Chris Milk: How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine

Chris Milk uses cutting edge technology to produce astonishing films that delight and enchant. But for Milk, the human story is the driving force behind everything he does. In this short, charming talk, he shows some of his collaborations with musicians including Kanye West and Arcade Fire, and describes his latest, mind-bending experiments with virtual reality.
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[@CrevanEmbrust]

The feeling that you are actually there can't be overstated. The empathy you gain for your favorite movie character (think a movie you cry at) can be compared to the empathy you show in an insect in comparison. The difference is truly mind-blowing. It feels like trying to explain what vertigo feels like to someone who's never felt it. Seeing old white men in suits with those headsets on gives me a lot of hope.

[@SwobyJ]

Crevan Embrust We'll pick holes in the illusion, but for now, VR might be amazing for new media...

[@Creaform003]

This guy is a pretty damn good speaker.

[@SilentSputnik]

Adam Boyd I disagree, but his tech is amazing.

[@moltar2000]

He was reading notes the whole time.

[@vadagh]

Adam Boyd Sure used a lot of words to say "Hey, VR is really immersive".

[@Rettequetette]

SilentSputnik I agree with you. He sounds totally not interested, like he's bored with his own story. Which is sad, because it's an amazing story.

[@FireFiveStar]

Adam Boyd he sounds like shane smith from VICE

[@TheAmaraHorton]

Para-social interactions are fascinating. I’m hoping to write my doctoral thesis on using virtual reality as an adaptive technology for simulating social interactions to help improve the social skills with adolescents and adults on the Autism spectrum. How amazing to think that down the line adaptive technology could be a WHOLE immersive world for those who have such a hard time filtering and processing the world. So happy to have stumbled on this TEDTalk!

[@minivanjack]

Emotional manipulation - good or bad? Eliciting empathy is a propaganda technique. Chris Milk doesn't mention that VR, like any medium, can be used for good or evil. "It makes us more human" - OR- it makes us more violent, or more servile, or more delusional, or more compliant with statist and global agendas. It just depends on what's on the screen. He is proud of his persuasion, and his intentions seem to be noble, but many other people will use this to persuade in different ways. Some social engineers and control agents will see Virtual Reality as a better tool for social conditioning and brainwashing. They will be right. That is what Chris Milk is saying. I am not saying the medium is bad, it is as good or bad as the content, but we need to stay conscious and skeptical of whatever media we consume and not trust the meduim based on one application.

[@gymnast2890]

+minivanjack Excellent point, it could have amazingly positive applications & Chris Milk seems to be a optimist in this sense. But it could be used for the most evil purposes as well, it depends on who is behind the controls.

[@gymnast2890]

I'm sorry, but running down my street where I grew up as a kid would be amazing!!

[@jaelynnzee9091]

+December Leigh Can't you go visit where you were a kid? That would be more amazing!

[@williampan29]

+minivanjack The day movie is invented you are already being emotionally manipulated every minute. The only way to escape from the fate of being controlled is to climb to the top of social hierarchy Or violently rebel like those Cold War communist. Either way instead of ask I suggest you act

[@itsacharcoalice]

+williampan29 By the time VR is easily accessible and mastered, movies will feel very fake.

[@MichelleOsorio]

This presentation makes this techy, geeky filmmaker teary-eyed. I just got my own Samsung Gear VR and am cobbling together a 360 camera rig by velcro'ing two Kodak PixPro 360s together (an affordable solution till that Kickstarter I backed sends me a 4K Sphericam 2). As a storyteller, I am so very excited and inspired right now with the potential of this medium. The world is still figuring out what we can do with VR, but I look forward to experimenting, creating and sharing what will hopefully be moving experiences with the world. Chris Milk is my hero.

[@robertvanhollenbeck3608]

This is a great idea! you can really sense his passion.

[@hyenaedits3460]

Beautiful. THIS is why I subscribed to TED!

[@ArbitraryxIntentions]

Great video on one of the many world changing applications of VR. Virtual reality, is absolutely, the future.

