360-degree video brings the reality of Syria to Australian eyes
The conflict in Syria just got a little closer to home.
Amnesty International Australia is using 360-degree video technology to bring the destroyed streets of Damascus and Aleppo to a screen on your face.
Using a virtual reality headset and panoramic photographs shot by activists in 2015, the human rights organisation is inviting Australians to experience the war zone first hand via their mobile phone.
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"The crisis in Syria can seem too enormous and far away to us here in Australia. Because it doesn't affect us directly, it sometimes doesn't seem real," Diana Sayed, Amnesty International Australia's crisis response campaign coordinator, said in a statement emailed to Mashable Australia.
"Seeing first-hand these places that were once so similar to our own streets, and are now completely destroyed, is shocking, disorienting and uncomfortable. Of course, when you take the headset off, you're still living in one of the safest, most livable countries in the world. Syrian people can't just take off a headset."
The new campaign rolls out as the five year anniversary of the beginning of the Syrian crisis edges closer -- marked on Mar. 15. Amnesty is hoping to draw attention to the plight of the Syrian people and place pressure on the Australian government to increase its refugee intake.
"The Australian government needs to lift its refugee quota to resettle at least 30,000 Syrian men, women and children this year," Sayed said. "We're a wealthy country and an international player, we can do more to help these people."
The campaign uses inexpensive, refurbished smart phones and low-tech VR headsets costing A$30 on eBay, allowing it to be cost effective yep impactful. Activists will travel to universities and shopping malls so the public can get their hands on the devices. You can also do it from the comfort of your home, if you have Google Cardboard or a similar phone-based VR headset, by downloading an app like round.me and searching "Damascus."
Syrian activist Bassam Al-Ahmad attended the launch and spoke about the situation in his home town and why it was important to put a face to the ongoing unrest in the region.
He was detained by the Syrian government for 87 days after becoming involved in 2011 with an organisation, Violations Documentation Centre (VDC), which documents the atrocities and deaths in the civil unrest. He claims he was beaten during his detention.
Following his release he fled to Turkey, where he currently lives and continues his work for VDC.
"In the beginning, the Syrian government tried to hide the facts, especially on the ground -- they said this is not blood, this is ketchup," Al-Ahmad told Mashable Australia." During that time, we started to take photos and film the demonstrations so to document the people detained by the Syrian government."
He said the photographs used in the 360 videos are just a small part of a larger picture and that Australians need to be made aware of what is going on in the country. This campaign hopes to bring a little bit of that reality Down Under.
"This project and our organisation are trying to tell the stories of Syrian people and inform about the violations that are being committed by all parties, to somehow get some sort of justice in the future," Al-Ahmad said.
"This is the easiest photo to see of Syria, after ISIS emerged we started to see very brutal and very difficult videos and photos. This project is important in order to show a small part of the full picture in Syria."
Amnesty International Australia has used similar methods before to get Australians to pay attention to the plight of Syrians. In 2015, the organisation launched the "Human Rights Defender" campaign, which used 360 degree mobile video to create an interactive that allowed users to make decisions from the point of view of someone fleeing their homeland.
In late 2015, the VR campaign showing the destruction zone in Syria also rolled out in the UK. It saw a huge increase in donations for Amnesty International. A local version was planned for launch late last year, but due to technical issues didn't go ahead.
So as you take off the headset and return to your life in Australia, spare a thought for the 11 million Syrians who have been forced to flee their homes in the search for any kind of life.
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Jenni Ryall is Mashable's VP of Content Strategy. She spends her time launching cool, new things such as Mashable Deals and Mashable Reels. On the other days, she is developing strong partnerships with companies including Apple News, Flipboard, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
