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Michael Rohling
Director, Advancement Communications
University Advancement
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ATLANTA – The School of Public Health at Georgia State University has been awarded a $75,000 grant from Facebook Reality Labs, the social media company’s augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) laboratories, to create a narrative film that will be an immersive and interactive online platform for combatting racial injustice.
The School of Public Health is partnering with Georgia State’s Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) on the Facebook-funded project designed to increase viewers’ empathy and enhance their understanding of racism and structural inequality.
The film, titled “Consider ME,” will feature 10 Black and Brown individuals describing their experiences related to racism and racial injustice. These narratives will be captured using volumetric film technology, which creates holographic recordings that can be deployed in AR and VR, as well as Web-based, platforms. The film will also include interactive calls to action such as “share,” “confront someone” or “start a conversation.”
“Racism is a pervasive worldwide crisis afflicting all aspects of society, so my colleagues and I are grateful for Facebook funding and excited about the prospect of advancing racial equity through our project,” said Laura Salazar, School of Public Health professor and director of the Ph.D. program. “Empathy is the key to dismantling racism. Our goal is to use the power of personal narratives deployed in virtual or augmented reality to create an affecting and widely accessible advocacy platform that engenders empathy and moves us in the direction of racial equity.”
“Consider ME” is scheduled to begin production in late 2021 and is expected to be available to the public in 2022.
“The School of Public Health is committed to advancing racial equity and inclusion and we are delighted to receive this support from Facebook and to collaborate with CMII on this important work,” said Dr. Rodney Lyn., interim dean of the School of Public Health. “This project leverages our faculty expertise, the real-life experiences of participants and the latest in film technology to tell stories in a manner that makes an immediate impact. We look forward to sharing this innovative project.”
For more information on the School of Public Health, visit publichealth.gsu.edu. Information on CMII can be found at cmii.gsu.edu.