Considered as the world’s first VR experience which aims to raise awareness to the realities of child abuse, adoption, and foster care. The Cornerstone Partnership and Visyon premiered a VR Film to show how virtual reality and immersive technology could be used to discuss the leading issues in care services.
An event hosted by London Ventures was held gathering the leading figures in the world of social care for children, film, and technology. Their agenda was focused on how the public, private and third sectors can work hand-in-hand to support some of the challenges in local public services.
About the 360 Film
Cornerstone created a fully immersive VR experience that showed viewers the realities of being a child in care. It is a collaboration in part of Visyon’s social innovation programs of bringing positive changes to societies by means of emerging technologies.
The film was produced by Visyon, one of the leading innovation companies who specializes in immersive content creation in Europe. Directed by the award-winning British director Ben Perry. Making the project was made possible by a handful of social workers, therapists and DDP Network providing valuable information and consultations.
The five-minute interactive immersion film enabled viewers to experience from the children’s point of view the serious issues of child abuse. It showed the viewpoint of a baby in the womb and then of a toddler.
Viewers were immersed to the role of being a victim of neglect and abuse. They see the impact in first-hand how these experiences affected the brain and influenced their behavior in as they grow up.
The VR film also made emphasis on showing different scenarios showing harm and neglect as well as how adoption and foster care can make a huge difference.
The Story
The film began with a narration of a person recounting their lives and growing up as a neglected child. Audiences were transported to the lives of four children living with abusive and dysfunctional families.
It showed their transformation into adolescence and how they suffered through isolation, violence and drug abuse. Then it changes into a positive note as viewers see what nurturing and stable homes can mean to these children as they are given the opportunity to begin a new life through fostering and adoption.
Why They Used VR on Creating the Film
The immersive experience of VR enabled this film to shock and provoked empathy to its viewers. Through the technology of VR, people were able to witness the experiences of children who undergone trauma and abuse that feels real to the audience.
- VR has made it possible to push the boundaries in cinematic filming techniques to create higher levels of empathy in their viewers.
- A creative and innovative strategy in using immersive technology to accelerate behavioral change.
- The immersive film lets its viewers focus on the emotional impact of abuse rather than the physical aspect of the experience.
- It provided an invaluable experience that can’t be matched by other means of training and books.
- Looking at the environments used in the film, it represented what might the real living conditions look like before these children came into care.
VR Training for Social Workers, Foster Carers, and Adopters
This new VR Film gave adopters and foster carers the opportunity to see in the eyes of a child left in care. Giving them a memorable and vital experience to help them understand and care for these children.
With Cornerstone’s collaboration with Inition, users will be able to experience the first immersive therapeutic VR training for adopters. It aims to raise awareness to the experiences of children brought up on broken homes and starting a new life with their foster families.
- The film demonstrated a way to let people into the minds and perspective of a child and how their brain reacts to what they are witnessing.
- It enabled audiences to understand the impact of trauma and abuse on a child’s behavior and development.
- The use of immersive technology transformed viewer’s behavior and understanding towards children who have experienced abuse and trauma.
- It creates empathy for the children who have been and are in the care system.
- The film encourages people to adopt or foster vulnerable children; giving them stable homes, proper care and love.
- Therapeutic training for carers, adopters, and fosters on how parenting could help traumatized children.
- Viewers were able to observe a conversation between a child and a foster carer and the different approach to challenging behaviors.
- Provides a fast avenue of training carers in connecting and understanding the current behaviors of children and their past experiences.
- This training helps carers to prepare to identify and decide how they would approach children who are at risk.
- It gives people realistic expectations to help them prepare for adopting or fostering.
Other Potentials of Immersive VR Film
These type of partnerships and collaborations in VR and film can open doors for opportunities in inspiring changes in social care. This awe-inspiring project has the potential to make a greater psychological and societal impact.
- Cornerstone is already planning to add some elements to the training by making it an interactive course which lets users choose and direct the steps on certain
- VR can be a powerful and useful tool to help children get the help they by providing a therapeutic course using comfortable environment in which they have the control in making positive and memorable experiences.
- A VR training program to teach foster families and adopters on how to properly deal with children who had experienced abuse and trauma in life like situations.
- It has great potential as an educational and training tool for students in learning how to handle cases properly and approach behavioral issues with children who are victims of abuse.
Conclusion
This new VR film is just one of the countless collaborations with VR. The immersive environments created by virtual reality technology leaves a greater impact and memorable experiences to its users that is valuable to the society. VR film has been proven effective in pulling heart-strings and changing people’s mind and views.
References:
https://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2017/nov/13/virtual-reality-neglect-abuse-adoption-fostering
http://www.thecornerstonepartnership.com/global-first-foster-carer-adoption-recruitment-training-vr/
https://lbbonline.com/news/powerful-360-vr-film-reveals-realities-of-adoption-and-foster-care/
http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2018/02/08/virtual-reality-can-help-give-social-workers-adopters-carers-new-insight-child-abuse/