervention, this recent piece for Conservation International proves that VR can also be used to show how people are working to rebuild ecosystems. The Bird’s Head Seascape surrounding Papua New Guinea in … Read More
Ferguson Virtual Reality model live on Fusion
In partnership with Fusion, a joint venture between Univision Communications Inc. and the Disney/ABC Television Network, we are proud to announce the release of our virtual reality model of Canfield Green Apartments, the setting of the August 9th shooting of teengaer Michael Brown. Explore the contrasting perspectives of the eyewitnesses in 3D virtual space using the Unity game engine plugin … Read More
Exploring 3D animation with motion capture technology
One of the things we have noticed as we’ve moved through the developmental stages of our Ferguson VR model is the visual disparity between the 3D representation of Canfield Green Apartments and the 2D comic panels that accompany it.
Testing the canfield green apartments virtual reality prototype
After two months of hard work, we have been able to test our first virtual reality prototype of Canfield Green Apartments, the site of the shooting of Michael Brown. Our prototype consisted of a desktop virtual reality model that “pinged” eyewitness re-creations to mobile devices as users accessed the various beacons within the model. During testing we asked our … Read More
Week 3 update
Today was officially the first day of the semester, and the Mizzou campus is now brimming with students. First thing this morning I was invited to Mike McKean’s (Director of the Futures Lab at RJI) Convergence Journalism class, from which I’ve been allocated three students to help out with the set up and launching of Empathetic Media’s first proof of … Read More