The effect of narratives in United Nations Virtual Reality

Abstract

Viewed as an empathy machine, Virtual Reality (VR) film has been utilized by many humanitarian organizations to augment individuals’ comprehension of humanitarian issues and evoke empathetic responses. Despite extensive analysis on the impact of virtual reality in eliciting empathy and its narrative techniques, there exists a research gap regarding the specific attributes of UNVR films. This paper critically examines the positive effects, unresolved challenges, and ethical concerns of UNVR films, particularly through the lens of various narrative techniques, including their documentary realism, montage, external authorship, and extra-diegetic voice-over. This paper calls attention to how UNVR films, despite conveying the same content and expressing the same ideas, achieve better effects than one-dimensional or two-dimensional media, enhancing the audience’s comprehensions of suffering groups such as refugees and eliciting empathy, while also pointing out the challenges that UNVR still faces. The paper also analyzes the fundamental deficiencies of UNVR in terms of embodiment and eliciting empathy. It will conclude with suggestions for future research on how to utilize narrative techniques, based on unique features of VR, to enhance the role of UNVR in addressing humanitarian issues.