Virtual Reality in Prison
:
A Multi-Tool for Human Issues
“It is as though I’m being imprisoned in multiple worlds.”
- Yusef, Co-Founder of Bridges to HOPE and current inmate at TRU
Update Winter 2020
Over break, we actually brought the VR equipment into the prison and provided a demo to the inmates! I’ll inquire about the footage taken by the journalist there and see if I can include some here.
Update SPring 2019
I presented this research at UW’s Undergraduate Research Symposium, and got interviewed by the UW Daily!
(Yusef, 2018)
Claudia Jensen (right) beginning the final class presentations at TRU. (UW Honors Department, 2018)
During Summer 2018, students from UW (taking HONORS 230 B: Education Inside Prison) and inmates at a local prison (TRU of the Monroe Correctional Complex) collaborated on research projects addressing issues in prison. There were three projects: education in prison; aging in prison; and – the project I worked on – virtual reality in prison. This post will focus on exposing that project as a three-phase journey involving research, collaboration, and implementation.
PHASE 1: SETTING THE SCENE
I first heard about the project when I got an email about “VR in Prison” through my department’s mailing list from Claudia Jensen – the professor who teaches the prison class. I was immediately fraught with questions like: “why, out of all other solutions, did they find virtual reality to be reasonable? Is this just some trendy gimmick they wanted for fun and entertainment? Could this have negative implications in the future? Aren’t there alternative solutions which would be more cost-effective?”
So, I did what any curious engineer would do and replied to the email, expressing my interest to start the project. Coincidentally, I was interested in joining the Reality Lab at UW – with whom Claudia was collaborating. Everything came together and the project began. The class only took place during the second half of summer quarter – one month away – so I did what I could in the first month by:
Researching VR, prison, and VR in prison [which already exists] (Dolven; Fidel, 2017).
Boiling down the research into plausible problem-application cases.
Developing prototypes/ demos at the Reality Lab.
Presenting research and demos to re-entry council members (Kessler, 2018).
Dolphy Jordan, from the Washington Statewide Reentry Council, trying out the HTC Vive VR system at the UW Reality Lab (Kessler, 2018).
Despite all the work, my initial doubts weren’t quelled. In engineering, a solution must best solve some problem, which must be experienced by certain clients – in this case, the inmates – who ultimately own the project. Without them, the justification and foundation of this project was nonexistent; I couldn’t wait to meet them.
PHASE 2: FINDING OUR FOOTING
Within the first few minutes of meeting the inmates, those doubts about the project were cleared, and I knew exactly in which direction to head. We met with the inmates weekly – four times in total – to prepare for the final presentation on August 15th in front of re-entry officials. I mention numerous times in my weekly meeting logs that the inmates are far more effective at engineering-oriented collaboration than any of my previous classmates/ colleagues/ teammates; the project developed rapidly and solidly (Sekar, 2018).
There were three inmates in my project group: Yusef, Jacob, and Mark. After rigorous discussion and research, we arrived at three main applications in which VR is the most effective implementation. Each inmate - respectively - represented one of the three applications, and embodied the issues those applications solve.
![From left to right: Yusef, Aidan, Jacob, Krishnika, Mark, Anand [me] (UW Honors Department, 2018).](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56edbbfe9f7266dd860c41a3/1539302757274-CV5WE4WMOGKBN34OTGBJ/IMG_3275.JPG)
From left to right: Yusef, Aidan, Jacob, Krishnika, Mark, Anand [me] (UW Honors Department, 2018).
Preparing for the final presentations at TRU (UW Honors Department, 2018).
1. Education: Hands-on Training and Labs
Specifically, there’s a lack of feasible hands-on education which can occur conveniently and more frequently. Hands-on education is far different from watching videos, reading, or doing assignments - it’s not just better or more convenient; in certain subjects, such as physics, it’s absolutely essential. Yusef wouldn’t stop talking about how much he wanted a VR simulator to learn welding - a skill which is rarely taught in prisons.
