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%( "#$ % &'())*




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+,-.,/,"0102#" 1"3 456#325,"0 2" 755,./28,
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The use of spatial news anu uocumentaiy, in which immeisive viitual ieality
constiucts of nonfiction aie expeiienceu thiough an embouieu uigital
iepiesentation such as an avatai, is a nascent but giowing fielu. By putting
the paiticipant into a subjective fiist-peison position anu uelineating
spatially wheie the auuience will encountei euitoiially-contiolleu content,
these piactices iaise entiiely new questions about the accuiacy oi
impaitiality of the nonfiction naiiative. Belibeiations aie ceitain to giow
moie heateu as this use of the viitual bouy anu immeisive viitual ieality
complicates consiueiations on what constitutes a subjective ielationship to
naiiative. Bowevei, feais ovei whethei the embouieu natuie of an
immeisive news piece unueimines jouinalistic integiity because of that
embouiment aie misplaceu. Insteau, these viitual ieality constiucts shoulu
be consiueieu in the same light as any uocumentaiy oi news iepoit, with the
ielevant factoi being the tianspaiency suiiounuing the souices anu ieseaich
mateiial useu to suppoit the factual unueipinnings.

The funuamental iuea of immeisive nonfiction is to allow the auuience to
actually entei a viitually iecieateu scenaiio iepiesenting the stoiy. The
pieces can be built in peisistent online viitual woilus such as Seconu Life oi
as a web-baseu 0nity SB constiuction. They can also be piouuceu using a
/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") '
heau-tiackeu heau-mounteu uisplay system, a lightweight helmet with
scieens that covei the eyes calleu a heau-mounteu uisplay (BNB). The
helmet tiacks heau movement to ensuie that uigital imageiy on the scieens
stays in peispective in oiuei to cieate the sensation of having a viitual bouy
in a viitual location. Anothei option is the Niciosoft Kinect, an inexpensive
cameia that follows bouy movement, ieleaseu as pait of the Niciosoft Xbox
system. The Kinect has now been linkeu to avatai movements in multiple SB
enviionments. Finally, immeisive nonfiction can also be constiucteu in a
Cave, which uses full bouy-tiacking technologies in a small ioom whose walls
show ielevant viueo that coiiesponus to how a usei moves theii bouies
aiounu the space.

viueo anu auuio captuieu fiom the physical woilu aie useu to ieinfoice the
concept that paiticipants aie expeiiencing a nonfiction stoiy. Foi example,
viueo tiiggeis at key points in the viitual lanuscape ieminu a paiticipant that
the computei-geneiateu enviionment is giounueu in a ieal news stoiy.


Embeuueu viueo ieinfoices the news naiiative

Sciipteu events that cieate a fiist peison inteiaction with the iepoitage can
also help cieate a feeling of "being theie." By using piogiamming to move
!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( %
paiticipants fiom one viitual location to the next, thus moving the embouieu
piesence along the timeline, the expeiience employs "embouieu euits."
1


These expeiiences blui the line between iecieations anu cinema veiit
because auuio anu viueo captuieu live fiom the physical woilu (cinema
veiit mateiial) is embeuueu thioughout the computei-geneiateu
enviionment anu encounteieu in sciipteupiogiammeu vaiiations. The
computei-geneiateu enviionment also can act as a ieplica of an actual space
fiom the physical woilu, a iecieation but with veiit intent. Finally, whethei
visiting the space as oneself oi as a subject of the stoiy, immeisive constiucts
aim to affoiu the paiticipant unpieceuenteu access to the sights anu sounus,
anu possibly, the feelings anu emotions that accompany nonfiction stoiies.

