Watch Still Here
Why Interactive VR?
The 25-minute interactive VR experience follows Jasmine as she returns home after being locked up for 15 years, and includes a room scale 3D model of a real brownstone in Harlem. We consciously divided the house into ‘zones’ in order to restrict the viewers’ movements and choices. The reason for designing the interactivity this way is to give the viewer a glimpse into what it means to have his/her actions restricted in and out of prison, as many formerly incarcerated women describe life on parole as an illusion of being ‘free.’
We recorded the complete VR experience inside the headset as a walkthrough video below.
Explore Still Here VR on your HTC Vive, Oculus Rift or Valve Index.
Watch a 360º video adaptation of Still Here VR with Oculus Go or Samsung Gear VR on the Al Jazeera Contrast app here OR watch it on YouTube here.
Why Audio and AR?
In the 18-minute audio and AR story about gentrification, we hear Jasmine’s interactions with her uncle, a coffee shop owner and a homeless person. Since Jasmine’s audio story is location specific, the AR filter allows us to “take” the viewer there – the viewer steps through the portal and finds himself/herself on a street in Harlem. Additionally, AR also allows us to overlay the space with visual information that more effectively demonstrates the toll of gentrification on Jasmine and her community.
We recorded the complete audio and AR experience (accessible on an iPad Pro) as a video below.
Experience Still Here AR on your iPad Pro.
Why Photo Gallery?
The photo gallery showcases some of the journalism behind this project and the real lives of a few women whose stories became the foundation of Still Here.