Background:

In 2019, after two years spent studying the threat of fake news, the Republic of Singapore is taking things a step further with the introduction of sweeping new laws that will, among other things, give Government ministers broad powers to quickly stop the dissemination of online falsehoods and punish those who create and spread them. 

In order to increase awareness of its customers and partners, Channel News Asia decided to create a VR simulation which incorporates these elements. Players need to guess which news is fake and which is real, getting extra points, winning awards and upgrading their lightsaber weapons.

Innovation:

Within a very short timeline (less than two weeks) the Vostok VR team conceptualised and built an interactive VR experience where you need to use laser swords to fight against Fake News. For each fake news destroyed, as well as for each correctly spotted fake news, guests will get extra points. Your lightsaber progresses with the number of right answers you give, making it a repeatable experience (there were cases when guests tried it 3-4 times during the event to improve their scoring and get real prizes from CNA's team). 

Results:

• 100+ guests fight Fake News during Mediacorp Festival 2019;

• The VR activation was expanded beyond Singapore and was used for Channel News Asia events across ASEAN for 12 months, starting with events in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur;

• Due to limited play time (each session was limited to 1 min) and the randomisation of the fake news, most guests played the experience 2-3 times over the course of the event.

Platform Used:

• 6DOF Interactive VR (HTC Vive / HTC Vive Pro + Wireless Vive Pro Adapter / Oculus Rift)