Designing Justice: Producing VR Testimonios for Public Engagement

• In Event: Reclaiming Memory, Rendering Futures: VR Chicana and Latina Testimonios and Archival Justice in Stockton, CA

Abstract

This presentation investigates the ethical, technical, and creative processes involved in translating Chicana testimonios into immersive virtual reality (VR) environments. The goal is to examine how VR design choices impact viewer engagement, preserve cultural integrity, and promote community accountability. The presentation seeks to position immersive media production as a site for digital justice and transformative storytelling.

The work is informed by Chicana feminist epistemology (Delgado Bernal et al., 2006; Anzaldúa, 2007), digital justice frameworks (Costanza-Chock, 2020), and critical media studies that interrogate power, representation, and access in emerging technologies. It also engages with theories of empathetic witnessing and anti-spectacle approaches to storytelling within marginalized communities.

The team employed a design justice approach in the development of the VR testimonios, centering participant voices throughout the production process. This included collaborative scripting, spatial design informed by cultural and emotional context, and iterative feedback loops with community partners. The presentation draws from design ethnography, narrative analysis, and user experience methodologies.
Data Sources, Evidence, Objects, or Materials
Primary materials include the testimonios themselves, 3D models, spatial audio, interactive design mockups, and community feedback gathered during beta testing and exhibition events. Visual excerpts from the VR environment will illustrate key design decisions and their impact on emotional resonance and viewer interpretation.

The presentation demonstrates how intentional design choices—such as setting, voice modulation, lighting, and pacing—can foster meaningful viewer engagement without exploiting trauma. The findings emphasize that ethical storytelling in VR requires constant negotiation between immersion and respect, especially when rendering real-life narratives of struggle and resistance. Feedback from community partners affirmed that the VR experiences preserved authenticity and cultivated emotional connection without spectacle.

This work contributes to interdisciplinary conversations on digital justice, anticolonial storytelling, and immersive education. It offers a framework for ethically engaging marginalized histories in public-facing digital formats and challenges extractive or voyeuristic approaches in tech-driven storytelling. The presentation ultimately proposes that VR, when rooted in feminist and community-centered values, can serve as a tool for empathy, historical reckoning, and social change.

Authors

• Diego Bonilla, California State University - Sacramento

• Miguel Ortiz Ulloa, California State University - Sacramento