SanchezVives Systems Neuroscience and EVENT Lab IDIBAPS Barcelona Spain and Institucio 57515 Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avanc 57528ats ICREA Barcelona Spain Mel Slater EVENT Lab Facultat de Psicologia Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona Spain and ID: 28020
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Vol.19,No.4,August2010,291Ð301©2010bytheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyImmersiveJournalism:ImmersiveVirtualRealityfortheFirst-PersonExperienceofNewsAbstractThispaperintroducestheconceptanddiscussestheimplicationsofimmersivejour-nalism,whichistheproductionofnewsinaforminwhichpeoplecangainÞrst-personexperiencesoftheeventsorsituationdescribedinnewsstories.Thefunda-mentalideaofimmersivejournalismistoallowtheparticipant,typicallyrepresentedasadigitalavatar,toactuallyenteravirtuallyrecreatedscenariorepresentingthenewsstory.Thesenseofpresenceobtainedthroughanimmersivesystem(whetheraCaveorhead-trackedhead-mounteddisplays[HMD]andonlinevirtualworlds,suchasvideogamesandonlinevirtualworlds)affordstheparticipantunprece-dentedaccesstothesightsandsounds,andpossiblyfeelingsandemotions,thataccompanythenews.Thispapersurveyscurrentapproachestoimmersivejournal-ismandthetheoreticalbackgroundsupportingclaimsregardingavatarexperienceinimmersivesystems.WealsoprovideaspeciÞcdemonstration:givingparticipantstheexperienceofbeinginaninterrogationroominanoffshoreprison.Bybothde-scribingcurrentapproachesanddemonstratinganimmersivejournalismexperience,weopenanewavenueforresearchintohowpresencecanbeutilizedintheÞeldofnewsandnonÞction.1IntroductionInthispaperweintroducetheconceptofimmersivejournalism,whichistheproductionofnewsinaforminwhichpeoplecangainÞrst-personexperi-encesoftheeventsorsituationdescribedinnewsstories.Well-craftedjournal-ismalwaysaimstoelicitaconnectionbetweentheaudienceandthenewsstory.Creatingthatconnectionviadifferentkindsofimmersionhaslongbeenconsideredideal.DescribingherreportingduringWorldWarII,reporterMar-thaGellhorn(Gellhorn,1994)calleditÒTheviewfromtheground.ÓWriterGeorgePlimpton(Plimpton,2003)actuallyjoinedtheDetroitLionsAmeri-canfootballteaminordertogivehisreadersthemostintimatesenseofplay-ingonthisteam.TelevisionnewscorrespondentWalterCronkitemadeaseriesofdocumentariesrecreatinghistoricaleventswherehewouldofferabriefin- conclusionsinSection7.2BackgroundÑInteractiveJournalism seriesofonlinegamesareanexampleoftheexpositorygenreofnewsgames.Whilethegameplayisadaptedfromanexistingmilitarythird-personshootergameen-gine,thescenesandmissionsarereenactmentsofbattlesfromthewarinIraqandAfghanistanbasedonnewsaccounts,interviews,andDODreports.KUMARealityGamespositionsitselfasjournalisticandtheirwebban- theusertodocuments,photographs,oraudiovisualfootageoftheactualstory,anditalsooffersanexperi-ence.WhentheSecondLifeuserÕsavatariscaptured,thisissomethingpersonal,somethingthatisapartoftheuseroverwhichheorshehaslostcontrol,offeringperhapstheshadowofthetypeoffeelingthatmightbeassociatedwiththerealevents.Thistypeofinteractivejournalismreßectsbasicele-mentsofwhatwearecallingimmersivejournalism.Inthenextsections,wediscussdeepimmersivejournalism,wheretheparticipantcanfeelthathisorheractualloca-tionhasbeentransformedtothelocationofthenews eventsarehappening,thentheyarehappeningtoyouÑandthereareverymanyexamplesintheliteratureofpeo-plerespondingrealisticallytovirtualsituationsandevents.Wementionedearlierthat,forexample,inordertograbsomething,youreachoutyourhandtowardit,employingaruleofSCsthatyouhaveknownsinceinfancy.Invirtualreality,supposeyoudonotseeyourhandmovingasyou thattheyshouldstopwhenevertheyfelttheneed.However,theywerenottoldthatthishadanythingtodowiththeGuanta«namoBayprisonnewsstories.There positionthenthediscomfortfromthestresspositionshouldbefelt.Thus,theparticipantcouldevenhavethefeelingofbeinginacrouchedposition,withsomeoftheconcomitantsensations.Thefollowingarecommentsbythesethreeoftheparticipantsrelatingtothepointsabove.1.Beingthereandplausibilityleadtoarealisticre-ÒIwasnervousbecauseIfeltIwaskidnappedorsomething,youdonÕtknowwhatishappening.ÓÒIwasdeÞnitelyexpectingtheattentiontoturntomeatsomepointwhichwasitselfsomewhatun-pleasant...Iwasexpectingsomethingunpleasanttohappentome,deÞnitely.ÓÒItwasquiterealistic...Ifeltprettymuchtheenvironment,thesounds,theperspective.ÓÒIthoughtthattherewasgoingtobesomebi-zarrescenelikehittingorpunchingorsome-thing.ÓÒYouseeafacesometimesinfrontofyousome-timesbyyoursideandyouthinkÑisthatme?IÕm thelimitationswementionfornaturalcontentstillapplytosuch3Daudio-videoexperiences,theyarecertainlynotlessrealthanvideo.Finally,weclaimthatthissamplingandpresentationtotheaudienceofaudiovisualmaterial,typicallyontwo-dimensionalscreenswithlowÞeldofview,isbyitselfmisleading:whileobservingahumandisasterinanotherpartoftheworldbyTV,theviewersmaybemisledtoinferthattheyunderstandthehumansuffer-inginvolved.However,thefactisthattheyareonlyviewingandhearingalowresolution,sampled,dupli-cateofrealitythatdoesnotcatertoallsenses.Inthissense,traditionalmediacanbeclaimedtodepreciateandunderrepresentreality.Wethusclaimthatimmersivejournalism,byallowingformoreimmersiveexperiences,ifgeneratedaccordingtotheprinciplesadvocatedhereandusingethical,bestjournalisticpractices,constitutesamuchmorefaithfulduplicationofrealevents.Inotherwords,wesuggestthatRAIRshouldbecon-sideredaspartofthecriteriaforwell-craftedjournalism.7ConclusionsInthispaperwehavepresentedtheconceptofimmersivejournalism,andarguedthatvirtualrealitysystemsareuniquelyÞttedtodeliverÞrst-personex-periencesofstoriesthatappearinthenews;andthatimmersivejournalismofferstheopportunityofauniquelydifferentlevelofunderstandingcontrastedtoreadingtheprintedpageorpassivelywatchingau-diovisualmaterial.Wehavedistinguishedbetween Baudrillard,J.(1995).SimulacraandsimulationÑThebody, ÷a,N.,&Weil,P.(2007).GoneGitmo.http://slurl.com/secondlife/Network%20Culture/227/78/25DOD.(2003).SecretORCONinterrogationlogdetainee063.Interrogationlog,USDepartmentofDefense,No-vember23,2002throughJanuary11,2003.Washington,DC:USDepartmentofDefense.Ehrsson,H.H.(2007).Theexperimentalinductionofout-of-bodyexperiences.Science,317(5841),1048Ð1048.Frasca,G.(2001).September12th.http://www.newsgaming.Gellhorn,M.(1994).Theviewfromtheground.