Oculus has announced a new initiative called “VR For Good” which aims to create positive social change through the use of virtual reality technology. It’s a lofty goal, and one that might be difficult to understand how it can be achieved with VR. To that end, Oculus is beginning by launching two programs under the VR For Good initiative.
The first is a “360 Filmmakers Challenge” aimed at high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area. Oculus is providing equipment and mentors to students so that they can create a short 360-degree film about their local community. The aim is to encourage students to learn new technical skills that may help and encourage them to enter STEM fields.
The second program is called “360 Bootcamp for Nonprofits”, and it has 10 filmmakers teaming up with 10 non-profit organisations to create socially-beneficial 360-degree videos, designed to be viewed in VR. Oculus points to Clouds Over Sidra, a 360-degree video about a Syrian refugee, as an example of this kind of successful partnership – in that the video raised helped over $3.8 billion for UNICEF.
The 360 Filmmakers Challenge entrants will be uploaded to Oculus Video and Facebook once completed, while the media created for the 360 Bootcamp for Nonprofits will first be screened at Sundance 2017. Interested parties can subscribe to the VR For Good newsletter to be informed when applications become available.