[@Ruuubick]

Speaking about VR in front of a crowd of people who probably haven't tried VR is weird, VR cannot be described, so i don't really think VR is the subject of this talk but empathy is, VR is just the medium.

[@PolarisCastillo]

Love Milk's work

[@TheSilentX]

This is awesome! I can't wait for these kinds of films to become available to a large portion of the population! It can do wonders for our perspective of the world in general.

[@KyleGiesbrecht]

"Talking about Virtual Reality is like dancing about architecture"

[@denleyregier6317]

Very cool.

[@Melissa0774]

Kyle Giesbrecht That actually, kind of is a real thing. I pictured one of those giant human pyramids when he said that.

[@janluszczek1223]

Kyle Giesbrecht That's stolen from Frank Zappa. He said "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture"

[@janluszczek1223]

Jan Luszczek EDIT. Actually it goes further back according to this article: quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music/

[@gymnast2890]

+Jan Luszczek Cool. I didn't know that. Angelina Jolie says that in one of her lesser known movies, & that's where I heard it.

[@reemaldughiman2892]

I think this is good for some people like vulnerable ones who have problems in their eyes.

[@new25ash]

Fantastic and inspiring talk👍

[@SimplyGimpy]

It's only just beginning, isn't it? This century is going to be a doozy.

[@squamish4244]

Like nothing we have ever seen before. Think 1900 was way different from 2000? Well, hold on...

[@ashwarysharma246]

Computers, mate. Computers! And mass production!

[@Str8OttaCompton]

Oh my GOD! I'm so excited to be alive at this point in time, watching virtual technology being born.

[@mariaastridbernalbarragan901]

En un mundo donde todo esta a un click de distancia pero las "obligaciones" crean barreras que imposibilitan el acercamiento, considero que es una herramienta para sensibilizar bastante efectiva, de alguna manera puedes poner a cualquier persona en los zapatos de cualquier persona y poder entrar en la realidad total que da esta herramienta, habilita todos los sentimientos compasivos que como seres humanos nos caracteriza. .Que importante aporte da la tecnología a la sociedad!

[@thorspower]

We must start to see each other as "each other" not simply the "other".

[@SwobyJ]

In my opinion VR, like so much tech we have, simulates triggers of empathy. But only simulates. It can act as a training for real empathy (at least as real as we can 'naturally' experience it between people), and I'm good with that, but it will always lack a realness as long as it is virtual in definition. VR is not my enemy, but I'll be damn sure that if I have a kid in the next couple decades, they'll know there are times to detach and put their lessons into practice. This includes all possible transhuman technologies/existences btw.

[@XallrounderX]

i love your work

[@DSBrekus]

Fantastic.

[@John-3692]

This is sheer brilliance. I recently enjoyed a similar book, and it was absolutely brilliant. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Leo Flint

[@AldonaJaninaPetrauskiene]

At Chris Milk - interesting work!

[@brunon.8962]

VR is a revolution to transform the physical world into a digital one.

[@cynlagos]

Watching this again 4 years later as the vision pro is released to the world 🤓

[@wagnercolombinimartins6147]

Fantastic

[@SuperBulian]

As much as VR games would be wanted by the masses. The use of VR as a way to convey messages to have people become a better people through VR WOULD be highly more demanded. I look forward to the day for either VR gaming or VR therapy.

[@escarface]

Great presentation! I would of done it the same way 😎

[@MarconyAnchovy]

Reminds me of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

[@TheEconomicElder]

The film at the end must be something like been in the 4th dimension, looking into the 3rd.

[@xianliu1660]

What's the name for the spherical machine in the stage?