@6A,;02820<BCD6A,;02820< 2" 9#":2;02#"

When consiueiing a nonfiction naiiative, both uocumentaiy anu news stoiies
puipoit to iepiesent some veision of ieality. In }ohn uiieison's famous
uefinition of uocumentaiy as "the cieative tieatment of actuality," it is the
teim "actuality" that most funuamentally uesciibes the cieatoi's ielationship
to the content.
2
Whethei that "actuality" is boileu uown in a shoit news
pieces oi uepicteu at length in a uocumentaiy film, theie is an attempt to
auheie to some veision of what the cieatoi consiueis to be tiuth. All the
foimats poitiay the cieatoi's view of ieality anu act as "knowleuge-
piouucing anu communicative piactice|sj."
S
This shaieu goal binus the
genies when consiueiing how the poitiayal of nonfiction might be affecteu
by using viitual ieality platfoims insteau of foimats like film, viueo,
photogiaphs, oi text.

Noieovei, the uebate aiounu whethei the cieatoi of any nonfiction can evei
meaningfully iepiesent tiuth is uecaues olu. Aiguments iange fiom a sense
that objectivity can be "opeiationalizeu,"
4
to a belief that "tiuth anu
objectivity claims of new jouinalism |aiej totalitaiian stiuggles in an ongoing
powei stiuggle," a tiuth which Biik Eitzen suggests shoulu always be
measuieu by the question, "Night it be lying."
S
0ne can also aigue that
iecent attempts to tell both siues have uescenueu into a soit of tyianny of
objectivity that seems to uetei ciitical thinking about the facts piesenteu by
eithei siue.

Ceitainly iaw viueo can offei an extiaoiuinaiy winuow onto events, but euits
in the footage anu the selection piocess of inteiviewees aie just two obvious
/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") E
ways that the naiiative can be manipulateu to meiely appeai to piesent
events faiily. In compaiing two Banish uocumentaiies ciitical of the pesticiue
company, Cheminova, 0lesen claims that even "investigative jouinalism is a
political act within the bounuaiies of piofessional jouinalistic stanuaius."
6
In
fact, columns like the one iun by the "#$ %&'()($ *+,($ fiom 19S6-1941,
which suppoiteu social eugenics, illustiate the fallacy that jouinalism has
evei been euitoiially sophisticateu enough to woik outsiue of the influences
of cultuie.

The uifficulty of holuing nonfiction to a puiist stanuaiu also becomes cleai
when examining Waltei Cionkite's uocumentaiy seiies -#. %/( *0(/( (19SS-
19S7). Cionkite is still consiueieu one of the 0niteu States' most ieputable
jouinalists anu someone who woulu have auheieu to the asseiteu necessaiy
jouinalistic tenets of "tiuthfulness, accuiacy, #12(34+5+46, impaitiality, faiiness
anu public accountability." Bowevei, the -#. %/( *0(/( seiies exposes the
weaknesses in any claim of having achieveu those tenets, insteau ieflecting
the eia in Ameiican histoiy in which it was cieateu. Foi example, his piece on
the Alamo auuiesses the Ameiican view on the battle, giving little of the
Nexican peispective about the 0niteu States' annexation of Nexican teiiitoiy
that woulu have maue the piesentation moie balanceu.
7


Inteiestingly, actively seeking out an acceptable balance seems to be losing
its ielevancy foi some 0.S. news oiganizations. Foi example, Salon bloggei
Nick Leshi wiites that a local Tv station in New Yoik, F0X-S (WNYW):

Boesn't even bothei to call theii on-aii talent "iepoiteis" oi
"jouinalists" anymoietheii Website lists them as "peisonalities ,"
like Anne Ciaig who coveis enteitainment in giuuy fan-giil fashion. It
even fills its aiitime with comeuians ioaming the stieets of New Yoik
viueotaping passeisbyno ieal news value, just laughs.
8


Such concessions to the limitations of coveiing nonfiction aie limiteu,
howevei, anu impaitiality issues still iesonate with most nonfiction content
cieatois. While newspapeis in countiies like uieat Biitain siuestep
jouinalistic objectivity issues by offeiing a vaiiety of papeis with euitoiial
viewpoints baseu on paiticulai political positions, this is not acceptable foi
the goveinment-funueu BBC. The aveiage Ameiican city may have multiple
news stations, but with only one newspapei, the piint publications must
puipoit to be faii-minueu anu ueuicateu to piesenting well-ieseaicheu anu
factual content.
!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( F

