A multi-user VR application to train decoding hate memes.
There is a lot of media content on the Internet that conveys discrimination, prejudice and hatred. Antisemitic content is often conveyed through seemingly harmless terms and images that can be decoded with experience. This makes it possible to spread anti-Semitism without directly being prosecuted or risking social ostracism. Where and how can young people find the time, resources, and motivation to truly engage with this complex topic? Commissioned by KULA Compagnie and in close collaboration with the Berlin School of VR, we have designed and produced a virtual space that enables just that!
Implementing this didactic concept as a VR group workshop for young people has three key advantages:
The high level of innovation and the topical nature of the topic justify a class workshop with an excursion (in this case to a local library). This allows the class to work on this topic as a group, but not within their everyday structures.
Choosing an avatar and visiting the virtual workshop space in a different form from their own provides a distance that allows for a different focus on the topic. Furthermore, there are fewer monologues and uneven conversational shares.
The time spent in the virtual world and engaging with the topic has so far been significantly longer than would be expected in a comparable classroom setting.
The feedback was consistently positive to very positive:
"I now understand what anti-Semitism is and how it works!"
"It was like an escape room with serious topics!"
"The students really developed options for action together. That impressed me greatly."
So far, booked by NEUE CHANCE e.V. & Albert Schweitzer Gymnasium Berlin
