Our Future: An Immersive Virtual Reality Experience

Time is running out. Some say 12 years, some say only 18 months, but most scientists are in agreement that we do not have long to prevent irreversible damage from climate change. But how can we get people to care? Our Future aims to do just that.

Often there can be a disconnect when thinking about the effects of climate change; we think of ice caps melting in the Arctic, or forest fires in Australia, and we can’t visualise how it will affect us close to home. This immersive experience will bring the issue home to Cardiff, allowing you to see the versions of our world that scientists are currently predicting could happen. Rising temperatures, decreased rainfall in summer, increased rainfall in winter and rising sea levels will all contribute to extreme weather conditions plaguing Wales, including coastal flooding and droughts. Using a head-mounted display (HMD) and inside-out tracking, Our Future will ask you to confront these alarming, but very real, possibilities for Wales’ future.

“allowing people to personally experience environmental problems can reduce perceived temporal distance and lead people to see them as more critical than reading mere descriptions of problems”

(Ahn et al 2016, p.400)

The experience begins in the National Museum Cardiff where the user will be invited to walk around and explore the area. They will hear snippets of conversation from the two separate museum guides, this is designed to build curiosity within the user and encourage them to interact with the guides. It is through engaging in conversation that the user will both learn about the scientist’s predictions and be moved through to Scene 2, either ‘flood’ or ‘drought’ depending on who they first choose to speak to.

Scene 1

In ‘flood’ the area will at first look the same but after exploring the user will see that Cardiff is submerged in water outside the museum. Similarly, in ‘drought’, the user will see the area around the museum dried up from a lack of rainfall and hear museum attendees discussing the recent forest fires in the surrounding areas.

Flood
Drought

Ideally, upon finishing the experience, the intent is that users will feel less distant when considering the impacts of climate change on the future of Wales.

  1. This is a really interesting idea and takes a unique approach to the the storytelling. I am interested in whether you might also incorporate some real-life imagery or video to help connect the experience to the ‘real’. This has been done in other experiences using stills and video that are then used as narrative elements within the experience. Essentially to help the user/audience better understand how the ‘now’ is connected to the experience’s narrative.

  2. I really like this project. VR done well can deliver very powerful, memorable experiences and this cause is so important.

    Another approach could be that the person experiencing the scenario has some kind of agency, influence on the outcomes. By making personal choices they can improve, worsen the situation.

  3. There have been a number of climate change experiences that will be useful to look at to develop this further.

    I like the approach from the museum onwards and wonder if there is a chance for further interaction and decision making that could help develop the narrative further. There are also some great images that can be used to enhance the work and showcase the extent of the problem.

  4. Nice storytelling led approach. Building curiosity first helps it not seem preachy. Would be good for it to personalise to the user in some way relating their actions or future decisions to the potential outcomes

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