[@Archontasil]

until it VR becomes available for everyone, video games are the best empathy machines we have, VG put us in a shoes of a character inside a world rather than puts us on a seat. VG should not be seen as murder rapist trainer simulator whatever they're labeled these days

[@ShawnPhelpsVlog]

Archontasius Totally agree with you there, however, that also means video games have to be made (and made popular) that aren't putting players in the shoes of murderers and thieves. This is actually a funny thing, as most older games, even violent ones, placed players in the shoes of survivors (Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, etc.) but even these series have divulged into characters who are just ruthlessly killing in the more recent entries. In fact, several entries in the Silent Hill series have placed you in the shoes _of_ a psychopath who does _not_ work through their issues by the end of the game. Resident Evil and Tomb Raider have both divulged away from adventure, puzzle solving, and survival into action shooter games. The gore of Resident Evil is no longer a side effect of the story; it's the main attraction. Lara doesn't encounter incidental enemies during her adventures, she now faces huge swarms of people to kill and solves puzzles in-between shoot-outs. Games like GTA put you in the shoes of gangsters and otherwise pretty terrible people. Uncharted, much fun as it is, puts you in the shoes of a thief - who kill huge swarms of people. COD puts you in the shoes of soldiers, which while certainly the most justified killers on this list, is still causing players to empathize with an "us versus them" mentality. I don't think any character in Mortal Kombat is very healthy to empathize with either. Now, the games where empathy is essentially what you make it are RPGs, especially the ones you create _your own_ character for. That's a different story, and I do think _most_ games in the genre are very healthy, as they involve huge amounts of empathy, lots of strategizing, and really leave it up to the player what to take away from them. For other games though, where you're being placed in the shoes of a pre-defined character... well, we need better characters to be the ones in the mainstream. Sadly, non-violent video games don't sell well. (They do exist though!)

[@SwobyJ]

***** Most violence in video games is an outlet, not amplifier of murderous intent and planning. Its a giant fun voodoo doll. If anything, it has probably made us less violent, no matter what the alarmists say. Violent crime sure has been plummeting. We have emotions. We want to express them. Yay technology for letting us do that without directly hurting others.

[@ShawnPhelpsVlog]

Malcolm Swoboda Most violence in real life is also an outlet. You don't think it's bad to perpetuate violence being an outlet, whether that's real or virtual? You think voodoo dolls are healthy forms of stress relief, over things like relaxing and letting it go?

[@SwobyJ]

***** I think it is one of many tools for a healthy mind and body, actually. This violent inclination can be expressed in safe ways though, which to me includes good approaches to sporting, exercise, debate, media, and interpersonal therapy. You're not hurting anyone playing a video game, in itself. I don't think it healthy to also bottle in violent feelings either, and I'm glad that there are outlets out there rather than only having a culture that tells people to 'relax and let go', until, well, those people blow up. Sometimes, sorry, that's not possible. I indeed support voodoo dolls if that's what gets someone through the day and more open to more peaceful therapy.

[@SwobyJ]

***** For the record, I'm all for a higher ratio of non-violent video games that challenge our expectations of both interactive entertainment and gaming itself. I just still haven't found much to actually prove to me that violence in video games is a negative onto society. At worst, its a neutral to me, giving an outlet to many but potentially negatively affecting a more ill few. There's much to be said (yet rarely actually said) about the zen/flow state that can happen during gaming, including violent portrayals of gameplay itself, thereby minimizing any actual want to inflict violence in the real people in life. I'm very glad that actual violent crime stats continue to go down in most areas.

[@oneiam]

It all depends on how virtual reality subject matter is presented. Virtual reality video games seem to lessen human qualities by delivering violence and mayhem without the pain and suffering being experienced. They seem to build up a tolerance and addiction for more violence and mayhem that finds it's way out onto the street.

[@StrangerYann]

I was expecting a talk centred around video games but I enjoyed this nevertheless

[@luifranco1457]

Good tech, but even on my latest smart phone, some of the vids (from Vrse) are jittery. These are going to look much nicer and will be a more realistic experience when displays get better and hardware gets faster (not there yet).

[@PuckStar]

+Lui Franco on Rift or Vive it should run fine. Of course it's much less mobile.

[@tarekabdulrahman6150]

As long as there is a standard for 360 videos not to be shot under 500 fps. Only then the experiences will look like our those in the third dimension.

