Inspired by the real story of a child refugee, a fantastical participatory experience that marries form and content in an innovative twist. You power this story, one step at a time.
“Take a walk in their shoes:” immersive media often strives for empathy, but this groundbreaking work truly allows you to take that walk—in the shoes of a refugee. As a refugee, my grandmother had to walk. She taught me the difference between knowing a fact and embodying it, that you can move your body to move your mind and heart. We intended to use pre-existing technology to deliver this marriage of form and story, but after extensive R&D, we learned this had never been done. I’d set out to tell one story, but we ended up creating an app that pioneers a completely new way of telling interactive stories.
This work was made for mobile—in every sense. To specially design every aspect for walking, we remade the conventional media player. We even composed music to the rhythm of the human gait and transformed error messages into storytelling devices, as audio easter eggs that propel you forward. By offering a fresh way to do radio/podcast, we prove traditional broadcasting formats can change, grow, and flourish. Using narrative to train the audience makes our revolutionary format feel intuitive, attracting audiences to interactive media and retaining them: our six episodes are opened on average 20 times.
The story is also uncommon. Our hero? An immigrant grandmother who speaks no English. The setting? A war lesser-known in the West. Giving voice to the underrepresented, women take charge over their stories and across generations in this female- and POC-produced work. Offering a rare inside perspective on an undocumented civilian and childhood experience of war, nearly everything had to be dramatized, covering two continents, three languages, and ninety years.
I first shared my grandmother’s journey through a sitdown exhibit. This resonated with audiences, but only when I added interactivity did I unleash an unexpected power. I naively expected this to be my family story, but the participatory twist triggered an intense response, deepening immersion and personal connection. People were moved—literally, then emotionally. “I grew up in the Cuban missile crisis, and this took me right back.” “I called my friend for the first time in years.”
Far beyond a gamified step counter, this isn’t only a physical exercise, it’s an exercise in empathy—and a challenge of its limits. This dares you to see reality with new eyes. Every person and replay creates a different experience. You’re forced to contrast your daily life to a refugee’s journey. You imagine yourself fleeing wartime danger as you peruse the grocery aisles or walk the dog. A trip around the block becomes profound. The pedometer is elevated into an astonishing tool for storytelling.
This is all too timely. On the front page, a child in pink: “A girl carrying her belongings walks on in the area of Al-Ahli.” There were no cameras pointed at my grandmother, but she was that age when war hit. For when we don’t know how to act in the face of the news, this work invites you to take a first step. And then another.
Medium and message are intertwined. Meaning comes from walking your unique setting.
– We ruled out common mechanics like geolocation to provide access wherever you are (audiences have come from Japan to Ukraine to Jordan).
– You don’t need to be at a certain spot to trigger cues or a certain city to try it at an exhibition.
– You can’t store step counts as points to unlock chapters, compelling you to participate during the story.
– You don’t need special equipment, and unlike VR, this does not allow escape from reality but uses technology to confront your reality by augmenting it with friction and significance.
– This radical interactive experience is available right in the App Store.
– It’s inclusive: free, secure, adaptable, and offers an Accessible Mode.
Listening is the primary storytelling avenue because it frees you to move.
– Cinematic 360° audio plunges you into the psychological landscape of PTSD and imagination; audiences are so immersed they feel a visceral reaction.
– Our challenge was to layer fantasy and reality, multiple timelines and points of view.
– You peel back the story behind the story by unlocking audiovisual clues to a shocking secret.
– Hand-painted animations enrich the narrative, depicting both photographs and unphotographable memories and myths.
To access the work, download the free app:
IOS:
https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/eighty-thousand-steps/id6443907002
Android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eightysteps
To learn more and to listen to a sample episode, visit: