While executive orders are signed and people are being detained at airports, we can take a few minutes to realize what someone who has been forced to flee from their home might be experiencing. For many this is a foreign concept, something that may slightly relate to relocating for employment or educational purposes. However this is not by force, but by choice. Refugees don’t have that luxury. They face hard and often dangerous decisions about whether they should stay in their homes or leave for the unknown. These journeys are not easy and many times they have severe and long term impacts on families and their quality of life. While these transitions are difficult and life changing, they lack proper documentation and journalism. As designers, we can begin to look into these stories of immigration and loss through creative lenses in order to understand these experiences in more immersive ways. Current examples of such work include Gedo Arora and Chris Milk’s Clouds over Sidra and We Wait available on the Oculus Rift.
Immersive storytelling – a refugee perspective