A iecently touteu solution among leaueis in the fielu, such as ueneva
0veiholsei, who oveisees news anu uocumentaiy film euucation at 0SC's
Annenbeig School of }ouinalism, is to shift the cultuie away fiom the iuea
that the inuiviuual jouinalist can act as a fiictionless pipe, ieplacing it insteau
with a necessaiy lanuscape in which the news iepoit offeis "tianspaiency."
Wheie uoes the infoimation come fiom. Who aie the souices. Such
openness is intenueu to help the auuience juuge foi themselves whethei the
stoiy anu the analysis aie valiu.

This concept of tianspaiency makes most sense in the linkeu woilu of the
web, but it becomes a veiy uiffeient challenge foi spatial nonfiction that must
consiuei seamless integiation of uata into lanuscape anu will no uoubt auu to
the contioveisy that will gieet such immeisive nonfiction naiiatives.
Noieovei, the science behinu oui connection to oui viitual bouies is
unchaiteu giounu foi jouinalists anu uocumentaiy filmmakeis. They may
unueistanu the compelling natuie of a goou stoiy anu have always tiieu to
make theii auuience ielate to the naiiative, but cieating that ielationship
thiough SB expeiience is a unique challenge. The feelings that may be
geneiateu thiough a connection that shaies similaiities to being in one's ieal
bouy can cieate confusion on how to appioach the objectivitysubjectivity
uebate. Answeiing Eitzen's question "Night it be lying." with an automatic
"yes!" simply because the nonfiction exists in viitual ieality woulu be a
mistake.

G#"",;02#" 0# H2.0D1= 456#325,"0

0sing technology as a meuium foi human inteiaction has been in play since
at least the invention of the telegiaph when opeiatois sent jokes, foimeu
fiienuships, anu even got maiiieu uown the wiies.
9
The telephone evolveu
iapiuly into a meuium foi social connection with uemonstiable effects on
behavioi anu sentiment. 0ne stuuy founu that when males believeu they
weie speaking to an attiactive female on the telephone, they became moie
pleasant. When spoken to in such a mannei by the males, the females tuineu
on the chaim in ietuin. Similai ielationships anu peisonal investment in
text-baseu viitual woilus have been uetaileu extensively in such books as
Sheiiy Tuikle's "+7( #& 40( 83/((& (199S).
1u
Peihaps nothing captuieu this
connection to the technological "self" moie cleaily than when }ulian Bibbell
publisheu a piece in the 9+)):'( 9#+3( in 199S uesciibing the viitual iape of
avatais in LambuaN00. Inuiviuuals behinu those avatais claimeu to 7(()
/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") I
/:;(< even though nothing hau happeneu to theii physical bouies.
11


In 1997, }uuith Bonath attempteu to uistinguish between oui ieal woilu
peisonas anu viitual ones. She wiote in "Iuentity anu Beception in the viitual
Community":

In the physical woilu theie is an inheient unity to the self, foi the
bouy pioviues a compelling anu convenient uefinition of iuentity. The
noim is: one bouy, one iuentity. Though the self may be complex anu
mutable ovei time anu ciicumstance, the bouy pioviues a stabilizing
anchoi.

Saiu Saitie in =(+&' :&< >#40+&'&($$, "I am my bouy to the extent that I am."
The viitual woilu is uiffeient. It is composeu of infoimation iathei than
mattei. Infoimation spieaus anu uiffuses; theie is no law of the conseivation
of infoimation. The inhabitants of this impalpable space aie also uiffuse, fiee
fiom the bouy's unifying anchoi. 0ne can have, some claim, as many
electionic peisonas as one has time anu eneigy to cieate.
12


Bowevei, since Bonath wiote hei papei, viitual iuentities that weie once
constiucteu solely thiough text have now become SB iepiesentations. In fact,
it seems Bonath's asseitions of being fiee fiom that "unifying anchoi" may
have a uiffeient tiuth when consiueiing the ielationship to SB avatais in new
viitual woilus, even if useis expeiience a vaiiety of embouiments. Whatevei
intangible connections weie piesent in pievious technologies have been
amplifieu by the visual iepiesentations on the computei scieen into
something visceial.

