Concerning the Rio Zarco controversy, I implore it: How to use VR correctly in the face of disaster?

Last week, Facebook’s chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was inadvertently criticized for his virtual reality trip in the disaster area of ​​Hurricane Puerto Rico. This was a wake-up call for all practitioners. Virtual reality technology is in front of entertainment and disasters. Clear boundaries should be divided.

The Puerto Rican controversy from Facebook provided a case study for various vendors. When Silicon Valley tech companies try to apply technology to the humanitarian real world, this situation will happen frequently. This disaster requires technical support and demonstrations. The problem, when talking about a "cool" application to the "funny video" of the street wreckage and standing in the city to show off the "magic VR technology", the narrators seem to forget that disaster and pain are revolving around this A city, but they are laughing and saying it seems to be celebrating this happening.

In response to this controversy, Zuckerberg subsequently issued an apology statement: “One of the most powerful features of VR is resonance. My intention is to show that raising public awareness through VR technology helps us understand the world’s What is happening in other places, and I would also like to tell you about our cooperation with the Red Cross in post-disaster reconstruction work. After I read some comments, I realized that I did not express my thoughts clearly and I was offended by all. I'm very sorry for people."

When asked if Facebook had already passed through humanitarian agencies or related agencies in Puerto Rico and had determined exactly what was the best way to help the world get to know what was going on there, a Facebook spokesperson said that The company has not implemented this yet. This kind of answer is difficult to get people's satisfaction, because if Facebook really wants to use VR to express sympathy and help to Puerto Rico, they should already actively seek communication with some humanitarian groups or departments and find a more reasonable way to The world displays the catastrophe here and thus arouses the world's resonance and help. It is worth noting that the company did not indicate whether it is cooperating with similar organizations, and there is no really effective demonstration program.

In short, this Silicon Valley tech company seems to prefer to tell the story of these "distant people" as an outsider, but does not invite them to tell their own stories. This eventually led to this laughter and " The "magical" disaster presentation is not an exploration of the application of virtual reality technology to help understand and resonate in the face of disaster.

Earlier photographed by the Nexus Foundation, the Emmy-nominated virtual reality film “Behind The Fence” is in stark contrast to the Facebook event, which was performed in the form of VR for people in the Rohingya camp in Myanmar. Life and story, and Facebook's life as an outsider to illustrate the lives of others is different, the Nexus Foundation and the Rohingya people cooperate to show the world their unique lifestyle and stories from the perspective of the local people, through VR In the form of short films, 360-degree panoramic views provide viewers with a more authentic experience than traditional film and television.

Just as the Nexus Foundation executive Sally Smith responded when asked how they thought of making movies with VR, "The difference between expressing disaster through entertainment and experiencing disaster through novel narrative is very different."

This move by Behind The Fence is rare and rare in the technology world: through new media such as VR, allowing parties to tell their own stories instead of speaking to others on a topic, there is a big difference between the two. Differently, what used to be more often voiced is the media, and more and more voices are now controlled by a few Silicon Valley technology companies.

Of course, most of the current experiences cannot be called true “virtual reality” because most of the experiences have customized a set of fixed panorama browsing journeys for the audience rather than a complete and freely exploreable space, but even simple ones. The head movement can also be extremely immersive and absorb a lot of information on the screen.

With the advancement of technology, we can imagine that one day in the future, we can freely explore through VR and experience more stories from other people, instead of sitting in the traditional museum to watch people talk about their lives in the projector. As a powerful medium, reality technology allows people to experience the lives of people in different contexts and experience their unique stories from the perspective of the first person. With the advancement of science and technology, we can also shuttle freely to those slums and listen to the most real voice from inside. I believe that one day, people will also help them.

Finally, through Facebook's Hurricane Puerto Rico disaster demonstration and VR film Behind The Fence, we should understand the better use of virtual reality technology: Instead of using VR technology to speak for others, it's better for others to use this technology to tell their own stories. . When we hope to gain resonance with people's help through VR, the technicians must learn to regress and let the parties use their technology to tell their own experiences.

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