2. DBT: Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Calm Visualization Practices
This relates to the more therapeutic/ relaxing side of mental health therapy. DBT entails four aspects: mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. The core of DBT is within its visualization exercises - which can effectively be taught and personalized through VR. Jacob, who’s been in and out of prison multiple times, understands the mentally debilitating conditions of prison and how it affects him; he notes that DBT and other types of behavioral therapy aren’t available to the vast majority of inmates at TRU. Moreover, being in prison all the time is stressful; having a place to escape mentally is something we all need, and VR can fulfill that.
An in-game screenshot of NatureTreksVR. I’m currently collaborating with the developer - Greener Games - to bring therapeutic settings and DBT skills to inmates (Carline, 2018).
3. VRET: Exposure to the Outside World & Stressful Situations
(no audio). This video is a short recording of a VR game I developed which teaches the user how to properly scan an ORCA card. Despite how simple it may seem, many inmates have never seen such technology, and most people will “tap” the card wrong the first few times. Next steps would be teaching the user to mount bikes on the bus rack, use Google Maps, and so on (Sekar, 2018).
This relates to the more functional/ stressful side of mental health therapy. VRET stands for Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy. In this modern era, society can change rapidly over a decade or two - technologically and socially. Moreover, prisons have their own unspoken cultures, rules, and behaviors absent in the far more chaotic outside world. This leaves prisoners disconnected from the rest of the world; reasonably, many inmates, such as Mark - who’s been inside prison since before the invention of the internet - fear they won’t be able to re-enter properly. VR can address this issue intuitively and straightforwardly by simulating the outside world.
Using a NASA-inspired engineering process, our team thought of all plausible alternative solutions and quantitatively analyzed them by rating and weighting them in three different aspects: security, cost, and effectiveness. Virtual reality consistently turned out to be the best solution summing all the aspects. To see the details, check the “Diving Deeper” section at the bottom.
PHASE 3: ADVANCING WITH AMBITION
After the “final” presentations, the project truly began to take off. With the class done, our future directions are to:
Demo at Reality Lab: inviting re-entry/ DOC officials to experience VR in applications for use inside prison.
Demo at TRU: bringing VR equipment inside the prison to show some inmates what we showed the officials at the Lab.
Pilot Program: establishing the equipment inside the prison as a trial program.
Ultimately, VR is is nothing but an immersive medium - like a projector on your head - which has effective applications in many fields. Through this project, we’ve proved that VR can most effectively solve gaps in education, health, and re-entry programs in prison. As a side note, having a virtual reality visiting room (a VR-VR, if you will) or VR physical therapy are also further possibilities. The key takeaway is that VR is a multi-tool which can provide several, effective solutions in prison. If the confinement of inmates from (outside) reality results in certain issues, perhaps those can be solved with providing parts of another, but virtual, reality.
“The project our team has decided to take on is inspiring; however, a proposal for VR and the irony of using a simulation or reality to transform the experience of another reality has made incarceration even more real in its effect. The imaging of experiencing being in places I’ve only dreamed of for so long fills me with overwhelming hope, but at the same time, I’m troubled by fears of denial. It is a real possibility that the powers that be may deny the simulation of a reality with education and therapeutic benefit for an incarceration reality and thereby locking me away from the outside world both physically and virtually. It is as though I’m being imprisoned in multiple worlds.
The thoughts of reality and imagining of other places through VR gives me this acute sense of confinement. It also allows me to consider what the students from the outside world are experiencing in visiting a prison. Maybe in some way it’s like a form of virtual reality.”
- Yusef, Co-Founder of Bridges to HOPE and current inmate at TRU
(Yusef, 2018)
(UW Honors Department, 2018).
References
Carline, J. (2018). Screenshot - Nature Treks VR Greener Games.
Inmates are using VR for a chance to get out of prison; Dolven, T. and Fidel, E. (Directors). (2017, December). [Video] VICE Media.
