Immersive Empathy Workshop

Immersive Empathy: Exploring the impact of immersive environments in the context of homelessness and precarious housing

We are interested in exploring the use of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality immersive experiences with community groups engaged with homelessness or precarious housing in the Western Region. We will focus on the impact of such experiences on empathy levels amongst participants from the general population.

The workshop will challenge participants to work in small, interdisciplinary groups to consider specific projects that address challenges around precarious housing. The involvement of community groups with hands-on understanding of the problem domain will position the lived experiences of those affected by precarious housing at the heart of the research process.

We are seeking expressions of interest to participate from interested parties with backgrounds including human-computer interaction (HCI), computer science, psychology, geography, digital humanities and media studies, as well as VR filmmakers, artists, theatre makers, technologists, and representatives of relevant community groups. Please register your interest by completing this online form.

Background

In Ireland’s West Region, since 2014, an unprecedented increase of 81% in the number of adults identified as homeless has taken place. A steep rise also appears in the number of families affected by the current housing situation, with a jump of 176% in the number of families accessing emergency accommodation over the same period.

The aim of the project is to explore the use of Virtual or Augmented Reality immersive experiences with community groups engaged with homelessness or precarious housing. There will be a focus on considering the impact of such immersive experiences on empathy levels amongst participants from the general population.

Workshop Structure

• Domain speakers. There will be contributions from researchers and practitioners in the areas of homelessness, immersive environments, and empathy or attitude evaluation. The objective is to give an overview of each area, and to provoke thought about the interdisciplinary approaches that can be brought to it.
• Participant experiences. To help develop understanding between participants, and to identify areas of shared interest, each will make a contribution discussing the challenge domain, and ways to address it, when viewed through the lens of their discipline. This phase will include community organisations to avoid the notion of “imposed” solutions.
• Small-Group Collaboration. Participants will work in small groups to identify project ideas, and to develop these into potential projects over the course of the workshop. Outputs from this phase may be project proposals, storyboards, paper- or working prototypes, or implemented pilot projects. Groups will present their work for discussion and feedback at the mid-way point, and at the end of the workshop. This will enable shared learning among all participants, while giving individual groups the opportunity to explore a single project idea more deeply.
• Funding Proposal Development. [optional half-day on September, 6th] Participants will have the opportunity to move from a project development mode to thinking about how their project idea may be scaled up to form one or more larger research projects. The objective of this phase is to identify potential partners, funding sources, and structured work packages that will enable project delivery. Staff from NUI Galway’s Research Office will be in attendance to offer participants advice on the development of project proposals.

Initiative Overview

This workshop is funded by the Irish Research Council’s “Creative Connections” interdisciplinary research programme. The consortium responsible for organising the workshop include:

Mark Campbell (Pocket Anatomy); Celine Curtin (Head of Centre for the Creative Arts & Media, GMIT); Gavin Duffy (RealSim); Mairéad Hogan (Lecturer in Information Systems, NUIG); Dr Conn Holohan (Lecturer in Film Studies, NUIG); David Kelly (Digital Humanities Manager, Moore Institute, NUIG); Denise McDonagh (Digital Programme Manager, Galway 2020); Dr Kathy Reilly (Lecturer in Geography, NUIG);  Dr Charlotte Silke (Postdoctoral Researcher, UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre, NUIG); Karen Young (Lecturer in IT, NUIG).

Interested in Participating?

We are seeking expressions of interest to participate from interested parties with backgrounds including human-computer interaction (HCI), computer science, psychology, geography, digital humanities and media studies, as well as VR filmmakers, artists, theatre makers, technologists, and representatives of relevant community groups. Please register your interest by completing this online form.

Questions

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact David Kelly (david.d.kelly@nuigalway.ie) at the Moore Institute, NUI Galway.