narrator: coming up on "21st century," can virtual reality create empathy in a humanitarian crisis? and urban refugees in kenya striving for a life of dignity. a new technology takakes you ino the heart of a scenene. virtual reality, breaking new barriers. man: it's working on your brain in ways that i don't think is

really completely understood. narrator: but can it be used fofor more t than just entertainment? mann: they come out of it very deeply movoved. i'd say hahalf f the people who watch cry. narrator: using virtual reality to create empathy inin a humanitarian crisis, one viewer at a time. humanitarian crises are all too familiar to television viewers. civil wars that cause huge movements of refugees. worldwide papandemics. and natural disasts like earthquakes and tsunamis. this is the way most of us are used to seeing these heartwrenching events--on a screen in front of us, watching passively.

but what if you could step into the frame and actually feel what it's like for the individuals on the ground? man: people come out of it fefeeling enlightened and often moved and oftenen ready to take action. a lot of people automatically say, "well, what can i do? how can i get involvved?" narrator: gabo arora is a creative director leading a team at the united nations who are using cutting-edge tecology to raise awareness, empathy, and funds, both to respond to humanitarian crises and to bolster support for a new set of sustainable development goals araround thehe globe. arora: virtual reality is the ability to reallyly take part ia story that usually you're only a passive spectator of and it's giving you the possibility to walk in anonother person's shoes, understand where they live, see what their world is like, and you actually get

the sensation of feeling like you're being there. narrator: depicting virtual reality in a 2-d medium, such as the one you see on your scscreen rright now, will neverer truly represent what it's like when viewing vr through a headset. by using multiple cameras that can record in all directions, and software that can stitch the images together, virtual reality creates an experience that enables the viewer to see a movie from every angle. above, below, and behind. arora: it's exciting for the u.n., you know, to be involved in some o of those early experiments of how we're trying to tell stories, make these films, and work witith some of e most cutting-edge people in thte industry on it. man: so, the u.n. reached out to us and connected and we realized that there was a great opportunity here toto tell some very important stories and to tell them in a way that we thought would be totally new and highly impactful.

narrator: aaron koblin, a technologist working in silicon valley,y, is the co-founder o of vrse, a virtual realality production and distribution company. koblin: usually it consists, in the portable form, of a mobile phone that connects directly into a viewer. so, whether that's a higher-end version like the gear vr with samsung or a google cardboard unit, you have basically the same idea--lenses which are-- using sensors to orient you and convince yourself that you're somewhere where you're not. this is the most basic vr viewer. it's a google cardboard. so, it comes like this and then you quickly assemble it like so. drop your phone in here like that. so, you can look around and actually be immersed. the way that i define virtual reality at this point in time is basically the hacking of your senses toto convince you that you're somewhere other than where you are. often, i think of it as a sense of vulnerabilitity. so, one of e

things we've realized in some of our stories is you have a heightened sense of empathy and a heightened sense of connection as a result of that vulnerability. narrator: that heightened sense of connection and empathy was exactly what gabo arora was looking to create at the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. not only to inspire leaders to take action, but also to influence donors to increase funding for disaster response efforts. arora: i'd started experimenting with using innovative ways of advocacy, and i started talking to a lot of different partners and people--what could we do that would be incredible? and someone said, you know, i just came from a meeting at samsung and, y you know, [indistinct] virtual reality headsets. wouldn't it be amazing if you got all of those elite people who could actually go to a refugee camp, or they could go to a an ebola clinic. i just really felt it would get our isissues highlighted.d.

koblin: one of the things we were most excited a about was te potential to get these headsets onto heads that really make the decisions and have impact on the world. we're able to put it on the heads of these changemakers, and for a brief moment, put them on the ground inin the refugeeee camp. and it's, i think, a really p powerful ththing. you d see the way that it was impacting them. narrator:r: in addition to the screeninings at davos, virtual reality portals have been set up to view the films at hihigh-levl political forums around the world. one of the leaders who made use of the vr porortal was samantha power, united states ambassador to the uniteted nations. power: what the portal does is it doesn't just give you those faces. it's not just a newspaper, but you feel like you're right there. narrator: the virtual reality film that she watched was "clouds over sidra." arora: "clouds over sidra" is a short t film in virtual reality

about a a girl named sidra whwho lives in zaatari camp, which is aa syrian refugee camp in jorda. and it t is a story about a y yg girl who has bebeen there for a year and a half, and is giving you a tour of the camp, of what it's like, what her life is like. when the film debuted in davos, to a sesensatioion to eeveryone e we showed it to,o, y come ouout of itt very y deeply who watch "clouds s over sidrar" cry. koblin: we're seeing generally a much higher level of engagement. i mean, one, because they're activevely engaged in looking around, but also i think a higher level of emotional connection and empathy. arora: the film was then integrated with the secretary-general in the kuwait pledging conference for syria. he made everyone at the reception at t the pledging conferencece watch it,nd it really made a big differencece on getting people to pledge more