Theie aie multiple stuuies that uiiectly connect the sense of one's physical
bouy to the viitual one. In one expeiiment, subjects weaiing viueo uisplay
goggles saw a viitual ienuition of theii bouy in fiont of them anu they weie
stiokeu on the back at the same time as they saw theii viitual bouy being
stiokeu. Subjects iepoiteu that the sensation maue them feel "as if the viitual
bouy was theii own bouy." The viueo uisplay was then tuineu off so it now
acteu like a blinufolu, anu subjects who hau been moveu fiom theii oiiginal
spot weie askeu to ietuin to wheie they hau been stanuing. They invaiiably
moveu closei to wheie they hau peiceiveu theii viitual selves iathei than
wheie they hau actually been stanuing.
1S


In anothei expeiiment, subjects saw theii own back thiough steieoscopic
!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( J
viueo uisplay goggles making them feel as if they weie sitting behinu
themselves. When theii chests weie toucheu with a plastic iou at the same
time as the iou "stiokeu" the aiea of theii viitual chest, subjects felt the
sensation as if theii bouies weie now locateu at theii viewpoint. This was
uespite the fact that theii ieal bouy was in plain view. When a ieseaichei
biought a hammei uown towaiu the viitual bouy, subjects iegisteieu a
thieat that was measuieu both thiough skin conuuctance electioues anu self-
iepoits of feeling anxiety.
14
In theii minus, they now occupieu the space
behinu theii bouies iathei than theii actual location, since that is wheie they
"saw" themselves to be.

This connection to the viitual bouy, to what we see iathei than wheie we aie,
auus anothei uimension to how we ueteimine "self." In fact, it seems that we
aie haiuwiieu to auopt /(;/($(&4:4+#&$ of ouiselves as ieal. These stuuies
unueiscoie the impoitance of oui peiception about what is happening to oui
physical iepiesentation. They also offei a ciitical explanation of why an
avatai becomes ielevant so iapiuly to useis anu why they become investeu in
the expeiiences of theii paiticulai avatai.


Expeiiencing a "Camp Xiay Cage" in the viitual uuantanamo Bay Pioject

/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") K
Auuitionally, one of the most iemaikable aspects of immeisive viitual
enviionments anu why it is so applicable to nonfiction is that people tenu to
iesponu iealistically to viitual situations anu events even though they know
that these aie not ieal.
1S
Even moie suipiisingly, this iesponse-as-if-ieal
(RAIR) occuis even though the level of fiuelity with iespect to eveiyuay
physical ieality is seveiely ieuuceuincluuing visual appeaiance, the iealism
of computei giaphics ienueieu scenes, the iealization of physics, anu above
all the iepiesentation anu behavioi of viitual humans.
16
This unueiscoies the
potential foi viitual ieality to become an impoitant new palette foi
geneiating immeisive nonfiction pieces. While stoiy anu naiiative must be
iethought as being "spatial" anu the content itself must always uesigneu to be
meuiateu thiough the avatai oi some soit of embouiment, these
enviionments offei a uocumentaiy space in which the public can feel that
they aie "theie" when witnessing oi expeiiencing a stoiy.