Yusef. (2018). 230B meeting log
Kessler, D. (2018). AR/VR in prison: Conversations with the DOC; Retrieved from https://realitylab.uw.edu/news-vr-in-prison.html
Learning to Scan an ORCA Card | VR in prison; Sekar, A. (Director). (2018, September). [Video]
Sekar, A. (2018b). Portfolio: Virtual reality in prison. Retrieved from http://www.anandsekar.com/portfolio/vr-prison
UW Honors Department. (2018). HONORS 230B: Final presentations at TRU. Monroe, Washington: University of Washington.
VISIT LOGS
Every Wednesday of the 4 weeks in Summer B-term, we'd visit the prison for three hours. Tuesdays and Thursdays were sections. Here are the logs for how every meet went.
WEEK 1
Visiting the TRU was a novel experience: I'd never been to a prison before, nor have I ever had an interaction with currently (or formerly - as far as I had known) incarcerated persons. The most surprising thing about the visit was how extremely efficient the TRU students were at communication and collaboration; I've been a member of several robotics/ hackathon/ engineering project groups and I've never come across a group that was so justifiably innovative - considering several viewpoints and covering important points whilst taking care of gaps in our conversation. They knew exactly what they wanted and had all the information to justify their problem-solution proposal. In addition to the amazing conversations, the TRU students themselves were amazing people - big personalities, very friendly, and fun to be around. They inspired me to work harder and take advantages of the privileges I have outside (access to a vast array of information and resources) to help them in our project. I haven't experienced that kind of motivation, as an engineer who works closely with users, in years.
WEEK 2
Whilst waiting for the bus, a heavily-tattooed man approached me and asked if he could borrow my phone; I let him, and he asked me what I was reading. I was reading a printout of "Complex Sentences," by Clint Smith, and I told him about the class. He said that he was in prison too, and I asked him if he partook in any college-level educational programs. He said he didn't, he only did the GED program, but I heard from him what I've heard from pretty much any prisoner I've talked with or heard on the "Ear Hustle" podcast - he was just trying to survive.
Upon arriving at the prison, we met UW Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs - Dr. Edward Taylor. We talked about schools and community programs and whatnot while waiting for a security guard to let us in.
The discussions with the TRU students - as last time - were efficiently productive and insightful. We covered the presentation structure, talked more about what the solution needs to cover, and discussed anecdotes which conveyed the issues we're trying to solve. We discussed the weak points of our proposal (cost of maintenance, security of setup procedures and storage) and talked more about points to convey in our presentation (considering those who won't re-enter, priority of applications). Our projects are progressing well. We discussed how companies profit off of prison, and how the over-expensive toasters or TV's that the inmates buy break several times (one is buying their sixth). We spent the last several minutes of our meeting just socializing - talking about our fields of study and different kinds of technology (topics like sustainable energy, lab-grown meat, etc...). Before we left, Dean Taylor mentioned that our projects aren't just tools for reducing the recidivism rate; we're providing the inmates with education as a fundamental human right.
That statement agreed with the "Complex Sentences" paper, which I finished reading later that evening. The paper was so relevant, legitimate, and inspiring that I created a FB group chat with the classmates and sent them this:
"there are a few reasons I made this group chat (staying in touch about projects, maybe getting some sorta social gathering) but the thing that pushed me to do it was finishing reading the "Complex Sentences" paper.
That has gotta be one of the most motivating things I've ever read. I strongly urge you all to read it too if you haven't already. It really contextualizes what we're doing here and shows how our work can extend beyond tools for reducing recidivism. As the dean said earlier today, we're working on providing human rights, i.e. education. The paper really puts that into perspective in a beautiful way.
Also check out "Are Prisons Obsolete" by Angela Davis - it's super short and to the point and thoroughly explains what Clint Smith is talking about in the "Complex Sentences" paper."
A classmate exuberantly agreed.
