EMBRACE - a VR piece about disability and inclusion (2018)

Abstract

“Embrace” is a work created as part of a UK AHRC (Arts Humanities Research Council) funded project on Immersive and Inclusive Music Technologies. The piece is for VR headset and was developed for one of the grant's proposed outputs. The research conducted investigated how emerging technologies (such as VR) can best be adopted to suit people with different abilities (movement impaired people for example). “Embrace” allows the viewer to experience issues around disability. It tells the story about two disabled musicians (one visually impaired and one wheelchair bound) and how both experience exclusion before a concert situation. We also find out some background with regards to the nature of their disability. The work wants to stimulate the viewer to embrace difference; hence the title “Embrace”. “Embrace” is a short immersive experience about inclusion and embracing difference. It was produced at the Sonic Arts Research Centre, Queen's University Belfast as part of the AHRC/EPSRC Next Generation of Immersive Experiences Programme 2018.