Non-profit organizations are always seeking more persuasive medium to deliver their cause. With the advantage of visual and audio effect, videos have become a widely-used medium for storytelling. However, making target audience understand the story is not enough. To effectively change their perceptions and behaviors, it would be more resonating to have viewers really live in the story and/or situation.

Fortunately, virtual reality (VR) comes to help. VR is a mighty tool, which enable users to have fully immersive, sensory experiences and literally  walk in someone else’s shoes. For social cause organizations or charities groups, virtual reality is an innovative way to deliver their message.

A global organization calledProject Literacy aims at demolishing the inequality illiterate people faced. According to Project Literacy’s survey, over 757 million people cannot read. They are unable to fill out a simple form at hospital, vote in an election, take the right bus or send a text message to tell a loved one “I love you” – because they cannot read and write. However, for literate people, these scenes cannot be imagined because literacy is often taken for granted. To overcome the barrier, Project Literacy leverages virtual reality to tell the stories for illiterate. Through the virtual reality camera, viewers learn about how illiteracy may influence one’s life, arising problems include malnutrition, gender inequality or bloodshed involvement. The interactive function of the video makes the message more compelling. Viewers can use the direction icon to explore the scene in full 360°, an immersive experience which triggers  empathy.