The Guardian‘s Report on Solitary Confinement Is a Virtual Reality Horror Film

The Guardian‘s report on life in solitary confinement — entitled “6×9” — seems to be simultaneously a bellwether for the future of visual journalism and, somewhat disconcertingly, just a straight up virtual reality horror film.

The paper’s description of the report resembles a press packet of a new haunted house:

Your time in your cell will last nine minutes – not nine days, nine months, or even the nine years and longer experienced by some of those in real life solitary. “Welcome to your cell. You’re going to be here for 23 hours a day,” a voice directs as you move your head to gaze around, taking in the sparse furnishings.

“6×9” is the paper’s entree into immersive (VR) journalism — in which readers (viewers? experiencers?) “enter” an environment that has been photographed or designed with computer animation.

In order to do so, you need VR goggles (like the Oculus Rift) or you can use a Google Cardboard that allows you to turn your mobile phone into a VR headset. But the experience can be approximated on your computer using 360º video.

The purpose of 6×9 is to demonstrate, using immersive journalism, how being in long-term solitary can affect the mind of prisoners held in segregation around the world, an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 of them in the United States alone.

The cell and its meagre contents were designed in Unity, a game engine, using CGI, or computer-generated imagery, that draws on the stark testimonies of seven former inmates of solitary in California and New York, leading psychologists in the field and footage from real segregation units. You will experience what the prisoners have described experiencing. You will hear their real voices.

The VR is complemented by testimonials of seven prisoners who have spent time in solitary confinement. And you can see an overview of some VR reports that have come from New York Times, NBC, and Vice — all produced in collaboration with Vrse — by visiting here.