[@85Spawn85]

Awesome

[@belginruzgar6130]

Başlıkta ;Dan Ariely: Dünyanın ne kadar eşit olmasını istiyoruz? Şaşırırsınız!" yazıyor.u anlatan Dan Ariely değil.Başlığı değiştirir misiniz lütfen ?

[@Itsallgoodtogo]

I wish with all my heart that I could make movies in VR. Sadly ... such rigs are out of my budget by far. I get by with a 600D. (Heck we made a movie for the cinemas with the canon 600D so I guess it isnt that bad) But it has its limits. I want to explore new ways of telling stories. The VR revolution coming up is my best chance but there is hardly any equipment availible and if it is ... its an early prototype and it costs more than a whole years worth of my income.

[@phattanapon]

Jerry Man You might wanna check 360.tv

[@Itsallgoodtogo]

***** yeah you get 360 degree video ... but its low quality and not 3d. 3d is the most important part in VR.

[@LilRedRasta]

Jerry Man Google is working on that issue right now. In due time

[@gymnast2890]

maybe if you had a business using it you could get investors, just a thought.

[@reemaldughiman2892]

Do you mean this machine will help me to have more and quick intuition that help them to understand the people's body language and therefore how they think? But, I think people do have good to moderate intuition? Does this not enough?

[@zachstandley6770]

this guy is on a pre-zach galifianakis level of humor right now even the beard

[@depthoffield4744]

Photogrammetry plus virtual reality.

[@DrNaviMD]

You are forgetting that we are very stubborn some people might get out of VR and realize it was all a trick to make them "good", so you get them stuck on a loop and actually make them either worse or crazier.

[@TurokShadowBane]

Needs more cameras, the seams are too noticeable

[@kotonizna]

The future of hollywood

[@reemaldughiman2892]

I like this video so much. But, Why I have to wear oculus rift machine to be a humanitarian or to think good about others. Has this good feeling come naturally from the core? Thus if I fed up of wearing this tool I can easily throw it with my good thinking!

[@forouz6399]

Hey Chris! I think you’re a great fit for my friend. Please let me know if you’re interested in meeting her. Happy Valentine!

[@TimelessBreezze]

feels good to have two Galifianakis lol

[@Stallnig]

Make a vr-helmet with surround cameras attatched.Finally eyes on the back of your head.

[@Melissa0774]

Can you imagine the kind of horror movies that could be made this way?

[@DarkZeroHero]

So if I'm playing Doom using Oculus Rift (VR), does that make me more human or the worse kind of monster in the game?

[@gymnast2890]

+DarkZeroHero Makes you worse than Chris Milk, for sure.

[@DarkZeroHero]

B. K., officiel I've wondered about that myself. Lately with the advancement of technology, virtual characters are getting more realistic. I once showed my roommate Assassin's Creed Brotherhood trailer. She thought it was live-action (real actors) but in reality Ezio and the rest are just CGI. And that was a long time ago. :P

[@LaiPt]

Is that guy in the suit wearing the rift Arnold Schwarzenegger?

[@TheGhettoBirds]

This is what reading books provided since centuries.

[@SwobyJ]

***** Indeed, but the form of media (in this case books) has structural limitations. Frankly, while humanity can have imaginations, we're pretty bad at exercising them, even with all the books in the world being put in front of us. There's people better at it, and there's people who will still be bad at it, no matter the literacy level. Higher technologies like VR can fill the gap, even as I acknowledge the usefulness of lower technologies, often still unique usefulness that may last for centuries to come. There actually were similar arguments about books (akin to "Why would you need it - we have ___." Oral stories, pictures, etc.) but books still prevailed.

[@mhtinla]

Don't use Oculus. Use Hololens. It's better. You can actually interact and not just watch.

[@ParasyteZero]

mhtinla Hololens is designed more for overlaying information and media over top of our own world, not for immersing us in another. VR headsets like the Oculus, Morpheus or SteamVR are designed to fill your field of view (including peripheral) with a new environment which you can move freely around and even interact with. In either case, interacting with an artificial world in a video-game is far more feasible than interacting with pre-recorded video.

