VR and Empathy

I really enjoyed Chris Milk's Tedtalk and  I agree with him that virtual reality is the ultimate empathy machine. The part of the Tedtalk where Milk starts talking about frames and what they represent really stood out to me and made me think about the physical structures of the media I interact with. I had not though of it before but I do feel a certain level of disconnection when watching a show or reading a book, since the parts of the world I can see are very curated to show the world way the author wants to. His explanation of the frame being a window you look into is a good one, and it really helped me understand why he thought virtual reality is the ultimate way to get through and into these windows. I found Clouds over Syria to be very impactful. Even though I was using a monitor instead of a real VR headset, being able to move the camera around as if I was looking around made the places in the film feel much more real than if I were simply watching them. I think the interactive element is the most important part of it, because being able to move around is what makes the reader feel like there are no windows for them to pass through to access the work. I found this to be especially true in the scenes that were outside, I think because being able to see into the sky and off into the horizon makes the reader truly understand that this is the real world.

 

I found This Is Not Private to be fascinating . It is such a unique concept that I think would be very interesting to experience in real life. The concept is so interesting and I would really like to hear about what made Daniele want to create this project. I wish I spoke french so I could hear some of the stories the people are saying, because I think knowing how visceral the stories are would give me a greater understanding of what the project is trying to accomplish. I also think it would be a lot more impactful in real life rather than watching a video, since it seems like something where it's hard to realize how impactful it is without actually seeing your face displayed over the actor's.