and to care more and to be more involved. and then we cut a version for unicef, where it's face-to-face fundraisers. the way they do that is usually someone with a clipboard on the street in europe or different countries. so, they thought, well, what if we got people to o experience virtual reality on the street? [girl speeaking native language] man: i i was a little depresessd aboutut the situatition for the peopople there. woman: quite sadad. they don't have a good environment to stay in. we try our best to help them. narrator: early reporting from unicecehas shown ththat when usg virtual reality, they've doubld the effectiveness of their fundraising efforts. man: the fact that virtual rereality is so real means thate have to think a lot more about the ethical aspects of what we do. narrator: tom kent is the standards editor at the associated press and is a

professor at new york's columbia a university. kekent: there's s a psychologigl impact that vr has that's greater t than the impact of photos or video. it hits you at a more elemental level. when somebody's watching a video or someone''s looking at t a ot, they knowow that they are exterl to the scene and they're looking in at something. vr operates at a different level. it's putting you in the scene and working on your brain in n ways that i do't think is r really completely understood. arora: we got the blessing to do one on ebola. "waves of grace" is an ebola survivor who is basically--you get access to her prayer, and you feel like you have this intimate moment with her as she's praying to god. narrator: "waves of grace" was integrated into the u.n. secretary-general's international ebola recovery conference, which garnered 5.2

billion u.s. dollars in pledges. arora: what people really feel moved by, they've never been in a poor slum, in a hut. they've never been at an ebola burying site. so many people have said that they've seen that picture in the news, that actually being there while the body is being buried is something else. it makes you think about this crisis and other crises in a different way. kent: the most importanant thing is trtransparency. ifif the vr producer i is trying to advancea political cause or a social cause, that needs t to be made clear. arora: i think one jujust has to be really open and clear about onone's memethods. we're gonna constantly be evolving in thinking about these ethics even more as we go forward.

we privilege the human story. you know, it isn't so much the u.n. did this and this is what's happening and this is what you should do. it really is a quiet sort of, l let's s put yourselfn the shoes of another. it definitely is something that we are just at the beginning of. being at the forefroront of it,, especially for the united nations, gives us a lot of advantages to tell our stories and make a difference with a whole new generation of viewers, and especially a lot of young people. because if we didn't do what we do with virtual reality, it would fill up with games and escapism. when a 15-year-old would unwrap p his christmas present a year from now or two years from now, he wouldn't have "clouds over sidra" and this u.n. series there for him.

man: we don't have a life here. our life is very hard. being a refugee is not a life, and we don't have a country. narrator: more than half of the world's 10 million refugees live in cities. woman: why the urban refugees arare here, ththey--they have et made a c choice to come. ty-y-- they were forceced at some point to leave theirir houses, t their loved ones, evererything that ty had to--for their safety, and they ended up in nairobi. narrator: in kenya, urban refugees and their struggle for acceptance. man: nobody respects us a refugee guy. if you go o to tow, you are afraid of the police. even the people, they look at you differently.

we don't have a life here. our lilife is veryry hard. being a refugee is not a life, and w we don't have a c country. i wish--i wish i had a country and a all the refugees have a country. if there is peace in every country, there are no refugeeses. but you see, expect that tomorrow it will happen in your cocountry, whwhat will yoyou do if you become a refugee? what will you do? you will face the sasame life we are facing n, not less than that.

woman: the mandate ofof unhcr,, as you know, , is to protect refugees and t to find solioion. sso, as a way to protect u urban rerefugees andnd refugees s in general,l, we makake sure that theyey are first of all identifd as such h and they are p properl documenented. as asasylum seekes or refugees with ththeir documentation, they a are protectcted againstst [indistin, whwhich means thatat the kenyan auauthorities will not s send tm back to their cocountry of orign or to another couountry where ty could also be perersecuted. and people who have been granted refugee status get an identification refugee card issued by the nationalal rregistration bubureau. the overwhelelming majority of urban refugees are self-sufficient. theyey areotot being a assistedy unhcr anand its partrtnerswe o y assistt the most, mostst vulnere people. so, mostf f the urbann refugees woworktatake care ofof themselves,s, and are not dependent on the----on any aid.

