Virtual Reality (VR) is a simulated experience that allows a participant to be immersed in a realistic 3D environment. It is often experienced by the use of a headset which puts an image of a virtual environment in front of the wearer and tracks the movement of their head. 


While a perspectival image rendered on a computer screen is seen by the viewer with a fixed Field of View (FOV), VR is useful for simulating the perspective of the witness at the time of the incident, as it does not require a fixed FOV. Instead, it utilises the visual field of the wearer and thus puts the wearer in the relative position of the witness.

The use of VR also provides a natural sense of vision in relation to moving objects. It allows the wearer to freely examine an event or space virtually. It also allows for very intuitive spatial interaction, since no significant technical skills or complex input methods are required to move one’s head and look around the space, making the experience of the 3D space accessible with little or no training.

The use of VR environments in FA’s work grew (in part) out of our Situated Testimony methodology. In Situated Testimony, interviewees are, in a careful and mediated way, ‘returned’ to the environment in which they experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, by viewing a modelled reconstruction of that environment on a screen. VR enables us to go a step further, taking the witness inside the digital environment. This immersive experience can facilitate recollection, or allow us to examine and cross-reference their memories against known physical facts.