Traditionally, journalists focus on the facts. Quality journalism informs the reader of the what, who, when and maybe the why of a recent event. But sometimes, journalism tries to capture emotion. These journalists preserve the testimonies of witnesses and the stories of those involved, and what they felt at the time.
One journalist, however, wishes to go a step further in recreating feelings for her audience. In fact, Nonny de la Pena wonders why the audience can’t simply take part of the story themselves, and experience the emotions on a personal level.
If audience participation in a past event sounds like science fiction to you, you are not far from the truth. Seizing on the rapid advances of virtual reality technology, de la Pena is a pioneer in a new journalistic medium that she has dubbed “Immersive Journalism”. Currently displayed at the Sundance Film Festival, immersive journalism has hit upon its biggest success so far: the Syrian Civil War.
Project Syria utilizes virtual reality to place the participant on a street in Aleppo just moments before a mortar attack. A sunny day in the Syrian city, the busy street corner carries on like normal. To one side of the scene you find a young girl singing, attracting a small audience. Most striking about this new medium is the participant’s personal agency – he or she can briefly explore the scene at his or her will, and experience an unprecedented physical sense of being.
Usually, that physical sense of being reacts sharply to the sudden explosion. Through a virtual screen now obscured by dust and dirt, participants can just barely glimpse virtual characters running in the street and searching for cover. To the observer, the destruction feels vividly real.
Although the virtual experience of Project Syria might seem like a bizarre, empathy-creating video game to outside observers, de la Pena argues that the project enters the realm of journalism. This is because Project Syria modeled the mortar attack after a real event. The USC team that built the model did so after extensive analysis of multiple videos taken both during and after the explosion. According to de la Pena, the resulting effect is to “feel like you’re actually there, actually witnessing a real scene.”
Project Syria, however, does not end with the mortar attack in Aleppo. A two-part model, the participant is then transported to a Syrian refugee camp. A project team visited the camp, and recorded detailed video and audio of their surroundings. Within the limits of virtual reality, programmers used these details in an attempt to adhere to the facts on the ground. This scenario is particularly chilling in its use of audio, which is entirely real and taken directly from the source footage.
“It’s an extraordinary opportunity to be building an immersive journalism piece about the Syrian children refugees,” says de la Pena in an introduction to Project Syria that she posted on YouTube. “This is one of the most pressing issues of our time. We make these pieces because we can put you on scene, make you feel like you’re a witness to an actual event. You’re not separated by a television or screen. You actually feel like you’re there.”
The reactions of those who use Project Syria vary, but most describe the experience to be “intense” in some way. Many take off the virtual reality helmet feeling a new sense of empathy for those trapped in war. The realism of the simulation has caused many to worry about its effect on young children and those who suffer from PTSD. Some suggest that Project Syria should issue a trigger warning, and the project’s staff currently require that parents experience the program before letting their children do the same.
Project Syria is not de la Pena’s first attempt at immersive journalism. A previous project “Hunger in Los Angeles” previewed at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012, and she has additionally worked on a program that simulates conditions in Guantanamo Bay. Not fearing tackling tough issues, de la Pena hopes to next focus on the documented death of an undocumented migrant to the US, who was tazed and beaten to death by more than a dozen US Border Patrol police.
In addition to its current appearance at the Sundance Film Festival, Project Syria has arrangements to be installed at the Victoria and Albert museum in London. In the long run, de la Pena hopes to make the experience available to mass audiences, which she believes to be imminently plausible considering the quick advances being made in virtual reality technology.
Hear more about the project from Nonny de la Pena herself, below.