22 March 2019
"Home After War", the virtual reality experience that sheds light on how improvised explosive devices are impacting people's return home in Fallujah, Iraq, was honoured at the South By South West (SXSW) Festival in Austin, Texas with the Jury Award for Best Use of Immersive Arts.
This experience was produced in partnership with the GICHD and NowHere Media as part of the Oculus VR for Good Creators Lab programme. It is a room-scale, interactive virtual reality experience that takes you to Fallujah. It tells the story of Ahmaied Hamad Khalaf, who returns with his family to Iraq after the fighting with ISIS subsided. In the experience, you find yourself in Ahmaied’s home, which still shows signs of the damage from the war. You are invited to explore Ahmaied’s home by either walking physically or teleporting in the space as he tells you his story about returning to a home that might be contamined by IEDs. You may also witness life outside the four walls of his house through 360° videos embedded in the space.
At SXSW, "Home After War" was displayed as an installation with multi sensorial elements and a demonstration of IEDs at a table hosted by the GICHD. Visitors were able to talk with GICHD staff and learn more about the challenges IEDs are posing in Iraq and the work being done to make areas safe for people to return home.
