Immersive Empathy
Using Immersive Technologies to communicate the experience of homelessness
Supported by
About the Project
The aim of this project is to produce Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) immersive experiences in collaboration with clients from the Galway Simon Community that can capture and convey aspects of the experience of homelessness.
The immersive experiences, created from the perspective of those who have experienced homelessness, will be used for training of service providers and to increase awareness and empathy amongst the general public.
Immersive Empathy responds to the current homelessness crisis by adopting an engaged research approach to empower those experiencing homelessness to give expression to their experiences via immersive technologies.
Drawing on participatory video methodologies and patient and public involvement (PPI) in research design, it will offer training in immersive technologies to Galway Simon Community clients thereby:
- providing tools for self-expression
- facilitating clients in drawing connections between shared experiences
- providing a tool for advocacy and the expression of alternative narratives around homelessness
Project Team @ University of Galway
Charlotte Silke
Postdoctoral Researcher, UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre
Conn Holohan (PI)
Lecturer in Film and Media Studies, Huston School of Film & Digital Media, School of English and Creative Arts.
David Kelly
Digital Humanities Manager, Moore Institute for Research in the Humanities & Social Studies.
Karen Young
Lecturer in Information Technology, Engineering & Informatics
Mairéad Hogan
Lecturer in Business Information Systems, J.E. Cairnes School of Business & EconomicsMarianne Ní Chinnéide
Lecturer in Drama & Head of Production and Curation of the O'Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance, School of English and Creative ArtsProject Collaborators
- Camille Donegan – Independent XR Producer
- Peter Stapleton - Galway Simon
- Tommy Walsh - Galway Simon
- Rebecca O'Connor - Galway Simon
Project Activities
Some of the research activities within the project
GIAF First Thought Talk
Creative Workshop
This workshop explored the oral history narratives collected, and used them as a base for the creation of an immersive experience. Participants captured video and audio for use in the production of the experience.
Participant Workshop
May, 2022
This two-day workshop explored approaches to storytelling, oral history narratives, immersive technologies and VR filmmaking, and media portrayals of home.
Oral History Training Workshop
Hosted by the Oral History Network of Ireland, members of the project team took part in a workshop on oral history and its potential for use as a research methodology.
Immersive Empathy Workshop
This interdisciplinary workshop, funded by the Irish Research Council, explored the use of Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality immersive experiences with community groups engaged with homelessness or precarious housing in the Western Region.
Participants included creative practitioners, academic researchers, and representatives from organisations involved in the homelessness sector, such COPE Galway, St. Vincent De Paul, and the HSE.