Virtual Realities - Immersive Documentary Encounters

This project explores the application of Virtual Reality (VR) technology to documentary content. Thirty years since the term virtual reality was coined, and nearly fifty years since Ivan Sutherland's first experiments with a "head mounted three dimensional display", developments in hardware and software now make VR viable as a mass-market consumer proposition, and 2016 sees a variety of devices coming to market. While cinema offers an optical illusion of movement, 360 experiences offer a new generation of illusion - a powerful sense of "being there" within the scene portrayed known as presence. To date, consumer VR has been associated with gaming. However, the potential audience appeal promised by presence has led to considerable interest in the video market - notably among producers of non-fiction content. 2015 saw VR projects commissioned by the New York Times, Vice News and the UN for example, the latter winning the Innovation Award at the Sheffield DocFest - one of the world's major non-fiction markets.
We hypothesise that Virtual Reality documentary has significant potential to inform public debate - offering new directions and in particular novel forms of witnessing enabled by 360 perspectives, but that the powerful sense of presence offered by immersion also gives rise to ethical challenges; does the feeling of "being there" offer genuine insight or a new form of voyeurism? do unmanned 360 camera rigs feel like surveillance to subjects? a user in an immersive headset experience is likely to be paying attention to the world depicted, but what does that mean for their presence where they are standing?
The project will approach these questions through six case studies created by industry partners - examining production and user experience. Producers will share their approaches to storytelling in this new 360 medium. With an audience group who we will follow from their first exposure to VR, we will investigate engagement, attention, understanding and emotional reaction, as experienced on contrasting VR platforms, and compare these with 2D and 3D experiences delivered without headsets. The first three case studies will address the theme of migration - one of the big global challenges that has been a notable subject of VR non-fiction to date.
The research will explore the implications of exposure to powerful documentary content within immersive experiences, probe issues around isolation and sociality that relate to the use of headsets. The project will also consider the point-of-view of the subjects of media, asking for example whether particular issues around privacy arise in the context of 3D filming and immersive display. Drawing on findings from the case studies, and from workshops with industry and community partners, we will define key themes which will be explored in the production of three path finding prototypes. These will illustrate research findings and suggest future directions for Virtual Reality documentary.
Producers are eager to engage with the potentials of VR documentary, but face challenges around language, technology and audience insight. Through a process of investigation, dialogue, and shared findings, the research will stage a timely engagement with this emerging medium, supporting the development of this new production sector, while keeping the interest of audience and subjects to the fore.

The work undertaken in this proposal seeks to create both economic and societal impact.

Creative Industries are now worth £84 billion according to the UK's government economic estimates (January 2016), with significant emphasis placed on VR with a current market estimated at $6.7 billion and VR hardware sales expected to reach $70 billion by 2020 (Re/code). VR experiences are moving into the mainstream, with entry points to VR available at every level of consumer interest, from Google Cardboard to high end consumer experience such as Oculus Rift or HTC Vive.

Therefore an investigation into the opportunities and challenges of VR for documentary content creation and user experience is timely and pertinent. The project will support the digital and creative economy by providing much needed evaluation, critical reflection and guidance to this fast-growing new market including VR technology creators and documentary producers, from large corporations through to small independents. This intelligence is critical to understand the affordances of VR for documentary in order for the UK to emerge as leaders in documentary content creation and consumption of this new medium. It also has potential impact for creators of content within the wider field where Virtual Reality technology is being applied to non-fiction - museums, galleries, marketing, music videos and other forms of factual entertainment, as well as those exploring VR for journalism. While the domain of the research is VR, the findings also have relevance and potential impact more widely for creators of virtual experiences such as the emerging Augmented Reality (AR) market.

These impacts will emerge from a number of aspects of the research:
- investigation into and assessment of best creative practice to date.
- investigation into and assessment of audience experience.
- networking during the course of the project and dialogue between major industry players and SMEs at the forefront of creative work in the field.
- the advancement of a common language for this new medium between makers, creators, technologists and audiences.
- the demonstration of future directions for VR non-fiction through co-production of prototypes with SMEs.
- the development of guidelines for ethical practice.

Industry will be reached through panels and workshops at the VR World Congress, Virtual Reality Summit, Sheffield DocFest, the International Journalism Festival, Perugia, IDFA Doc Lab, Tribeca Interactive and Sundance Festival.

Dissemination on social media will be key for reach so the project will develop not only a project website but also a presence on twitter and facebook, as well as targeting and working with groups with established social media followings such as i-Docs and Women in VR.

Documentary, journalism and factual media play a significant role in informing and encouraging public debate. The project therefore also anticipates societal impact in supporting the development of meaningful and ethical forms of VR non-fiction practice which can reflect and critique "our shared world" (Nichols). It will also have potential impact on the video practices of the public as they engage with 360 media, to date as viewers but in the future increasingly also as amateur producers.