- About
-
News
- Overview
-
News archive
- Summer 2021
- Spring 2021
- Fall 2020
- Summer 2020
- Spring 2020
- Fall 2019
- Summer 2019
- Spring 2019
- Fall 2018
- Summer 2018
- Spring 2018
- Fall 2017
-
Spring 2017
- SCA theatre professor Ker Wells and alumna create community pageant in New Glasgow PEI
- Peter Anderson Receives 2017 Chis Dagg Award for International Impact
- Grads Headed to Jobs at Facebook, Google
- Professors Awarded Grant to Pursue Research In Immersive Storytelling
- SFU Audain Gallery welcomes anthropologist Hugh Brody to discuss Maps and Dreams exhibition on July 5
- SCA Students Host Public Exhibition in Stanley Park
- A Tale of Two Editors
- Bev Holmes: The Value Of Doing Your Degree Later On In Life
- Gloria Mercer: My Experience at Bentonville Film Festival
- OpenMedia Empowers Canada to Defend Net Neutrality
- Global Communication Student Shines Spotlight on Partition of Bengal
- Student Overcomes Obstacles to Land Coveted Spot at National Conference
- FCAT is an Engaged Partner in KEY, SFU's Big Data Initiative
- Big Data Innovation Is A Slam Dunk
- Technology Puts Touch into Long-Distance Relationships
- A Journey of Discovery
- SIAT Students Shine at STEM Spotlight Awards
- Fall 2016
- Summer 2016
- Spring 2016
- Fall 2015
- Summer 2015
- Spring 2015
- Fall 2014
- Summer 2014
- Spring 2014
- Fall 2013
- People
- Future students
- Current students
- Events
- Get involved
- Research
- Return to campus
Professors Awarded Grant to Pursue Research In Immersive Storytelling
By Alisha Pillay
Ever watched a work of video journalism that includes an anonymous source? Typically, you’ll see a pixelated face or even a backlit silhouette. But research suggests that these types of anonymization techniques weaken the viewers’ emotional connection to the character. A central challenge for investigative journalists is finding a way to preserve the anonymity of their sources while still conveying the emotional impact of those stories
Associate Professor Kate Hennessy and Professor Steve DiPaola from SFU’s School of Interactive Arts & Technology, along with UBC Graduate School of Journalismcollaborator Assistant Professor Taylor Owen, have recently been awarded a grant from Google News Lab, Knight Foundation and Online News Association via the Journalism 360 Challenge to help tackle this problem.
Their project, AI-generated Anonymity in VR Journalism, will explore how reporters might preserve the anonymity of a subject through animated abstraction. DiPaola has developed an AI-based filter which can conceal the character’s identity and allows the audience to remain emotionally connected. The team will work together to test the potential of this tool and its collaborative use with subjects to orchestrate how they are anonymized. Hennessy, Owen, and DiPaola will then produce a short work of VR-journalism using the technique.
A rising trend in VR journalism, immersive storytelling blends 3D gaming and immersive technologies to replicate first-person experiences for audiences. The Journalism 360 Challenge awarded 11 projects dedicated to advancing research in this area. The winners were chosen from more than 800 applications from around the world. Researchers were invited to submit early stage ideas for a chance to receive between $15,000 and $30,000 to test, improve and design their projects. All winning teams have been invited to attend ONA17 in Washington, DC this October to share their findings and demo their projects.
To learn more, click here.
F T I