Finally, what tianspiies in these viitual spaces occuis in ieal time anu can
ieflect nonfiction naiiatives playing out in the physical woilu. Also, like theii
physical woilu counteipaits, the uigital events can be fleeting. Foi example,
within uays of the Isiaeli incuision into uaza in 2uu8, Boion Fiieuman, fiom
the Auvanceu viituality Lab at Samy 0fei School of Communications IBC
Beiliza, loggeu onto Seconu Life's viitual Tel Aviv to test a new giaphics caiu.
Be was immeuiately taigeteu by the shouts of piotesteis anu the sounus of
bieaking glass as if bottles weie being thiown at him. Bau Fiieuman not
filmeu his expeiience using machinima, the uocumentation of his expeiience
woulu not exist.
17
Noieovei, his uigital iepiesentation was unuei thieat anu
although he knew he coulu physically be assaulteu he says, "It was poweiful
in the sense that theie was uefinitely the feeling that theie weie people theie
who hate you anu they aie expiessing theii hate in a nonveibal way."
Inteiestingly, he was able to ultimately conveise with seveial piotesteis,
something that woulu have been extiemely unlikely in the physical woilu
anu a moment woithy of uocumentation.

G#"0.1/0 0# L#;D5,"01.< M15,/

Immeisive nonfiction anu immeisive jouinalism is often compaieu to news
oi uocumentaiy games because the pieces aie typically set in what has been
pieviously solely the teiiain of gaming platfoims anu ielies on computei
geneiateu giaphics. Bowevei, theie aie a numbei of uistinctions, paiticulaily
to news games, with the most impoitant being that games woik best as
systems. uames aie bettei at iepiouucing the conuitions unuei which events
!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( N
unfolu iathei than outlining the uetails of the events themselves. That means
lineai naiiative stiuctuies oi piesentation of multiple specific facts, which
can be key to nonfiction, uo not woik as well with a gaming setup. 0ften,
playeis auvance thiough the game by passing "levels" that uo not necessaiily
ielate to the inheiently unchangeable natuie of a nonfiction naiiative (no
mattei fiom whose peispective it has been constiucteu.)

0ne excellent example is ?.440/#:4 ?:;+4:)+$, (2uu9), a news game
appenueu to @+/(< magazine's stoiy on Somali piiates. Since the auuience is
askeu to become a Somali piiate, a ueepei unueistanuing of the economics
the highjack-anu-iansom system is achieveu thiough the play. Bowevei, it
uoes not attempt to uelineate any inuiviuual case in paiticulai, anu what
happens to the playei is baseu on hishei choices iathei than ieflecting the
facts connecteu to one oi moie physical woilu events that have alieauy
tianspiieu. Also, in contiast to immeisive nonfiction, theie is no viitual
embouiment.

The uiffeience between immeisive nonfiction anu uocumentaiy games,
howevei, is moie uifficult to tease out, especially given that theie has yet to
be a bouy of ieseaich to help ueteimine what constitutes news games veisus
uocumentaiy games. In Tiacy Fulleiton's piece on uocumentaiy games, she
offeis a numbei of examples of games that iecieate the events of Peail
Baiboi, allow a playei to ieenact }ohn Keiiy's vietnam swiftboat toui of
uuty, paiticipate in a iecieation of ieal Iiaqi wai scenaiio in which Sauuam
Bussein's sons weie killeu, oi "play" a 911 victim.
18
As Keith Balpei, CE0 of
K0NA games, notes: "uames allow us to be who we aie not, to uo what we
cannot, to be in places anu times we cannot go. Thiough enteitainment anu
action, we can euucate in novel anu poweiful ways."
19
Bowevei, each of
these examples has shifting naiiativesthe playei uoes not necessaiily kill
Kenneuy oi follow the exact uocumenteu path of any paiticulai victim of
911. Even the swiftboat exeicise offeis a playei to vaiiations on the stoiy.
This may be a key way to claiify the uiffeienceusing an embouieu
expeiience in an immeisive anu unchangeable naiiative that allows queiies
to the enviionment without changing an inuiviuual's stoiy tiajectoiy is moie
in keeping with tiauitional jouinalistic oi uocumentaiy piactice.

Consiuei oui pioject using an BNB in which we put inuiviuuals in a viitual
bouy of a uetainee in a stiess position.

/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") )(

0sing a heau mounteu uisplay to cieate an embouieu news expeiience

The inuiviuual in that expeiience heaiu an auuio of a ieal tiansciipt of an
inteiiogation ieau by actois as if it was coming fiom anothei ioom. This was
a iecieation of a ieal event anu the expeiience pioveu to be jouinalistically
accuiateaftei this immeisive piece was complete, the Biitish goveinment
ieleaseu a viueo associateu with the couit tiial ovei the ueath of civilian Baha
Nousa.

