# VR Refugee Camp Tours The United Nations Raises Awareness with a Virtual Reality Exploration By Rebecca Byers | Published 2015-10-09 | Pop Culture Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vr-refugee-camp References: [adweek](http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/how-united-nations-using-virtual-reality-boost-global-diplomacy-167382) The [United Nations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/moving-for-change) recently created a VR refugee camp experience in order to better communicate the harsh realities of a current global crisis to world leaders. The pop-up took place at the United Nations' New York Headquarters and utilized the [Samsung](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/android-xr) Gear VR headset. The leaders first experienced the [virtual reality film](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/a-conversation-with-the-sun), while they were the audience to a talk afterwards. The VR refugee camp experience transports users to the Za'atari refugee camp close to the Jordan-Syria border and follows the story of Sidra, a 12-year-old girl currently living there with her family and 80,000 other displaced Syrians. The unique educational use of virtual reality in this sense is a intriguing take on its power as a modern storytelling tool. Specifically, this use of virtual reality is aimed at inspiring empathy from world leaders who have a stake in whether or not their nation will support crisis aid efforts. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 3.6/10 - Popularity: 49% | Activity: 52% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Gen X - Top markets: North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Pop Culture](https://www.trendhunter.com/popculture) > [Political](https://www.trendhunter.com/political) ## Key Themes ### What's Driving This Trend - **Virtual-reality Empathy Building:** Using VR technology to inspire empathy for world crisis and conflicts in a unique and immersive way. - **Education VR Tours:** Creating VR experiences to provide an educational and immersive learning experience. - **VR as Modern Storytelling Tool:** Leveraging VR to create a more immersive, engaging, and impactful storytelling medium. ### Who This Affects Most - **Virtual Reality:** Exploring opportunities for VR technology to be utilized for educational and storytelling purposes to solve social problems. - **Humanitarian Aid:** Utilizing new and emerging technologies to create innovative solutions for humanitarian crises. - **Entertainment:** Exploring how VR can become a more engaging storytelling medium that brings audiences to new, immersive experiences. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Emergency Refuge Shelter Replicas](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/emergency-refuge-shelter.md) - [Healing VR Experiences](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/healing-vr-experiences.md) - [Travel-Inspired VR Apps](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/othersight.md) - [Immersive Virtual Reality Concerts](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/immersion-vr.md) - [Touch-Reactive VR Experiences](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/presence-in-bed.md) - [Mixed-Reality Blood Donations](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/mixed-reality-experience.md) - [VR Cooking Games](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/vr-cooking-game.md) - [Child-Focused Mixed Reality Headsets](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/edi-mixed-reality-headset.md) - [Metaverse Therapy Platforms](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/anomiexr.md)