OUR VIEWPOINT
Live My Experience shines a light on Domestic and Family violence. It uses augmented reality to show a gritty and realistic perspective of DV experiences.
Drawn from real world accounts, people get to see firsthand the obstacles victims need to navigate, and understand what outcomes their choices lead to.
Such understanding, achieved through education, is a key vehicle to stop this cycle from repeating in future generations.
Violence against women and girls is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.
The United Nations Spotlight Initiative tells us that:
- 1 in 3 women worldwide have experienced physical or sexual violence
- In 2012, 1 in 2 women worldwide were killed by her partner or a family member
- 1 in 5 women and girls have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner within the last 12 months.
Domestic Violence is a major obstacle to fulfilling women’s and girls’ human rights and to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It occurs worldwide. It cuts across all generations, nationalities, communities and spheres of our societies. This is irrespective of age, ethnicity, disability or other background.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made this far worse.
Perpetrators are under greater stress:
- They are facing greater job and financial uncertainty
- They are drinking more
- Have greater anxiety
And lash out at those nearby.
Domestic violence survivors are often isolated at home with their abusers and have nowhere to escape.
Our project aims to do something about this and have a real impact in curbing domestic violence.
Ms Stott Despoj, Chair Our Watch and CEDAW said: “The best way to end the violence is to stop it from happening in the first place.”
Currently domestic violence funding goes to supporting operational activities like emergency accommodation.
Of course this is important, BUT we have to focus on prevention if we’re going to get serious about stopping it and reducing rates of domestic and family violence.
Studies on domestic violence prevention strategies against women and girls to date show that:
- Group education with community outreach to men and boys is effective.
- Whole school interventions and school curriculum-based interventions are promising as they identify and so impact some of the risk factors leading to domestic violence.
We want to apply Extended Reality to dramatically enhance the educational experience.
Through this we can help step change the educational experience, whether it is at home by an individual, or facilitated by school or in the broader community.
We can turn what is often a paper based and ad hoc experience into one that fully engages using digital delivery and serious game concepts.
The technology advances in Extended Real mean that we can increase engagement and empathy … and improve learning outcomes.
Virtual Reality can be very confronting, but augmented reality or AR does let the participants take a step back from the confronting ‘horror’ of domestic violence so they can be one step removed from what they view and so learn.
AR technology is also cheaper and more accessible to a broader cross-section of schools, students and individuals.
Crucially, using AR in group settings lets participants share a common interactive experience and collectively make decisions during a scene. This is an example of an innovative approach that supports group learning and reflection.
For the minimal viable product (MVP) we plan to offer an Augmented Reality experience that is available for any user.
This digital tool will have broad appeal and can be used for groups including males in the juvenile justice system to better understand the repercussions of their actions. Also it can be used with male sports teams to spur discussion of their attitudes to women.
Post-MVP we have reached out to and plan to align with the Australian School Education Curriculum to support senior school students (years 7-12), to enable a group learning experience and support it to be led and facilitated by teachers.
The course will allow students to explore the multiple story arcs ofr abusive relations, interact with characters, understand their thinking and find the red flags that warn of future abusive and violent behavior.
The digital experience will be supplemented by digital workbooks to give the students more understanding of the characters, story arcs in domestic violence and prevention measures.
We are wired to listen to stories. We learn from them, respond to them and remember them. It’s in our DNA.
We see storytelling as a critical tool to help prevent the cycle of domestic violence from repeating. Engaging stories told through AR can build a nuanced understanding of DV and empathy towards its victims.
We’re looking to create an immersive, interactive and engaging experience.
To create a series of story arcs, split by scenes that tell the story of what a domestic violence survivor will go through.
By using different scenarios, you will be able to see through the eyes of a women, a child, a disabled person, the police or a perpetrator.
You can interact with all actors in each scene and find out what they are thinking, both in and out of character.
As a user you can select to follow the consequences of different choices, spot the red flags, take part in learning moments, measure their impact and take the time to reflect and retain what you have learnt.
Currently
We’re at the prototyping stage and have built out some interactive desktop, iOS and AR interactive stages. We have a small team of storytellers, developers, project managers and the CEO of a NFP focusing on Domestic Violence and Homelessness as an advisor.
Our ask
We are looking for help to take this initial concept to the next level with technical and marketing support.
We’re looking to use the funds to build one strong interactive story arc and test it with several user group to build common patterns and code that can be used for future stories to be told on the platform.
Our Live My Experience app will allow us all to live the experience of domestic violence survivors.
We can increase our knowledge, our understanding, our insights and our empathy.
We can start the journey of changing behaviours to help reduce one of the most devastating human rights violations in our world today.
"Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember.Involve me and I will understand."
- 450 BC Confucius