Abstract:

This paper explores the use of virtual reality documentaries as an educational tool through examining a pilot project that included digital stories of life in Palestine pre 1948, edited as factual mini documentaries, and then published on social media platforms, made into an interactive web documentary and a virtual reality documentary. The research is participatory action research in nature where the researcher is also the creator of the multiplatform documentary. The documentary was shown to university students who were interviewed pre and post exposure. The results indicates that mini documentaries published on the social media platforms where the most accessible and preferred by the students pre to being exposed to the documentary, while the virtual documentary was the most effective in both the engagement and retention of stories. The paper argues that by using virtual reality to immerse users in factual narrative, we are creating a virtual contact zone capable of creating a bond and establishing a symbiotic relationship between the audience, the virtual reality environment and the subject of the documentary. The paper concludes virtual reality documentaries has the potential to be used as educational tool, especially when the content is factual and historical in nature.

Keywords:

Virtual Reality, Documentary, Cultural heritage, Education, Immersive.