Immersive media and social change: The ‘empathy machine’ is dead, long live ‘emotional geography’!

António Baía Reis

doi:10.5565/rev/analisi.3539

Medios inmersivos y cambio social: la «máquina de empatía» ha muerto, ¡larga vida a la «geografía emocional»!

Autores/as

António Baía Reis Universidad Carlos III de Madrid https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7451-1725

Resumen

Desde 2014, la narración de historias a través de medios inmersivos ha ganado una atención significativa, con tecnologías como el vídeo 360°, que proporciona experiencias únicas en primera persona, lo que ha llevado a la aparición de periodismo y documentales inmersivos. Algunos ven los medios inmersivos como una «máquina de empatía» para fomentar el cambio social al crear fuertes conexiones entre la audiencia y las cuestiones retratadas. Este artículo examina críticamente esta afirmación a través de un enfoque de investigación basado en la práctica, explorando cinco proyectos de medios inmersivos con orientación social de 2018 a 2020 en varios países, y entrevistando a 21 expertos, tanto académicos como profesionales. Los conocimientos derivados de esta investigación proporcionan un marco conceptual innovador que abarca producciones de medios inmersivos con enfoque social y que pasan de la empatía inicial a un concepto y fenómeno más completo del medio denominado «geografía emocional». Este marco pretende arrojar luz sobre las dinámicas afectivas de los medios inmersivos en relación con el cambio social y ofrece valiosos conocimientos para futuras investigaciones, producciones y discusiones críticas sobre el creciente y emocionalmente cargado ecosistema de medios digitales impulsado por tecnologías avanzadas.

Palabras clave

medios inmersivos, realidad virtual, empatía, cambio social, emoción, vídeo 360

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Biografía del autor/a

António Baía Reis, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

António Baía Reis is a researcher, educator, and artist born in the charming city of Porto, Portugal. With an interdisciplinary education, ranging from International Relations, Media and Communication to the Arts, he has a BA in International Relations (University of Minho) with a focus on cultural diplomacy, an MA in Communication Sciences with a focus on arts and cultural communication (University of Porto), and a Ph.D. in Digital Media with a focus on immersive media, social change, and creativity (University of Porto and Stanford University). His research, teaching, and creative activities are largely interdisciplinary, combining areas such as digital and emergent media, communication and performing arts, and with a strong focus on immersive media (VR, AR, MR), film, participatory and collaborative practices, practice and arts-based research, creativity studies, innovation in education, and social impact. He is currently a researcher and assistant professor at the University of Passau (Germany), developing work at the crossroads of media and communication, arts, new technologies, and innovation in education. At the same university, he has founded the Future Media CoLab, a collaboratory focused on immersive media and related technologies. He is also an invited researcher and digital media artist at the Experimental Laboratory of Intermedia Art of the University of Madeira (Portugal) and Agency_VR - Medialab en Matadero (Spain). Moreover, he is the co-founder of the XR theatre collective La Cuarta Pared VR [The Fourth Wall VR], as well as the director and editor-in-chief of the scientific journal Cinema & Territory and a member of the editorial board of the journal Media Practice and Education. Outside academia, he has relevant professional experience in the field of corporate and cultural communication in diverse areas within the creative and cultural industries, and regularly acts as a senior consultant, instructor, and keynote speaker in areas such as immersive media and all things "metaversical", digital and performing arts, and innovation in science communication. Within the arts, he is an experienced actor and pianist, with professional experience in theatre plays, film, voice acting, and live music performances, but also a digital media and performance artist, with a strong focus on theatre and performance in virtual reality, 360-degree filmmaking, experimental media and performance installations, participatory art projects, and artivism.