Unrest VR
Medium
Role
Category
Virtual Reality
Creative Advisor
Narrative & Design
Challenge
To build empathetic awareness and shift belief systems around those living with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
An invisible illness, ME/CFS affects 15M to 30M people globally; 25% are homebound or bedbound at some point.
When you’re too sick to leave your bed, where do you go?
Process
As a companion piece to Unrest (the documentary film), Unrest VR is an immersive voyage that contrasts the painful solitary confinement of a bedroom world with the kinetic freedom of an inner dreamscape.
Co-created with the award-winning team behind Notes on Blindness: Into Darkness (a “sensory and psychological experience of blindness” set in virtual reality), Unrest VR was developed for the Oculus Rift.
The approach was rooted in inclusivity: hand controllers were eliminated and replaced with directional triggers from the headset; the design was physically passive but visually dynamic; the experience expanded the film’s messaging into an immersive, visceral, and first-person perspective.
Solution
Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, Unrest VR was:
Exhibited at festivals
Exhibited in theaters (US, England & Ireland)
Viewed by Appropriations Committee members
Viewed by healthcare professionals
Unrest VR transformed an invisible illness into a visually stunning, four-chapter experience.
It centered participants on a journey of isolation from being bedridden, of pain and disorientation from sensory sensitivity, and of wondrous escapism that many patients use to survive living with ME/CFS.
Unrest VR is an exemplary model of the collaborative potential between XR creators and the film industry.
Recognition
Sheffield DocFest Alternate Realities VR Award
"Unrest VR was a profound insight into the world of a woman with ME/CFS."
— Dr. Keith Grimes, founder of VR Doctors