[@freeworldleaders1]

VR Contact lenses soon will be a reality

[@medusavr6108]

Great video ! Chris Milk's video about Virtual Reality has really influenced my team to make a VR project called Medusa. The immersive aspect is a great opportunity to feel closer to others. We even have a post of Facebook where you can debate about VR and empathy ! facebook.com/MedusaVR/photos/a.522846621515225/537225716743982/?type=3&theater

[@alexboston343]

Personally I haven't experienced VR, but I have video games, a lot of video games. I can tell you that video games are currently the best 'empathy machines'. In a good story driven video game your not moving the character, you are the character. His/her problems are your problems. His friendships are your friendships. I have nearly been moved to tears at some tragic video game moments (why, John Marston, did you have to die?) and no other form of media can do that to me. Films can't, TV programs can't. You may see video games as violent but its market enjoy gritty and violent, possibly morbid, stories. On the note with Palestinian Refugees, yes I would feel sorry for them but the solution isn't demanding that all Israeli residents to up sticks and move. The solution is demanding that the Palestinians not aggravate who owns the land, once they have proven themselves Israel may feel more comfortable with allowing them to resettle properly within their borders. They can either live together or move somewhere else.

[@SwobyJ]

Alex Boston Solution includes Israel being OKAY for a while with the settled territory they have, even if they refuse to budge from where they are currently. Expansionism on either side right now is perceived aggression, imo.

[@alexboston343]

Malcolm Swoboda I don't see Israel scooping up the tattered remains of Syria. However, yes you're correct: BOTH sides must make it work.

[@pigeontoucher]

So in the world of 360 degree cameras and VR, they're still going to rely on sad piano music to tell us what we should be feeling?

[@SoLiTaRyBoNe]

9:09 Did he say Liberia?! Pretty sure he didn't say Nigeria, so he must have pronounced Libya wrong. :/

[@mikel.3470]

inb4 ads take over VR. like with every other medium in human history. someone should start coding adblock for VR (I bet people already started) Thank god for the opensource community.

[@itsacharcoalice]

+Mike L. I'm just imagining people watching an "EmpathyVR" video and seeing starving kids on the street then all of a sudden a hometown buffet ad invades your headset

[@sammygee2702]

merica

[@FreeFromWar]

Is this dude related to zach galifianakis

[@vadagh]

Just what the social justice video market needed, Virtual Reality. How about some GAIMZ! At the start when the girl was sitting in class and the camera panned to the door I thought some terrorists were going to bust through and I could start shooting them. Make that game instead, I'll buy it.

[@4davidwestwater862]

he had a right to sue you......what happened?

[@jupiterskies7374]

It's not a gaming machine? VR was made by gamers. You meant to say, it's not "just" a gaming machine.

[@Yarblocosifilitico]

I don't think those guys in Davos being impressed by this is good for us.

[@jarv2417]

Under 300

[@citizen_of_earth_]

posted this to www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/

[@gymnast2890]

Does anyone know if Chris Milk is married or gay? Huge crush, he's SO hot!

[@frankbooth8003]

+December Leigh he is gay, so go for it!

[@gymnast2890]

Frank Booth LOL. but are you serious? Or just making fun of me?

[@RunikaMori]

Complete. Global. Lactation.

[@keepitsimple4444]

This is a great way to spread propaganda. Check this out: "Crystallizing Public Opinion" byEdward L. Bernays

[@animtheory]

Nice propaganda machine buddy, manipulating peoples emotions is wrong, end of story.

[@robertstan298]

Something is soundly broken inside of you or your understanding of what he said if that's what you understood.

[@gymnast2890]

+anime theory It can be used for good or bad, his intentions are noble & I admire him. In the wrong hands it could be amazingly destructive. But if you watch the video, or just read the title, you cannot disagree this world needs more empathy, if you do, then you have none yourself.