With these hands | Tessa Ratuszynska

Client: Tessa Ratuszynska

Platform: Oculus Quest 2

With these hands, is a Virtual Reality experience that lets you put yourself in the place of people who have experiences around sexual violence and includes two original pieces of writing from survivors. Seated at a table, the user listens to these people’s stories while they embody their hands and use them to control the experience. The experience is part of a research project on how to use VR in getting audience to listen, empathize and bring attention to a complex subject in nuanced ways.

With these hands encourages you to just listen, without speaking and voicing your own opinions. In real life, it can be difficult to hold onto someone’s hand and just listen. In this experience, you might have to pause, take a moment, and take a breath to continue. The choice to keep listening is in your hands, as you embody theirs while listening to their story.​