VR Diaries: Immersion and Engagement Equals Empathy in VR Storytelling

Reflecting upon my virtual reality experience through the six narratives I watched (“Fight for Falluja,” “Clouds Over Sidra,” “Zambia Gift of Mobility,” “Project Syria,” “6x9” and “Pearl Harbor”), my favorite…

VR Diaries: ‘Fight for Falluja’ Takes Viewers Inside a War Zone

There’s an old saying, “Walk a mile in someone’s shoes and you’ll know where they’ve been.” Recently, media have tried to turn this phrase into a reality, exposing their audience to the sensory feeling of being in the…

Edible Bites: Building a Skill for Amazon Alexa Takes Some Serious Skills

Working at USC Annenberg Media has given me many opportunities to explore different kinds of new and cool ways to tell a story. We are catching up with the ever-evolving journalism industry. We are…

VR Diaries: ‘Clouds Over Sidra’ is Powerful and Fosters Empathy

Out of the three virtual reality pieces I’ve seen thus far, “Clouds Over Sidra” is by far my favorite. It had what was absent in both “Fight for Falluja” and “Zambia: Gift of Mobility” — not only were there more…

VR Diaries: A Look Back at Six Virtual Reality Experiences

The six virtual reality narratives I viewed for my Advanced Journalism for Mobile and Emerging Platforms class at the University of Southern California all all gave different perspectives as far as immersion is concerned…

VR Diaries: ‘Cloud over Sidra’ Uses a Child’s Voice to Drive a Powerful Story

I think the strongest part of the virtual reality piece “Clouds Over Sidra” was when Sidra said she liked cloudy days because she felt like she was being protected, like she had a blanket over her…

VR Diaries: ‘Clouds Over Sidra’ Humanizes the Plight of Refugees