Welcome to Aleppo: Virtual Reality App Brings Crisis Zones Closer to Home The News
go to original November 24, 2015

First Ever War Zone in 360° Virtual Reality - Welcome to Aleppo (RYOT)

Bombed-out buildings tower overhead, and rubble is piled high in the deserted streets of Syria's onetime economic hub Aleppo. Gunshots can be heard in the distance. The destruction of four years of civil war is overwhelming - and then you switch your phone off.

"Welcome to Aleppo" is one of more than a dozen virtual reality videos available on a mobile app launched this month by Los Angeles-based media company RYOT.

The project offers a 360-degree window into the war-torn city, captured with a camera made up of six GoPros, then stitched together to create a full panoramic view of the scene. A Syrian woman narrates a three-minute tour.

Users - watching on a mobile device or wearing a virtual reality headset - can shift their viewpoint at will - looking up, down and even behind them to take in collapsing buildings and ruined streets by moving or tilting their device.

...RYOT’s virtual reality app offer viewers a variety of immersive experiences, from post-earthquake Nepal to the US-Mexico border fence, and most recently an up-close look at a migrant camp in Calais, northern France.

Read the rest at The News

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!