#clouds over sidra

[thenewinquiry]

“VR practitioners make a claim, as the early proponents of photography did, that it is a ‘slice of life,’ ‘really being there,’ ‘unmediated,’ a ‘transparent communication.’ But the footprints in Clouds Over Sidra suggest something else: a dense meeting point of different agendas above which the user is positioned, and through which the user views the world.”

The Western audience of Syria VR simulation consumes, without consequence, the experiences of the films’ subjects.

[is71076acs]

Week 10 Digital Witnessing Part 2

As a continuation from last week, we revisited digital witnessing by reflecting on the exercises and artworks in relation to the text Digital Narratives and Witnessing: The Ethics of Engaging with Places at a Distance by Nishat Awan. We posed questions such as how does each artwork figure witnessing at a distance? How do we understand these topologies? How does computation play a role in this? For the homework I chose to analyse the works Clouds Over Sidra by Gabo Arora and Chris Milk along with the Dronestagram project by James Bridle. Firstly, I found Clouds Over Sidra to be quite problematic as it seemed cynical to create a voyeuristic short film (sponsored by Samsung) that serves the sole purpose of being watched by old white businessmen at the United Nations. I feel it figures distance in terms of the stereoscopic lens you gaze through and that virtual reality is a mere gimmick here essential to the selling point of this piece. Like last week’s second exercise I feel that the added technology obscures and limits any sense of nearness I would have had. Rather ironically, I found Dronestagram to be more emotionally engaging without the need of cheap immersive strategies. Perhaps because it figures witnessing at a literal distance from the bombsites, however I feel closer to this artwork somehow because it sees the bigger picture. Computation is also essential to this project, but I feel the drone technology serves a much larger ethnographic purpose than its initial affordances as a mere tool. The rest of this week was spent hastily preparing everything for our group presentation and artefact assignment. References • Nishat Awan (2016) Digital Narratives and Witnessing: The Ethics of Engaging with Places at a Distance, GeoHumanities, 2:2, 311-330, DOI: 10.1080/2373566X.2016.1234940 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUosdCQsMkM • https://www.dailydot.com/society/dronestagram-instagram-drone-strike-target-towns/

Image of delegates watching a virtual reality film at the World Economic Forum 2016 from: Digital Narratives and Witnessing: The Ethics of Engaging with Places at a Distance by Nishat Awan

Image from Dronestagram by: James Bridle https://www.instagram.com/dronestagram/ 

[ict4deez]

The United Nations has collaborated with filmmaker Chris Milk to make its first virtual reality film.

[suprimatec]

Melhor do que apenas ler sobre a Realidade virtual é experimentá-la

Melhor do que apenas ler sobre a Realidade virtual é experimentá-la

Continuando com a série sobre realidade virtual, gostaria que todos pudessem experimentar estas quatro demonstrações selecionadas por serem as melhores até hoje sobre realidade virtual.

A empresa de conteúdo VRSE de Chris Milk  lançou alguns dos mais impactantes conteúdos de realidade virtual até hoje. A peça mais conhecida, Clouds Over Sidra, conseguiu criar uma experiência profundamente…

View On WordPress

[brittdashitt]

For my Diffusion of Innovations class, I had to write a paper over digital media technologies. I decided to write mine over the power of virtual reality and it’s impact on society. During my research, I stumbled upon this TED talk and it is so amazing. Virtual reality truly has the power to change the world. Just check it out!

If you’re interested in learning more about “Clouds Over Sidra” (Which is super cool and has the potential to help so many people), here’s the link to the website: http://vrse.works/clouds-over-sidra/

[99rifters-blog]

UN Launches Powerful Oculus Virtual Reality Film Following Syrian Refugee Girl

UN Launches Powerful Oculus Virtual Reality Film Following Syrian Refugee Girl #vr #oculusrift

A young girl, a Syrian refugee, suddenly appears before you, sitting on the floor of a cramped room. She describes her family, and takes you on a journey through the refugee camp in which she lives. You sit beside her in her makeshift school classroom and watch children tramp through the muddy streets in the encampment. You feel as if you can smell the bread being baked in front of you at the…

View On WordPress