The Salem Witch Hunt

Strength: Gets people to engage with a subject they might not normally

MAIN OUTLINE

This VR experience would offer the player the chance to engage with the historical events of the Salem Witch Trials. The player would be given the choice to play the role of either “accuser” or “accused”, allowing them to experience the events from both sides. Taking place in a small village, if the player takes on the role of “accuser”, they will explore the area, searching for ‘evidence’ to prove the guilt of the accused witch, the evidence will be fittingly nonsensical (pawprints about the house, herbs hung up in the kitchen, spoiled butter in the fridge etc) and a lot of it would be based around hearsay from other NPC villagers. To create a sense of paranoia and hysteria in the player to match that of the time, unsettling audio and shadowy visuals just in the corner of the player’s eyes, or in the distance, could be utilized. On the other hand, if the player chooses to play as the “accused”, there would be an atmosphere of isolation and shame as they await the trial, the NPC villagers will avoid them and whispers can be heard offscreen while they try to find evidence of their innocence, running around discarding any potential proof of witchcraft that could be used against them before the time runs out. To build on the suspense, as time reduces, crowds become rowdier as they gather in the village square, ready for the trial. Once it gets to the trial, depending on which role you take, you will engage in a debate-style game, with optional choices of what to say either as prosecution or defense and the result of the trial is in your hands.

Intro from Torrington Library Salem Witch Trial Virtual Mystery

REASONS FOR VR

Despite being almost 400 years in the past, the ‘Salem Witch Trials’ is a historical event that is still relevant today and our understanding of mass hysteria and misogyny. However, it can be difficult to imagine the reality of the situation and the terror that the women would have felt once they had been accused. Because of the insanity and distance of the event, it’s easy to feel as if though was something fictional, rather than a horrific case of injustice. By using VR and immersing the player in the role of the villagers, it could help to build empathy and understanding as to how something like that ever happened. A study using VR to learn about WW2 soldiers found “that a linear narrative in the VR condition increases feelings of empathy for the soldiers, over the 360° video desktop application” (Calvert, Abadia, Tauseef, 2019). Furthermore, another study found “the immersive VR environment, however, imparted a level of empathic response to the lived experiences of people in ancient Greece; in that sense it allowed learning with the heart”  VR also has the benefits of full visual and audio immersion, something that can be used to mimic and induce feelings of paranoia through sensory misperceptions, creating a chilling atmosphere that would both engage the player and educate them on the ways in which fear can be weaponised and create a mob-mentality.

REFERENCES

Calvert, J., Abadia, R. and Tauseef, S.M. (2019). Design and Testing of a Virtual Reality Enabled Experience that Enhances Engagement and Simulates Empathy for Historical Events and Characters. [online] IEEE Xplore. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/8797864 [Accessed 13 Feb. 2021].

Richards, D. et al. (2021) “Learning with the heart or with the mind: Using virtual reality to bring historical experiences to life and arouse empathy,” Behaviour & Information Technology, 42(1), pp. 1–24. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2021.2009571.

Salem Witch Trails Virtual Mystery (no date) Torrington Library. Available at: https://www.torringtonlibrary.org/salem-witch-trails-virtual-mystery.html (Accessed: March 30, 2023).

The Witch (no date) Raw Pixel. Available at: https://www.rawpixel.com/image/7667084/the-witch-no-lithograph.

Written by Sanam Blakesley
Edited by Ellen Williams