FULL DESCRIPTION

Beat Bully is an interactive experience that uses embodiment, psychology, and shifts in perspective to defy reality while striving to make the player feel, think, and take action. Whether it is picking up a phone to call for help or punching out cyberbullying, the player learns adaptive behaviors in VR so they can apply them outside of VR. For the player who experiences bully as a bystander, Beat Bully shifts the perspective to foster more understanding while empowering the player to take action against bullying. What would they do if they could be part of the solution?

Inspired by a 360 experience Upstander, Beat Bully takes the bullying experience further using interactivity to move forward the narrative while teaching the player coping behaviors so they can stop bullying. Beat Bully is an experience that revolves around the periods of a child's school day; recess, class time, and after school and uses backpacks to represent children in school.   The bullying begins in a gym, where the story unfolds with social isolation. Next, the bullying persists in the classroom with repeated taunts from multiple perpetrators. Finally, it escalates into the hallway, where the person bullied gets his phone stolen and gets trapped in the school locker.   At the locker level, the POV shifts, and the player experience how overwhelming and relentless cyberbullying can feel. Eventually, it concludes in the gym, where the player's perspective shifts to a bystander, where they have a choice to make. Bullying is more relevant than ever as COVID-19 has escalated racial bullying toward Asians. Will they be part of the solution or part of the problem? 

The vertical slice submitted represents the hallway and locker levels in the middle of the experience.   Whether it is picking up a phone to call for help or punching out cyberbullying, the player learns adaptive behaviors while immersed in a fun experience that fosters learning and increased agency in the player while they are having fun. Through the convergence of technology, storytelling, psychology, and education, we can have a transformative social impact that scales and pushes the medium's boundaries.