Non-Profit organization Hope for Haiti uses virtual reality to build empathy and touch potential donors and international travelers.

Virtual Reality (VR) gained popularity since its introduction to the market in the mid-1980s. The technology works by creating realistic environments that manipulate the human brain into perceiving it as reality.

During the pandemic, virtual reality usage increased by 71%, spurring a technology boom. That momentum is projected to increase over the next few years and grow to $4.26 billion. VR is being used for everything from enhancing work meetings to bettering recruitment techniques. And now, it’s entering the non-profit space as a way to connect developing countries to donors and travelers. 

Hope for Haiti uses this innovative technology in the socially distant post-COVID world to do philanthropic work. It started when Sarah Porter, Director of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Hope for Haiti, received a VR headset for Christmas in 2020. She started to think of ways to incorporate it into her philanthropic work and create a significant social impact. This sparked an idea.

MORE