VR headsets are still struggling to find their place in the gaming industry, but surprisingly enough, the platform might have found a bigger purpose in prison and in helping inmates. Several California prisons have launched an experiment to bring the two together, and inmates in solitary confinement are now allowed to play with VR headsets.
It’s not all fun and games, mind you. The initiative was launched by Sabra Willians, founder of the Creative Acts, which seeks to help the incarcerated “heal” using the power of arts as some form of therapy. And virtual reality just happens to be one of the more immersive forms of art out there. Under Creative Arts, participating inmates will undergo a seven-day VR program where they will “experience” traveling to other countries, breathing exercises, painting, poetry, and generally processing their emotions.
Creative Acts has been tested in four institutions in California, namely Valley State Prison (VSP), Kern Valley State Prison, Corcoran State Prison, and the Central California Women’s Facility (CCWF). Right now, however, it appears Creative Arts is gaining traction with more correctional facilities and institutions requesting their program.
“The VR stirs up the triggers and the trauma and the emotions – and then the art transforms,” explains Sabra Williams, transcription courtesy of The Guardian.
One of the primary uses for Creative Arts’ VR program is helping inmates through solitary confinement to help them readjust better to their prison community. So far, some testimonies from those who have successfully undergone the program are positive, though some people can’t help but draw comparisons to dystopian fiction such as The Matrix and Black Mirror.
What do People Think of the Therapy Method?
As expected, it appears the reactions are a bit mixed. While VR headset usage for therapy actually helps the inmates, particularly those punished with solitary confinement, being used in prison has resulted in raised eyebrows.
In one of the more popular Reddit threads about the issue, sci-fi and dystopian comparisons were drawn, with comments like the following:
“Welcome to the Matrix,” jokes Redditor NWYXE
“Obviously it shouldn’t get to this point, and I really hope that they have the sense to ensure it doesn’t get used to simply placate prisons to say ‘hey, see, what we’re doing is fine because we give them VR relief,’ but at least this instance seems to be a non-profit trying to do something good,” explains Redditor Mr-History
However, people outside of the US, particularly those in Europe, have a more holistic take on the matter, because European prison systems have somewhat proven that rehabilitation and reconditioning actually stemmed from better prison conditions, at least according to this comment:
“This is so dumb. Our neighbors in Europe have already proven that better prison conditions and actual treatment focused on rehabilitating and reconditioning prisoners leads to 1) more well behaved prisoners, and 2) less recidivism, and 3) less crime overall,” argues Redditor RandyFunRuiner
A rather absurd comparison was a reference to software developer Curtis Yarvin’s solution for genocide, where instead of murdering society’s underclasses to be turned into biofuel, he proposed instead to “virtualize” them by putting them in permanent solitary confinement but giving them a virtual-reality interface so they wouldn’t go insane. It’s a slippery slope fallacy, of course, but it’s worth noting that Vice President J.D. Vance is actually one of Curtis Yarvin’s supporters and followers.
At the moment, it’s a relief to know that a non-profit and humanitarian organization is the one running the VR headset program for inmates, and not the government.
