Press coverage and news updates about Project Empathy
Press coverage and news updates about Project Empathy
In the summer of 2013, journalist and entrepreneur Jamie Wong had also begun experimenting with virtual reality when she was invited to a hackathon as one of 100 technology influencers. There, she found herself on a team with CNN political commentator Van Jones, and the two hit it off.
Project Empathy is using the emerging medium to force action on criminal justice reform.
The Atlantic was in Los Angeles to explore the changing narrative of race and identity in this country. In our second annual Race + Justice summit we convened civic leaders, activists, artists, policymakers and storymakers for a day of unflinching conversation. The summit unfolded in multiple chapters, as we try to answer the questions: Who is California? Where is Home? What is Justice? and Whose Story Gets Told?
Project Empathy, which bills itself as the “first virtual reality series for social impact,” enables viewers to experience the U.S. prison system through the eyes of people who’ve been affected first-hand. By tackling real-life issues through an immersive 3D, 360-degree experience, it aims to educate Americans about the system’s harsh realities, and ultimately make a meaningful push for reform.
In Project Empathy, you take the point of view of an eight-year-old girl whose mom is being arrested. Can it make you feel more of a connection with the millions of Americans in the U.S. penal system?
Project Empathy, a series of first-person VR tales, connects viewers with those inside the criminal justice system.
The Atlantic premieres Wendy Calhoun's VR film "Left Behind."
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Behind the Scenes of Project Empathy
Behind the Scenes of Project Empathy
Project Empathy is a virtual reality (VR) film series that explores what it means to be human and a global citizen today. Through three compelling VR films by award-winning directors, Project Empathy invites audiences to step into the screen and walk in someone else’s shoes, in order to better understand the human experience. The series will focus its first films on perspectives from inside the U.S. prison system.
Virtual reality has been described as an “empathy machine.” Our team will use VR for the first time ever to create empathy on a massive scale to connect us with the world around us and each other. VR technology, by many, is considered a new medium -- which goes beyond the linear limitations of film as we know it. Rather a VR film experience allows audience members to feel they are actually in another place and as if they can become another person. It is a 360 degree view of a new world, which often makes audience members feel as if they have traveled to another place and walked in someone else’s shoes.
“Mass incarceration” is a term that is often used in the media, but it specifically refers to the huge number of people that are incarcerated in the United States. The United States is the world's leading nation when it comes to putting people in prison. More than two million people are currently incarcerated in the United States.
Through VR technology and film, the idea is to bring a greater understanding and hopefully action toward healing our communities and living more meaningful lives, starting with changing the U.S. Prison System. We want to create empathy in others and hopefully influence hearts and minds on issues that are difficult, but that stand a great chance for positive change.
Created by Jamie Wong in partnership with Van Jones, Project Empathy is a groundbreaking virtual reality film effort, bringing together cutting edge technology and social impact.
The VR film directors include: Nonny De La Pena, who has been called “the godmother of VR” and is a pioneer in the virtual reality storytelling space; award-winning filmmaker Alex Rivera, writer and former co-executive producer of television series Empire, Wendy Calhoun and former The Daily Show producer, Jamie Wong. Ava DuVernay, director of Selma, is a consulting producer.
Who are the partners?
Partners include: The Dream Corps, Carnegie Hall, Race + Justice, a conference by The Atlantic.
Please email us here for press requests.