虚拟现实助联合国增强影响力并筹款

联合国正积极采用虚拟现实技术，借以提升人们对全球重要问题的意识。联合国已和Vrse.works共同制作了三部虚拟现实短片：《锡德拉湾上的云》，《格雷斯之波》和《母亲之翼》。

《母亲之翼》讲述了一名巴勒斯坦母亲的故事，2014年以色列加沙冲突中，她的两个幼子因所在学校遭到轰炸而丧生。这部短片今日在翠贝卡电影节上放映。

联合国高级顾问盖博•欧罗拉与Vrse.works合作制作了这三部影片，他说一开始想用传统视频方式讲这些故事，后来发现虚拟现实增强了浸入故事的体验。

“联合国之所以迅速采用虚拟现实手段，就是想把各种因素整合起来，通过技术提升人们对全球问题和挑战的意识，”欧罗拉说，“在某种程度上，这对我们来说是一场革命；从另一方面看其实就是通过创新手段扩大影响力。”

欧罗拉说，虚拟现实可以更好地呈现许多全球大事的复杂性。

“要达到完美呈现需要耗费大量精力和资源，然而这些都是有限的，所以我们只选一些较为紧迫、时间和地点上都有更重要的议题，”欧罗拉说。

他说《锡德拉湾上的云》就是近距离画面展示摄人心魄场景的例子。

“在人们都在新闻中关注宏观层面的叙利亚危机时，我们通过集中刻画叙利亚及周边国家危机中一个女孩的故事，为观众讲述了一个深刻又扣人心弦的故事。”欧罗拉说道。

《格雷斯之波》则是关于一名利比亚女性在埃博拉疫情肆虐后帮助他人战胜病毒的故事。

除了翠贝卡电影节，这三部虚拟现实影片也在圣丹斯和柏林电影节上进行了展映，也在中国大连及达沃斯的世界经济论坛上放映。联合国不仅借助虚拟现实向数千名决策者直接传递信息，在资金募集时也运用了谷歌Cardboard的基础虚拟现实技术。

“我们已经把联合国儿童基金会的街头募捐设备（设备携带留言板并可对街头捐赠者讲话）投放到40个国家，简易头盔装置可为街头捐赠者播放时长2分钟的短片，”欧罗拉说。

内部数据显示，人们看过影片之后，捐赠率由十二分之一上升至了六分之一，也就是说人们的捐赠比例翻了一倍。不仅如此，Arora还说捐赠平均额也上升了10%，意味着不但人们的捐赠频率增加，捐赠金额也在增加。

“人们看过影片后，我听到最多的反馈就是目光交流有强大的力量”，欧罗拉说，“在虚拟现实中与某人对视时，你会感觉跟影片中的人产生某种联系。这与看普通电影或视频不一样，你不会移开目光。”

根据虚拟现实研究公司Greenlight VR的调查，移动虚拟现实头盔市场预计会从2016年100万增长到到2025年的1.22亿，接线式头盔将从2016年100万增加到2025年的1360万。三星于去年秋季发布了Gear VR，脸书今年3月发布了Oculus Rift，此外HTC在4月推出Vive，今年10月索尼的PlayStation VR也即将问世。

“随着虚拟现实技术在生活中越来越普及，无论在游戏、娱乐还是教育方面，我们都可以通过影片去影响更多人，”欧罗拉说，“我们的电影在Vrse的iPhone和安卓APP上都可以免费下载，借此可以把电影呈现给每一个虚拟现实头盔用户。沉浸式体验很大程度上会受头盔设备的功能限制，但我们会努力影响更多人，可用设备越来越多也很令人兴奋。”（财富中文网）

译者：Pessy

审校：夏林

Global crises such as the Syrian refugee situation are brought to life through short VR films.

The United Nations has embraced virtual reality as a new way to raise awareness about the plights of human beings around the world. The UN has created a trio of short VR films with Vrse.works:Clouds Over Sidra, Waves of Grace, and My Mother’s Wing.

My Mother’s Wing follows a Palestinian mother who lost two young sons in a school shelled by Israel during the 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict. The short film is being featured today at the Tribeca Film Festival.

UN senior adviser Gabo Arora, who created the three films with Vrse.works, says he previously explored these types of stories through conventional video. But virtual reality adds another level of immersion to the storytelling.

“The leap into virtual reality was really a constellation of factors coming together to bring this technology to help sensitize people to the challenges we work with throughout the world,” Arora says. “In some ways it’s a revolution for us; in other ways, it’s just a way to drive impact in new and innovative ways.”

Arora says virtual reality can help convey the complexity of many important stories around the world.

“We have limited means and limited resources to do so, so we choose to prioritize pressing issues that have some sense of urgency and an important notion of time and place,” Arora says.

He points to Clouds Over Sidra as an example of showing an intimate picture of an overwhelming situation.

“By concentrating on the story of one girl in the overwhelming context of the crisis in Syria and neighboring countries, we are able to tell a compelling story that is meaningful to viewers at a time when they are already focused on the broader issue in the news,” Arora says.

Waves of Grace explores a Liberian woman’s post-Ebola quest to help others recover from the virus.

In addition to the Tribeca Film Festival, these three VR films have been shown at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals, as well as the World Economic Forum in Davos and Dalian, China. Beyond reaching thousands of decision-makers directly through VR, the UN has also incorporated the very basic Google Cardboard VR technology into fundraising.

“We have equipped UNICEF street fundraisers (the ones that carry clipboards and speak to potential donors on the street) in 40 countries with inexpensive headsets to show an abbreviated, two-minute version of the film to potential donors on the street,” Arora says.

Internal data shows that the rate of donation when people have seen the films increases to 1 in 6 from 1 in 12, effectively doubling the rate of people who take action. On top of that, Arora says average donations have gone up by 10%, which means that not only are people giving more often but they are giving more.

“One of the things I hear a lot after someone has watched the film is that how powerful eye contact is,” Arora says. “When you look someone in the eye in virtual reality, you feel like you are connecting in a way that you do not in film. Unlike in film and video, you can’t look away.”

According to research firm Greenlight VR, mobile VR headsets are expected to increase from 1 million in 2016 to 122 million by 2025, while tethered VR headsets are forecast to grow from 1 million in 2016 to 13.6 million by 2025. Samsung launched Gear VR last fall, Facebook launched Oculus Rift in March, and HTC released Vive in April. Sony ships PlayStation VR this October.

“As VR becomes more prevalent in other parts of life, be it in gaming, entertainment, or educational uses, we can have more impact with more people through our films,” Arora says. “Since our films are available for free download on Vrse’s iPhone and Android apps, we can get our films into the hands of each and every VR headset user. The immersiveness of the experience depends a lot on the sophistication of the headset, but we aim for a wide impact and are excited about the increased availability of devices.”