Saving nature through virtual reality

DW (English)

A visit to the mountain gorillas, thanks to VR: Technology is making the lives of threatened species more tangible. Environmental groups can use immersive images to raise awareness and funds for endangered species.

Transcript

00:00Imagine experiencing this, not in the wild, but through a headset.

00:06South African company Habitat XR works to reconnect people with nature through extended reality,

00:13like VR and holograms.

00:15Many companies and art collectives have been using the technology to inspire us to protect the planet.

00:21So XR technologies allow people to empathize by allowing them to become an active participant inside the story.

00:33So by being physically present, a person's mind can't tell the difference between physically being there and virtually being there.

00:40Recent studies show that immersive experiences can indeed enhance empathy, more so than other media.

00:46But there are limits.

00:48It's critically important to understand that simply putting on a headset doesn't cause empathy.

00:53We've got to be very thoughtful about what we build, how people use it, and what our expectations are.

00:59On the long-term side, there's been very few studies that look at long-term change.

01:04Conservation groups hire companies like Habitat XR to unlock empathy for fundraising campaigns or for encouraging political action.

01:13With very powerful storytelling, people will take their headsets off with a tear coming, you know, streaming down their face,

01:22and they'll put their hand up to swipe their credit card.

01:24And we've found that this empathy results in significantly higher donations being made.

01:29For example, this project follows a Mongolian starving to death due to climate change.

01:35Another one lets people get up close with mountain gorillas to understand why they need protection.

01:42What it does is it, again, democratizes access to gorillas, which is a very ecologically sensitive environment.

01:50It's a very expensive thing for people to be able to go and trip with mountain gorillas.

01:54That's $1,500 per person for a single hour.

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