Assignment 6 - Virtual Reality + Augmented Spaces (Transforming the Art Museum Experience: Gallery One, The Poetics of Augmented Space, and The Enemy VR Experience @ the MIT Museum)

Karim Ben Khelifa’s “The Enemy’ VR experience aims to highlight the humanity of the people roped into fighting on opposing sides in 3 major world conflicts; by calling attention to the individuals involved in these violent conflicts, the exhibit aims to draw out a sense of empathy form the user experiencing the installation. The 3D path and white gallery space, a style mentioned in Manovich’s “The Poetics of Augmented Space,” presented a blank canvas and therefore an unbiased space for us museum-goers to experience the thoughts and perspectives of the combatants we were hearing from.

We walked through 3 rendered rooms, one for each military conflict, and learned about the past of each person. First, we learned about a person as we looked at a photograph of them and were given a short summary of their past. Then, the individual that you were learning about from a still image would actually materialize into a 3D figure that walks over to you, looking you directly in the eyes, and starts talking to you. In this scenario, you learn about their dreams, happiest moments and their definitions for peace and violence through an interview-style manner.

Although it was slightly unclear as to how the exhibit chose which person you empathized the most with by the end of the exhibit (the staff mentioned pupil motion/dilation via the Oculus), I thought it as significantly valuable that you entered the 4th and last room to see yourself as that person in a rendered mirror. The “Gallery One” article mentions empowering visitors to browse freely and learn through a user-specific and “personalized profile driven by their interests,” which The Enemy did very well here. Once I was shown which combatant I supposedly empathized with the most, the Enemy of my subject spoke to me with a peaceful explanation as to what they wanted from my side in the conflict. It felt extremely personal and candidly real, which was a goal of Khelifa’s in creating this VR exhibit.

The museum workers told me that the technology in the oculus analyzed each museum goers’ empathy levels, but mentioned that it was not always accurate - we spoke about how in the future, the exhibit could evolve to use biometric sensors in order to make the experience more accurate for each user. Still, I felt like this was a great example of how VR can actually improve a museum experience by going past traditional teaching methodologies that do little to affectively alter a person’s opinion and biases on a matter.