For my thesis, I want to create a Virtual Reality experience through Unity to show what being in an emotionally abusive relationship is like. I’ve been working on the script for roughly a year now, getting the facts I know together since it will be somewhat based on a true story. It will be an interactive story as well, with decisions for the user to do their best to get out of the relationship once it takes its turn. I have been researching abusive relationships to figure out the important details and points to keep in the storyline. I want to be thorough in my story, but I’m working on making sure it isn’t too long to get the point across before people may want to move on from the experience to other projects in the showcase. I will need to work on my coding skills for Unity and figure out the best way to create a forest for the environment, whether it be by using assets or 3D modeling and texturing it all myself if it isn’t too much work for one person until May. I’m even considering using a 360 camera to record a forest environment, but not sure how feasible it is for this purpose. Along with the text that will appear on-screen to tell the story, I may use my mic to record lines to read the story. At the very end, I will put more info on abusive relationships, such as facts and any hotline numbers to help anyone going through a similar situation or know someone who is.
Based on my research so far, using Virtual Reality to highlight social issues isn’t new, there is a Virtual Reality experience based on solitary confinement in prison. I’ve seen it be used to help prisoners understand social situations and what life would be like after life in prison when they transition back into society. I believe mine will be similar in that it will be educational and informative, but it would tell a story along with the visuals being more of a metaphor rather than showing what happened in the story. Someone described their experience with VR as a way to really be able to see life in someone else’s shoes and really understand.
Source on VR experiences: https://narratively.com/can-virtual-reality-change-minds-social-issues/