I continue to listen to podcasts and read articles and papers about prison. I've brought up the topic of education inside prison in discussions with my friends - discussions which last hours on end. The class readings and aforementioned sources supplement the project by providing it with context - and most noticeably - motivation. I hope to continue making satisfactory progress - by developing applications in the Reality Lab and bolstering the research presentation - by the next meeting.
WEEK 3
Before I boarded the bus, I made color printouts of screenshots of a VR game called "Nature Treks VR." It's one of the most beautiful games I've seen, and I came across it while trying to develop my own relaxing, outdoor VR scenes. The developer's future aims for his company entailed providing more interactive, therapeutic applications - it matched perfectly with the DBT aspect of our project. So I contacted him about our project and attached a scan of Jacob's notes on VR applications (which he wrote on a typewriter and handed to me the previous week). The developer was, expectedly, quite interested, so I printed out that email chain along with other materials - powerpoints, research notes, etc... - to bring into our meeting.
We discussed more about the problem-solution justification aspect of the presentation. Similar to how most robotics teams would proceed, we quantified the solutions and provided a solid justification for how VR was the best solution - in each problem we defined - compared to alternatives. Again, that discussion was thoroughly productive - as productive as any other team I had been on. Every aspect was carefully considered and discussed; disagreements were politely mentioned; and changes to the current status - through those disagreements - were easily made. It was the most innovative team environment I have ever had the pleasure being a part of.
When I handed them the aforementioned pictures, their eyes lit up. What was on the permitted paper wasn't close to what one would experience actually playing the game, but it was enough to justify the inmates' hope for a better future. It gave us a sense that we were really getting close to this thing, that we could really make this happen.
That small action of printing and handing a few pictures isn't significant on it's own, or even in the context of the project. But it meant something on a larger scale. Throughout this project, and many others, I'd have obstructive thoughts that this work wouldn't amount to anything significant. Whether it was the bureaucracy, the superficial lack of novelty, the superficial lack of justified innovation, I thought none of this would make a dent in the world. That may be so, but existence is a relative concept - if I'm able to change one's own perception of the world (or Reality itself), then I've changed the world. I don't want to make this project all about me. I don't want to use the inmates' troubles as fuel for my ego. However, the feeling I felt them feel when we saw those pictures was utter hope, like I've never felt before. I may be sensationalizing all this a tad bit, but moments like those keep me going when I'm at my lowest. I really do hope this project succeeds, for it's benevolent in nature and absolutely justified.
WEEK 4
Up until an hour before we arrived at the prison, the laptop and powerpoint presentation weren't officially approved. I spent days writing a report which would contain all the content of the presentation - plus more information. I mentally prepared myself for every scenario due to the technology approval predicament. Thankfully, the technology went through the security procedures and interfaced with the visiting room projector swimmingly. The reports were all printed and in the folders for audience distribution.
We were given a tour of some of the housing units. It was as I'd expected it to be; nevertheless it was still an enlightening experience; I cannot put into words exactly what I learned. Seeing the faces of the prisoners through the glass, then stepping into their living quarters, provided a much more accurate view of the daily lives of my TRU classmates. There's no better way to express the feeling of that experience than through the word "sonder," which is defined as "the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own."
We gathered ourselves before the presentations and discussed thoughts with a few re-entry officials. The certificate ceremony at the beginning was bittersweet, and I was delighted to finally shake the hands of my teammates. Listening to the other projects was an interesting experience. There were times when I was passionately in agreement, nodding along with the statements made in the speeches. There were times when I was lost in thought, thinking of how I would conclude our presentations (which never really came to fruition since we ran out of time). Christopher Haven's speech about education inside prison, which used the analogy of soaring above the sea, nearly made me cry. Everything every student had to say was important and well-articulated. I've seldom been more proud out of all the classmates I've had. Despite our presentation being slightly condensed, I think we got our point across. If we didn't, the reports would certainly do so. Yusef's words on his relentlessness and feelings of double confinement were powerful, and I hope they were thoroughly heard. The last sentences in my report were inspired by them:
"The key takeaway is that VR is a multi-tool which can provide several, effective solutions in prison. If the confinement of inmates from (outside) reality results in certain issues, perhaps those can be solved with providing parts of another, but virtual, reality."
