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Creating Empathy Using Immersive Media

Friday, November 19, 2021 at 9:00am to 10:00am

Virtual Event

Dan Archer, founder of Empathetic Media, will be hosting a virtual event about the role that immersive media can play in driving/generating empathy. We’ve heard so much about the role that VR plays in creating this. But does the evidence stack up? Dan Archer will share his research in this space, including creative projects that he has developed and run.

Zoom link will be visible 48 hours before the event time.

 

Biography

Dan Archer is the founder of Empathetic Media and co-founder of Empathetic Media Health, XR production agencies that incorporate augmented, mixed and virtual reality to tell stories in an immersive new way. Their work has been published by the BBC, CBC, Vice magazine, Washington Post, Die Zeit, European Journalism Centre, American Public Media, and PBS among others. Their commercial work has included the Pfizer Foundation, Gilead Life Sciences and Biomarin.

Archer was a 2016 Tow Centre Fellow at the University of Columbia, a 2014 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow at the University of Missouri and a 2011 Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University, where he also taught non-fiction graphic novel writing 2008-14. He is currently working on a PhD in Computer Science at University College London focused on integrating the physiological signals of users inside VR experiences into a real-time biofeedback system.

He’s produced information campaigns in comics format (to target low-literacy and youth audiences) for many international NGOs, including World Education, Save the Children and ECPAT Luxembourg, and from 2012-14 was Co-PI on a major project funded by the US State Department and Humanity United to measure the impact of different forms of visual media in rural communities across Nepal. In 2014 he was awarded the EIC/Maynard Institute grant for mental health reporting for a comic on affordable housing for the mentally ill homeless community in San Francisco, published in the San Francisco Public Press.

He is a recognized thought leader in the VR/interactive storytelling space, having lectured and given workshops at: Future of Storytelling conference; Society of News Design; the Walkley Foundation Storyology Conference (Australia); Newsgeist Unconference; Boston University Power of Narrative conference; Online News Association; American Association of Editorial Cartoonists Convention; Festival des Images et Presentations Audiovisuelles (France); Frank conference; Woodstock Digital Media Conference (keynote).

In 2015 he was awarded a green card on the extraordinary ability (EB1) visa by the US State Department.

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