Playing the News VR: Coventry Blitz
- Submitting institution
-
Coventry University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 27803840
- Type
- Q - Digital or visual media
- Publisher
- Google Play Store
- Month
- November
- Year
- 2017
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
-
2
- Research group(s)
-
-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Playing the News VR: Coventry Blitz (PNVR) was funded by a Google Digital News Initiative grant of €50,000 to develop a VR game linked to a news event. It was developed in partnership with the Coventry Telegraph and Coventry University Centre for Excellence in Learning Enhancement. PNVR explores the use of interactive 360-degree films and virtual reality to enhance an audience’s understanding of a news story. This prototype project used resources and advances in the technology to build a concept VR game focused around a news story.
Additionally, using data collected from a series of school lessons, observation and teacher interviews, this research project also examined the use of an immersive virtual experience (IVE) in virtual reality (VR) to teach about the Coventry Blitz.
The game was tested by around 230 children, ranging in age from year 6 – 11. And also, with over 120 members of public, from teenagers through to the eldest participant being 89. Coventry University conducted interviews with users to gather data on their experiences, and utilised quizzes to encourage further engagement with the topic. This provided the opportunity to gain qualitative information.
Key insights include new understanding of how users respond to archive material after engaging with playable VR, as well as how historical news events can be fitted to a news agenda around the playable VR. The research also found that users were significantly affected by audio soundscapes that accompanied playable VR, and that this was of high importance in understand how playable VR can drive empathy.
A document containing contextual information is provided.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -