EXAMPLES OF VIRTUAL REALITY PORJECTS
This technology has been widely used for a number of creative, educational and scientific endeavours, opening a myriad of new possibilities and challenges across different fields. My research is an attempt to explore how this technology can be applied to fact-based news story-telling. The aim is to elicit a direct connection between the user and the news story by providing a greater sense of presence and engagement to the narration.
What makes Immersive journalism different from classical forms of journalism is that rather than being about “story-telling”, is about “story living”. This allows the user to experience an active role in the consumption of news stories. Hence, immersive journalism not only aims at presenting the facts, but also gives the opportunity to “experience” these facts.
VR journalism has the unique advantage of spatial exploration within the story. By altering the way users make sense of space in the news story, immersive journalism enhances the idea of “spatial storytelling”, giving a greater sense of proximity to the reported events, and enhancing feelings of presence and immediacy. This, is particularly relevant since proximity is considered central in news production when aiming at engaging audiences at a deeper level.
IMMERSIVE JOURNALISM
Drag around with the mouse to check my first video of this immersive journalism series. With this technique I hope you will get a better sense on how it felt being in some of the chaotic scenes that unfolded outside the Argentine Congress during the debate over the controversial 'Omnibus Law.' Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets to voice their opposition, fearing increased exploitation of natural resources and cuts to environmental and cultural resources. As tensions escalated, clashes between protesters and law enforcement ensued, leading to injuries, detentions, and allegations of excessive force.​
I produced an online VR experience exploring the concept of “immersive journalism”. The specific story covered in this project is the raiding of the NATO Military base in Sardegna by local antimilitarist groups. I have used a GoPro Max to record 360 ÌŠ footage of this event, and wore it in a “mouth mount” to give the users the illusion of having a virtual body, which is lacking in the traditional forms of VR journalism. The factual story of the event was overlayed with the science-fiction narrative which served to contextualise the editing of the footage, foster engagement, as well as opening a discussion on how AI can impact journalism in a hypothetical future.​
AGUMENTED REALITY
With ‘Lens Studios‘ I personally created an AR filter which allows sources to anonymise themselves in real-time. The intent of this filter was to allow sources to feel more comfortable sharing their story knowing that they have full control of their own anonymisation rather than in the hands of an online team of journalist and editors that have never met.
This idea came as a result of the company issue to reach sources who had very sensitive stories and were uncomfortable with sharing their identity during online interviews.
The background is projected as a green screen so that the team of editors can overlay a b-roll sequence to foster engagement to the story.
PRESENTATION AT UNIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM
In this video I explain my initial steps in my Ph.D. research. The study aims to explore the impact of bodily presence and direct eye gaze in Cinematic Virtual Reality journalism, aiming to enhance users' sense of immersion and engagement. By employing a ‘chest mounted’ 360° camera to create a first-person perspective. The project critically examines current VR practices, addressing challenges such as human connection, audio translation, and ethical considerations in marginalized communities. Through various tests, including first-person perspectives and different camera mounts, the project seeks to establish a novel grammar of journalistic Cinematic VR, providing a framework for future newsrooms and citizen journalists.