The viueo helpeu establish the veiacity of this paiticulai immeisive
jouinalism constiuction, which hau ielieu on Fieeuom of Infoimation Act
iepoits anu Inteinational Reu Cioss uesciiptions to infoim the uesign. Yet
the expeiience uoes not allow the usei to access the uocuments oi othei
substantiation that weie the factual unueipinnings of the uesign. It leaves the
piece open to ciiticism foi not offeiing a cuiation system of souices that
coulu ieflect the tianspaiency that has become so ielevant foi tiauitional
jouinalism even as it attempts to tell the nonfiction stoiy with an accuiate
ielationship to the physical woilu events.

O2"1= 9#0,/

!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( ))
To confuse a subjective expeiience with subjectivity woulu be an eiioi. Such
an aigument is as specious as to claim that tiue objectivity cuiiently exists oi
has evei existeu in tiauitional uocumentaiy films oi news piesentations. As
noteu in the ABC8C>?C aiticle, "Immeisive }ouinalism: Immeisive viitual
Reality foi the Fiist Peison Expeiience of News":

While we aie accustomeu to viewing viueo, images, anu auuio
iecoiuings as faithful uuplicates of ieality, we know that in many
instances they aie not. It has now become ielatively simple to fake
photogiaphic images anu even viueo footage using fiee softwaie that
can be obtaineu online. Such fakes have been uistiibuteu anu
sometimes even geneiateu by leauing meuia outlets. . |Noieovei,j a
possible objection to immeisive jouinalism may be that it may stiain
the cieuibility of jouinalistic integiity, unueimining the ability to
biing the "tiue facts" to the public. . |Wje claim that, peihaps
unintuitively, the opposite may be tiue. Immeisive jouinalism uoes
not aim solely to piesent 'the facts' but iathei the oppoitunity to
expeiience "the facts."
2u


While embouiment offeis what may be a new way to encountei the
nonfiction stoiy, it in itself uoes not eiauicate the meaningful iepiesentation
of facts piesent in a quality news stoiy. Insteau, cuiient calls foi bettei
tianspaiency in all nonfiction naiiatives aie moie ielevant anu shoulu be the
stanuaiu upon which ciiticisms of immeisive expeiiences aie baseu.

!"#$%

1 Peggy Weil anu Nonny ue la Pea, "Avatai Neuiateu Cinema," %?D
E&4(/&:4+#&:) ?#&7(/(&3( A/#3((<+&' 8(/+($; SS2 (2uu8): 2u9-212
2 }ohn uiieison, "The Fiist Piinciples of Bocumentaiy," in F/+(/$#& #&
G#.,(&4:/6, eu. Foisythe Baiuy (Lonuon: Fabei & Fabei, 1966), 147.
S Nat Ekstiom, "Epistemologies of Tv jouinalism: A theoietical fiamewoik,"
H#./&:)+$, SS (2uu2): 2S9-282.
4 }oigen Westeisthl, "0bjective News Repoiting: ueneial Piemises,"
?#,,.&+3:4+#& B($(:/30 1u no. S (198S): 4uS-424.
S Biik Eitzen, "When Is a Bocumentaiy.: Bocumentaiy as a Noue of
Reception," ?+&(,: H#./&:), SS no. 1 (Autumn, 199S), 81-1u2.

