Institute History
Description
Former Newsweek correspondent Nonny de la Peña is developing a groundbreaking brand of journalism that offers a fully immersive experience into news reporting. Focused on calling attention to the growing issue of hunger in the United States, Hunger in Los Angeles recreates an eyewitness account of a crisis on line at the First Unitarian Church food bank. De la Peña uses game-development tools, a body-tracking system, and a head-mounted goggle display, along with live audio she collected during the incident, to construct a fully immersive, simulated world where audience members can suit up, walk around, and interact with other characters in the scene.
Commissioned by the Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism in conjunction with MxR Lab, which is part of USC's Institute for Creative Technologies and the School of Cinematic Arts.
Additional Credits:
Virtual Human Characters: aXYZ Design
Prototype Programmer: Juliana Griffo
MxR Creative Producer: Mark Bolas
Motion Capture equipment provided by PhaseSpace and Tracy McSheery