Synopsis
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"Home After War" is a room-scale, interactive virtual reality experience that takes you to Fallujah, a city that was, until recently, under Islamic State (IS) control. The war against IS has ended but the city is still unsafe. There’s one looming fear for returning refugees – booby trapped homes and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the neighbourhoods. Since the end of the war, thousands of civilians have died or been injured by IEDs.
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Ahmaied Hamad Khalaf and his family returned home after the fighting subsided. In the experience, you find yourself in Ahmaied’s home, which still shows signs of the damage from the war.
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Explore Ahmaied’s home by either walking physically or teleporting in the space as he tells you his story about returning to a home that might be booby trapped.
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Witness life outside the four walls of his house through 360° videos embedded in the space.
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Hear Ahmaied speak of his loss and his hopes for his family, country and the world.
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Learn about what it's like to fear the home you once loved.
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-Synopsis from website
Curriculum
Basics
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Experience: Narrative
VR Type: Room scale walking/teleporting.
Time: 19:00 minutes
Repeatability: None
Recommended Ages: 13+ See warnings below. Could be appropriate for younger ages depending upon parent discretion.
Save Function: Unable to pause, rewind or fast-forward.
Warnings:
Flashing Lights/Sounds - On the rooftop a white flashing light and loud explosive sound indicates an IED (bomb, Improvised Exploding Device) going off.
PTSD – The father cries as he relates the impact of losing his two sons to an IED.
Walkthrough
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Description
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Guided tour: Porch, entryway, dining room, kitchen, roof of destroyed neighborhood house. There are 3 short 360 video options embedded into the experience.
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List
1. Eating as a family
2. View of a refugee camp in the desert
3. Group of mostly children receiving instructions on how to return to a city impacted by war.
Culture
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Description
The story is told by a 58-year-old male. One of the first quotes you hear in the 360 video is “Sons are a great blessing but even better are grandsons.” There are only a few females in the experience. At the end the father is visibly shaken by the loss of his sons and makes a heart wrenching plea for peace across the world.
Standards
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Technology: 1.1b, 1.3c, 1.3d, 1.6a-d, 1.7d
Social Studies: SSS2, SSS4, G1-G3​
SEL: 4a-b
VR Highlights
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It was very relaxing to be able to teleport around the space as they main narrator explained each room. (In contrast to many other experiences where you are “stuck” listening from one viewpoint.) In addition, the mix of 360 video shorts along with the teleporting were a good mix. The two-dimensional narrator was unnerving at times, each time he began speaking in a new area he “glitched” a bit and then his two-dimensional image would twist to follow where you were standing.
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Cinematography
On the roof top of the abandoned house the sky changes from a beautiful blue day to dark and dreary after words that the narrators two children have died. Extremely well done.
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Graphics
Graphic wise the house itself if blocky like Google Earth’s terrain mapping. It can be frustrating to try and figure out what items in the room might actually be. There is an excellent contrast in the dining room where the 360 video gives great clarity to what the viewer is unable to see in the three-dimensional play-space.
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