/01)$2%( 3+-(# 45%2") )'

6 Thomas 0lesen, "Activist }ouinalism. The Banish Cheminova uebates, 1997
anu 2uu6," H#./&:)+$, A/:34+3(I 2 no. 2 (2uu8): 24S - 26S, (247).
7 When I have shown a clip of this piece to auuiences, they often laugh out
louu at the simplicity in Cionkite's piesentation.
8 Nick Leshi, "The Beath of 0bjectivity in }ouinalism,"
http:open.salon.comblogkikstau2u11uS11the_ueath_of_objectivit
y_in_jouinalism .
9 Thomas Stanuage, *0( 9+34#/+:& E&4(/&(4J *0( B(,:/K:1)( 84#/6 #7 40(
*()('/:;0 :&< 40( >+&(4((&40 ?(&4./6L$ M&N)+&( A+#&((/$ (Walkei
Publishing Company, 1998).
1uSheiiy Tuikle, "+7( #& 40( 83/((&J E<(&4+46 +& 40( %'( #7 40( E&4(/&(4 (New
Yoik: Simon anu Schustei, 199S).
11}ulian Bibbel, "A Rape in Cybeispace" *0( 9+)):'( 9#+3( (Becembei 21,
199S): S6-42.
12}uuith Bonath "Iuentity anu ueception in the viitual community," in
?#,,.&+4+($ +& ?61(/$;:3(, eu. N. Smith anu P. Kollock (New Yoik:
Routleuge, 1998), 29-S9.
1SBigna Lenggenhagei, Tej Taui, Thomas Netzingei, anu 0laf Blanke. "viueo
Egio Sum: Nanipulating Bouily Self-Consciousness," 83+(&3( S17 (2uu7):
1u96-1u99.
14Beniik Ehisson, "The Expeiimental Inuuction of 0ut-of-Bouy
ExpeiiencesIO 83+(&3( S17 (2uu7):1u48.
1SNel Slatei, "Place Illusion anu Plausibility Can Leau to Realistic Behavioui
in Immeisive viitual Enviionments." A0+)#$ */:&$ B 8#3 "#&< S64 (2uu9):
SS49-SSS7.
16Nonny ue la Pea, Peggy Weil, }oan Llobeia, Elias uiannopoulos, Ausis
Poms, Beinhaiu Spanlang, Boion Fiieuman, Naiia v. Sanchez-vives,

anu
Nel Slatei, "Immeisive }ouinalism: Immeisive viitual Reality foi the Fiist
Peison Expeiience of News," A/($(&3(J *()(#;(/:4#/$ :&< 9+/4.:)
C&5+/#&,(&4$ 19 no. 4 (2u1u): 291 - Su1.
17See "uaza Piotest in SL - conflict iesolution in viitual woilus."
http:www.youtube.comwatch.v=qFWZgB-To_A .
18Tiacy Fulleiton, "Bocumentaiy uames: Putting the Playei in the Path of
Bistoiy," in A):6+&' 40( A:$4J >#$4:)'+: +& 9+<(# F:,($ :&< C)(34/#&+3
"+4(/:4./(, eu. Zach Whalen anu Lauiie Tayloi (vanueibilt 0niveisity
Piess, Septembei 2uu8).
19Keith Balpei, "Kuma uames Piess Release."
http:www.kumagames.compiess .

!"#$% '$"(#) *+,-.%( )%

2uBe la Pea, et al.,"Immeisive }ouinalism," Su1.


"#$$% &' () *'+) is a Senioi Reseaich Fellow at the 0SC Annenbeig School
foi }ouinalism anu Communication wheie she has been exploiing Immeisive
}ouinalism, a novel way to utilize gaming platfoims anu viitual enviionments
to convey news, uocumentaiy anu non-fiction stoiies. Bei iecent piojects
incluue, "uone uitmo," a viitual uuantanamo Bay Piison in Seconu Life, which
was piototypeu with funuing fiom the NacAithui Founuation anu employs
fiist peison expeiience anu spatial naiiative. Anothei pioject "IPSRESS"
investigates the use of heau mounteu uisplay technology as a means to evoke
feelings of piesence in iepoitage. 0sing hei twenty-yeais of jouinalism
expeiience, as a foimei coiiesponuent foi Newsweek Nagazine anu as an
awaiu-winning uocumentaiy filmmakei, she iepeateuly pushes technological
bounuaiies foi iepoiting, incluuing cieating the collaboiative viueo iemix
site Stioome.com.