Facebook’s Oculus partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, BBDO and VR studio Flight School to create a new VR experience titled ‘Hall of Heroes’ that honors child cancer patients and their families, with the aim to inform others and inspire people in similar situations.
According to Oculus, St Jude Hall of Heroes “introduces viewers to St. Jude patients stylized as superhero statues. Viewers hear directly from patients and their families, celebrating their stories and spreading awareness of childhood cancer and other life-threatening illnesses.”
The announcement was made recently on the Oculus blog, but will not be publicly available until “early 2020” on Oculus platforms. However, from this Friday, select Best Buy locations will have the experience available on display. Additionally, a trailer was also released that shows some footage of the hero statues, alongside the children after whom they were modeled, as they experience the ‘Hall of Heroes’ experience for the first time.
This is not the only way that the St Jude Hospital uses VR – as seen in the trailer above, the hospital also uses VR to show its “No More Chemo” parties, where hospital staff sing and throw confetti to celebrate when a patient is sent home and cleared from chemotherapy.
The wider intention behind the ‘Hall of Heroes’ is to raise awareness, and some donations, as part of the annual St Jude Thanks and Giving campaign. It also provides donors a way to view what goes on behind the walls of the hospital, so that those who aren’t able to visit can get an idea of where the donation goes and how it is used.
