Interactive Arts Commons^™

The Visit Vr. An Immersive Experience To Counteract Stigma About Dementia., Volker Kuchelmeister, Jill Bennett, Gail Kenning, Natasha Ginnivan, Melissa Neidorf

Frameless

The Visit is an interactive 6-dof real-time Virtual Reality experience, developed from an interdisciplinary research project conducted by artists and psychologists working with women living with dementia. Visitors are invited to sit with Viv, a life-sized, realistic and responsive character whose dialogue is created largely from verbatim interviews, drawing us into a world of perceptual uncertainty, while at the same time confounding stereotypes and confronting fears about dementia. The characterisation has scientific validity but also the qualities of a rich, emotion-driven film narrative. The point of the work is to draw the viewer into the emotional/perceptual world of Viv.