Planned Parenthood's VR experience is attempting to elicit empathy from those who may not share the same beliefs about an individual's right to obtain a safe and legal abortion.
To create the project, the organization partnered with three artists and created an immersive narrative driven experience titled "Across the Line VR." The story begins in a doctor's office, where a nervous patient discusses their pregnancy and abortion-related fears. Later, when the patient is being driven to the clinic for the procedure, they're swarmed by angry protesters who try to pursued the individual to keep the baby.
The overall goal of the experience is to inspire empathy from those who disagree with a woman's right to have an abortion, and hope it provides protesters with a new perspective.
Image Credit: Across the Line VR
What's Driving This Trend
- Virtual Reality Empathy
- Virtual reality experiences that aim to elicit empathy by immersing users in different perspectives and situations.
- Narrative-driven Experiences
- Interactive experiences that use storytelling to convey complex social issues and provoke emotional responses.
- Perspective-shifting VR
- Virtual reality experiences that aim to challenge and change preconceived notions by providing alternative perspectives.
Who This Affects Most
- Virtual Reality
- The virtual reality industry can leverage the power of immersive experiences to create empathy-building simulations with various social themes.
- Art and Entertainment
- Art and entertainment industries can utilize narrative-driven virtual reality experiences to provoke emotional responses and promote social understanding.
- Healthcare and Wellness
- The healthcare and wellness sector can explore the application of virtual reality in creating empathy-building experiences for patients, caregivers, and society at large.
