Through My Eyes: A Mother’s Journey
This project was created in collaboration with the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ) and BCT Partners. The challenge: How to improve the outcomes of Black women in maternal health care situations and settings.
The immersions: After interviewing multiple experts (OB GYN doctors across the U.S., experts at NICHQ, and birthing people with lived experience) the key moments that matter were identified and developed into the story of LaToya Freeman (fictional) who first experiences a clinic visit rife with microaggressions, and then we get to see what a much-improved interaction looks like. First and third-person perspectives are included, along with testimonials from various staff. More about this project here.
Tech requirements: For Pico or Quest headsets, laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
Law Enforcement Training
This project was created for North Carolina State University’s Law Enforcement Executive Program (LEEP) with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice. The challenge: How to help law enforcement officers develop perspectives and skills to have more successful, trust-building interactions with Latinx/Hispanic, and other immigrant community members.
The immersions: After interviewing law enforcement leaders (Sheriffs, deputies, Police Chiefs, etc.) and advocates for immigrant groups, we developed two scenarios that are typical law enforcement encounters. One immersion focused on traffic stops, and the second on domestic disturbances. First and third-person perspectives, in English and Spanish, were included. More about this project here.
Tech requirements: For Pico headsets, laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
Client-Centered Data Collection
This project was created for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of training for new intake and street outreach workers. The challenge: How to improve the experience that people experiencing homelessness have with intake and street outreach workers.
The immersions: In collaboration with a range of experts including many people with lived experience, we developed four interior scenes and one exterior immersion to give the learners first-person and third-person perspectives on key moments that matter. More about this project here.
Tech requirements: For laptops, desktops, and mobile devices.
More Than Just Words
This project was created for a client in the Pharma / Oncology sector, and is focused on the experience that Black women in the US have with breast cancer screening and treatment. The scene: Three mini-stories of women at different stages of care. The action: Microbehaviors from health care practitioners and office staff; plus alternative takes that show what a good experience looks and feels like. More about this project here.
Tech requirements: The client wanted this for Meta Quest headsets for training events and conference demonstrations.
Through My Eyes: The Budget Meeting
This was our first intentional design to provide third- and first-person experience in virtual reality. The scene: A budget meeting. The action: Microbehaviors! The experience: You choose who you want to be in the meeting, and you are in their seat, in their skin, experiencing the small behaviors that help, or hurt, your team experience.
Very happy to have launched this with the help of BCT Partners in 2019. Paired with a thoughtful design, this experience leads to deep reflection on one’s own experience, unintended impacts on others, and proactive inclusive action to take. Read more about it here. Check out the trailer here.
Tech requirements: Laptop; smartphone; or VR headset.
Urban India – Mumbai
This was Steve’s first exploratory project with a focus on immersion in culture – primarily aimed at westerners who have never been to India. ‘Up close’ was the idea – with scenes shot from a motorcycle weaving through Mumbai traffic, to slow moments of observation in Dharavi and with the famous Dabbawallas as they talk amongst themselves and prepare to deliver lunches.
One participant said: “The real power of the experience was that I was no where else at that moment; I was right there. I was not sitting in this room anymore. I was in India.”
And this is part of the power of well-designed immersions for human understanding. We take you to a place of felt presence with others, in new places, seeing new faces.
Customer Empathy
This project came to us through one of our great partners, LEVR Studios.
The learning focus: Developing empathy for customers. The industry: Retail banking. The scene: A visit into the home of an elderly patron, who is behind on payments.
A good deal of interactivity in this one, as you can see, with objects in the room as ‘clickable’ items that launch different dialogue / action. It’s great to be able to transport the workforce servicing customers from afar into an intimate, personal setting to help them develop better conversational skills and seek more compassionate approaches to service.
Customer Realities and Needs
This was a project we absolutely loved doing.
The problem: Too much distance between decision-makers and end-buyers. The industry: Financial services. The answer: Find four people (not actors) who would allow us entrance into their homes to conduct a deep interview, following ethnographic techniques, to understand their worlds, and gain insight into their needs.
A college grad student, a divorced father of two, a near-retiree, and a grandmother. These immersions were structured so that teams of learners could work together to discern insights from their experience, and propose actions to take to better serve their customer segments.
Understanding Clients
Not unlike the others focused on customer-centricity, this one featured a combination of archetypal personas who represented key client demographics for whom the institution was lagging in servicing. It starts with a team meeting – you are a fly on the wall, and already you see that some things are not going well – internally.
Then, a choice of three subsequent client meetings where you can witness but also experience from first-person what the client is seeing, feeling and thinking.
This one reminds us, too, of the great joy it brings us to work with terrifically talented actors, and what it’s like to see a script we have written, and characters we have invented come to life!
Red Fern 