It should not be surprising to anyone that journalism organizations like the New York Times are pioneering ways to involve their readers in stories in new and exciting ways. After all, if we have the available technology to create dancing hotdogs on Snapchat, why not make it easier for a Times reader to experience an event in someone else’s shoes?
This is exactly what AR/VR journalism does. Telling a story in this way can help promote a deeper level of understanding and turn a casual onlooker of the news into someone who can experience something from a perspective they may not have gained otherwise. That should be the point of news – to educate people and help them form an opinion based on multiple perspectives, not just their own.
The possibilities of using immersive journalism are endless. The New York Times has released pieces on USWNT star Crystal Dunn, actor Lakeith Stanfield’s balancing act, and various pieces about the COVID-19 pandemic, including one that shows exactly how masks work.
Releasing journalistic content like this animates the screen that the reader is viewing the work on. It’s incredibly engaging and forces you to scroll through the entire piece. Since there is a movement happening at each line or paragraph of a piece, you make the reader pay closer attention, so they don’t miss anything. It’s so much more difficult now to just scroll through a piece and skim it – which seems to be a trend in today’s world.
For example, the piece I have linked above shows you how masks work takes you on a journey as an air particle that is trying to get through a mask. Each time you scroll, you go deeper and deeper into the mask, as the particles around you are stopped, and an explanation of what is happening around you is read as you scroll. While the piece itself is a very long scroll, users are scrolling all the time now – so what’s a little more.
The most important part of the aforementioned piece is that it can help provide a deeper understanding of issues. Showing their audience exactly how masks prevent these particles from being inhaled, can prove to readers that masks do in fact, work.
Immersive journalism is still a fairly new topic, but the potential it has is almost limitless. Not only can it help provide new perspectives and deeper understanding, but it also can get people who aren’t as interested in the news involved in the conversation – all by enhancing the scroll.