California prisons are using a rehabilitation program for prisoners using VR goggles, which allows them to «travel» and experience various unusual emotional experiences.
California prisons are using a rehabilitation program for prisoners using VR goggles, which allows them to «travel» and experience various unusual emotional experiences.
According to The Guardian, for this program, participants are placed in individual cells the size of a phone booth, known as «therapy modules.» The prisoners are separated by plastic partitions, and each participant is chained to a metal seat attached to a table.
In the seven-day intensive virtual reality program, participants experience scenes from everyday life for four hours each day, as well as some more adventurous scenarios, such as a trip to Paris or Thailand or paragliding.
Trainers ask them to process the emotions that arise in these scenarios through a variety of artistic exercises using theatrical techniques, poetry, painting, etc.
«VR evokes triggers, trauma, and emotions,» notes Sabra Williams, founder of Creative Acts, the nonprofit that pioneered the program.
It currently operates in four prisons—Valley, Kern Valley, Corcoran, and Central California Women’s Prison. The organization is receiving increasing requests from other institutions in California and the United States, but plans to expand the program have not yet been implemented due to a lack of funding.
Sabra Williams first had the idea to bring VR to prisons five years ago. After founding Creative Acts in 2018, she said she was «really tired of hearing about people coming home from prison after decades and literally being on another planet.» She felt her organization urgently needed to visually break through the concrete barriers that separate prisoners from the outside world.
It took Creative Acts a year to convince Meta to donate 20 headsets for a virtual reality pilot project. Meanwhile, Creative Acts’ alumni lab worked with content producers, including Unincarcerated Productions, to create a variety of scenarios.
Prisons that have piloted VR programs for prisoners report a 96% reduction in inmate violations.
Previously, dev.ua wrote that the startup Heister is working on creating a VR simulator to improve navigation skills in a combat zone using sound.
