New VR film ‘Iridescent’ via jack+bill, puts viewers in the mind of people with eating disorders
Porter Novelli Melbourne has created a virtual reality film to explore this very question, with a pro bono project that seeks to translate the lived experience of people with eating disorders.
Under the banner of Porter Novelli Melbourne’s pop-up pro bono entity, jack+bill, the team produced an Australian-first using 360-degree virtual reality technology and an immersive soundscape.
Says Peter Kent, chief executive, Porter Novelli: “Every year with jack+bill we assess opportunities to extend our professional skills and knowledge while also providing a social dividend for project beneficiaries.
“In this case, we identified virtual reality as a capability to extend, the question of building empathy as a knowledge area, and sought an organisation to work with.
“We wanted to explore the idea of virtual reality as a tool to help to demystify complex issues and settled on eating disorders and related illnesses, which is when we approached the Butterfly Foundation.”
The film is titled Iridescent and uses a continuous three-minute 360-degree shot with head-tracked positional audio to create a virtual space that completely immerses the viewer.
Preview screenings showed a substantial difference in the way people felt about eating disorders after they had viewed the film.
After viewing, people who reported feeling empathetic towards sufferers of eating disorders doubled to 82 per cent, and nearly two thirds said they would be more likely to support the Butterfly Foundation in the future.
Common phrasing around eating disorders before viewing included ‘anorexia’, ‘skinny’ and ‘bulimia’, but most common after screening were ‘fear’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘stigma’.
More than one million Australians are estimated to live with an eating disorder, according to Butterfly Foundation chief executive officer, Christine Morgan.
Says Morgan: “We’re grateful for any support in helping tell the story of eating disorders in Australia, which are one of the leading causes of mental disorder disability for young women.”