Patrons watch virtual reality videos during an interactive exhibit created by Doctors Without Borders to bring the reality of the global refugee crisis to the American public in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 01. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
You meander around the supermarket loading a basket with goods — breakfast tea, sugar, milk. Along the way, though, you become befuddled. You struggle to recall the items on the shopping list. When you arrive at check out, you discover several items in the basket that you do not recall picking up. Then it comes time to pay the cashier and you can’t seem to count out the proper sum.
This virtual reality experience, played out using an Android smartphone, is the work of medical research nonprofit Alzheimer’s Research UK. The organization’s primary mission is to raise money for research into dementia and other memory-related illness, but it also seeks to raise awareness and empathy for a disease that its leaders say the public still poorly understands.
“They only think about memory problems. The reality of dementia is much bigger than that,” said Tim Parry, director of communications and brand. Thus, Alzheimer’s Research UK wanted to “put someone in the shoes of someone living with the condition.”
As an increasing number of cause-driven organizations have done, the nonprofit group turned to virtual reality. Those experimenting with the technology say it is more accessible than ever before, and offers the best medium to date for evoking genuine empathy for their mission, whether it be medical research, global education or humanitarian relief.
The initial promise of virtual reality technology centered largely around entertainment, adding a new dimension to movies or video games and creating a diversion from the everyday. But projects launched by news outlets and nongovernmental organizations in recent years have demonstrated the technology’s potential to tell real-life stories in more compelling ways. Now, nonprofit organizations are taking that a step further and using virtual reality to build awareness and solicit donations.
Oculus, the Facebook-owned maker of virtual reality headsets, debuted a “VR for Good” program this year that paired 10 nonprofits with filmmakers and provided the teams with funding to create virtual reality experiences that are expected to premier at the Sundance Film Festival in January. The head of the program, Lauren Burmaster, said virtual reality has the potential to combat fatigue among donors who feel disconnected from the results of their money.
“A lot of times people want to see where their money is going but you can’t offer them that,” Burmaster said. “That’s the first thing we’re really seeing — nonprofits using this technology to bring their donors to the work that’s happening.”
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Source: Washington Post