[indistinct chatter] child: mom! man: mom! child: mommy! man: nobody respects us a rerefugee guyuy. if you go to t, you are afraid of the police. even the people, they look at you differently. it feels terrible. we are just human beings--like you guysys. hmm? we deserve the life you livive, not lessss than thatat. the way that people treat us, being different--they saw us likeke we don't--we e don't bebg to ththis world. . but god crcrd us----whato wewe do? i wisish pe treated us s like a human being- respect us as a human being, live as a human being. that's what i wish.

this is our kitchen. come on in. this is our bedrdroom. this i is where i sleep. come on in. this is our sitting room. this is a refugee house. this is where a refugee lives. [[indistinctct chatter]

farhan: i will show you some papers that prove that something terrible happenened to my wife, which i don't want to mention in front of the camera. so, if it's good for me to show you the papers so you can read for yourself. thehese are the papers. man: i came here to o eastleigh, nairobi, 18 yeyears back. these patients were different from the ones i was having during my lifetime experience. mosost of them m are refufugees from somaa

or ethiopia. we e saw that m mof them were complalaining of paia, difffferent partrts of the b bo. we give them treatatment, and after a few days, a again they e here reappearing with no change in theirir symptoms.s. it's at t time that we consulted with h a professor who was our r friend, and he told us ththat we were probably in front of psychosomatic symptoms. ptsd cases were around 30% to 40%. i have seen people not going out of the home they live in for years, and they are afraid to even venture out of the door. a lot of cases. hi. man: [indiststinct] warsame: how are you? you cannot treat t psychosomatic illness only wiwith tablets or injections. you have to go to

the community, you have to understand what is the problem of the community. you have to try to change something in the community. that's the only way to--to treat these kind of problems. because as i told you, these are physical manifestations of psychological problems. [knocking on door] hi, farhan. farhan: hi. [men speaking native language]

hamon-sharpe: terrorismsm and insecurity in kenya has beeeen having a directct impact on the somali refugees. were many

terrorist attacks a and terrorit threatats in nairobi, but alsosn the coast and throughout k keny. again, somamali refugeeees were beieing pointeded at as resespoe for insecucurity. [men speakaking nativeve langua] man: there is a lot of r risk in the e city for the youth v vis-s radicacalization and recititmen, actually. there is a lot of risk in the city, andnd it's sosometg that we know that is ongoing. ah, youth h are radicalized through preaching, uh, they are given narratives that connect to--to the suffering, [indistinct] youth h employment, popoverty, anand all ththis. and many, many are believing the story. my--my job, actually, is information gathering.

i'm the conduit between the government and the people. >> [speaking native language] [man speaking native language] yeah, evevery morning, ah, i do my rounds to see if there--there are any problems. people being harassed because they are refugees. an indigenous kenyan maybe has insulted or abused a refugee because they are not, ah, because they are strangers and they don't belong to this country. so, we get a lot of those cases around here. i can imagine the refugee community complaining about lacking identity. they don't feel like they belong, because they have not been made to feel they belong. and much of the work we do in this community is thahat, uh, trying to telelle host community, the kenyan people, that refugee arare also people and we need to accommodate them in the situation they are in right now.

ah, dr. warsame. salaam aleikum. hi. how are you? warsameme: how are e you? wanguthi: i'm good, man. warsame: [indistinct] wanguthi: thank you so much. howow are you, my sisteter? are y you good? yes. everything is finine? warsame: [indistinct] [wanguthi speaking native language] yes. [men speaking native language] warsame: most of the time these youth are becoming gangsters anand hopeless because o of a lk ofof identity. they create an identity by joining gangs. thahat's whwhy we decidided to-- to create an i identity for them to teach them somali culturaral dance, to teach themem about the language even, to teach them about the past of somalia, to teach them at least to create something for them to be proud of. [dance music playing]

hamon-sharpe: why the urbaban refugees a are here? t they-- they have not t made, uh, a choe to cocome. they w were forced at some point to leave theirr houses, theirir loved onenes, everythingng that they had for ththeir safetyty, and ththen ended u up in nairobi. they coud have endeded up anywhere else. so, it''s not a a choice to bece a rerefugee. annd these p people exttremely courageous andnd resilient. thehey fend for themseselves. theyey work. mostf them in the formrmal sector,r, t they y do work. like anywhehere else, , the majority of thehe refugees a are peaful peoplele. they'y're civivilian. thehey are women,n, children, uh, men w who wowork very hahard to mamake a g and to find a solution, and it's important to--to pass that message to the authorities. 8úxúr

. here in japan it's 7:00 p.m. on a friday. i'm james tengan in tokyo. nhk "newsline" " starts off wita quick look at the hour's top stories. suspect arrested. police in okinawa say an american man admits to strangling a japanese woman. sending a message. a white house official says president barack obama will speak about the many lives lost during world war ii