After the presentation, I approached Christopher Haven to further discuss his ideas of a STEM fair, and said goodbye to my TRU classmates. I hope I'll be seeing them again as this project grows. One thing I didn't get to say at the (rushed) end of the presentations was this: despite that today is when our class ends, it isn't when our project ends. No, it's where our projects begin. If our efforts weren't in vain, then the justified solutions to legitimate problems addressed today will grow into something real. The project is now just not in our hands - of the UW and TRU students - they are also now in the hands of the Department of Corrections and re-entry officials who were in the audience of our presentations. As Yusef said, we won't quit until virtual reality is in prison. After this past month, I can certainly say this has been a life-changing experience. I am more determined than ever to continue working with the Reality Lab, VR developers, the DOC, and the Statewide Reentry Council.
It would be quite easy for us citizens to simply forget about such experiences and continue going about our daily lives. How much empathy do you have for someone across the world, or for someone behind a concrete, barbwire barrier? If you have that empathy, how often does that empathy exist? Does it exist for short bursts when watching the news, when meeting with the inmates face-to-face? How often does that empathy manifest itself into any slightly effective action? I can safely say most of our days are spent in ignorance of such issues, and such ignorance is an act of support of the sub-human conditions inmates (and others, in general) face. I can safely say that the majority of my computer science classmates partake in this indifferent, yet active, ignorance. Ultimately, my point is, if I don't do something, if you don't do something, nothing will happen. Nothing has motivated me more.
Diving Deeper: Application Justification in Detail
The notation we’ll use would look like “[ Security | Cost | Benefit ]: Total.” Thus, a perfect solution would be a [ 5 | 5 | 5 ]: 20; remember that the last 5 is multiplied by 2 for the total sum. A given rating for a solution with respect to some problem is judged relative to other solutions for that same problem. All the following ratings were judged by the project teammates and I - every number has some discussed justification behind it.
[ Security | Cost | Benefit ]: Total
Education:
Solutions:
Take prisoners outside (to training facilities, labs, etc…)
[ 1 | 2 | 5 ] : 13
Bring materials & instructors inside
[ 2 | 1 | 5 ]: 13
Show training/ lab videos
[ 5 | 5 | 1.5 ]: 13
Interactive VR
[ 5 | 4 | 4 ]: 17
Problem: A lack of hands-on education, either in vocational training (welder, mechanic) or lab-based coursework (physics, chemistry, biology).
DBT:
Solutions:
Group Therapy w/ several counselors
[ 4 | 1 | 3 ]: 11
DBT Workbooks
[ 5 | 2 | 3 ]: 13
DBT Videos
[ 5 | 5 | 1 ]: 12
VR DBT
[ 5 | 4 | 4 ]: 17
Problem: A lack of individualized mental health care for inmates; PTSD; negative emotional response.
Solutions:
Reading
[ 5 | 4 | 2 ]: 13
Watching movies/ videos/ similar media
[ 4 | 4 | 3 ]: 14
Music
[ 4 | 2 | 2 ]: 10
Actually going outside
[ 1 | 2 | 5 ]: 13
VR Outdoor Environment
[ 5 | 4 | 4.5 ]: 18
Problem: A lack of opportunity for healthy environmental change; a mental escape.
VRET:
Solutions:
Videos/ TV/ Books/ casual media
[ 3 | 5 | 2 ]: 12
Class/ Instruction for release
[ 4 | 2 | 3 ]: 12
Take prisoners outside
[ 1 | 2 | 5 ]: 13
VRET
[ 5 | 4 | 4 ]: 17
Problem:
A lack of exposure to the outside world before release in (urgent/stressful) situations such as:
Bus pass scanning w/ a line
Self-checkout w/ a line
Google Maps while in a rush
Drive-through fast food w/ a crowd
Resetting gas pump w/ a line
Routine stop by law enforcement