Critical Mass is a company that is committed to making social themes negotiable. They develop exhibitions, installations, movies and games that are opening eyes and allowing people to reflect on their own attitude and behavior. For the project ‘’Through other eyes’’ which is about racism and discrimination, Critical Mass developed a 360° video. This video was deployed for a half year in Amsterdam to allow local residents, teachers and policy makers of the municipality to talk to each other about diversity, exclusion and inclusion.

The 360° video was viewed with the help of Oculus Go’s. During every exhibition. They used VR Sync, which was adjusted for this project. The 360° video had to start at the same time, but from then on the devices no longer had to play the video synchronously. All the videos were pre-loaded,  this choice was made because the user in the 360° video had to make choices in the video itself. The user could choose a different character with the start of every video.The end of the 360° video depended on the choices that were made. Because of this everyone had a different ending. At the end of every half year there was a big event organised which had two spaces where the 360° video was shown. Four employees of our team where present to deliver support for the 40 Oculus Go’s.

Participants of the project responded very positive. The 360°  videos impressed and influenced the attendees. A participant reacted: ‘You are literally standing in the shoes of someone else. This is very different than a tv-screen. ‘ Other reactions were ‘It opened my eyes’ And: ‘’It felt like it was said to myself. I became sad and angry’. I could really empathize and I would react differently in a situation’’. Exactly the result that Critical Mass wanted to achieve with this installation. VR Sync was a good adjustment to easily show the 360° videos in VR.