What do people say about TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story?
Testimonials from subject matter experts that have tried it or train with it
“It’s on point”
“The story and situations in TRAPPED are very real, it's very typical from what I see on a daily basis, investigating human trafficking incidents. So it was very real. The fact that she wasn't getting along at home is one intersection. The fact that she was online with this man that started buying her things, clothing… It's very accurate. It's on point on how they meet their victims online.
It's on point with how they groom them in initial meetings, where they find some type of avenue where the victim may be seeking some type of attention they're not getting at home and they target that area and then they go from there and then it turns into the vicious cycle of control, manipulation, and coercion.”
-- Houston Police Human Trafficking Unit Lieutenant Angela M. Merritt
“Our biggest challenge with the VR is actually that we need more!”
“With youth we have found that TRAPPED is an incredible tool. We take it with us into schools and to youth events. Every time we put that on the head of a youth we have a download afterwards where they get to tell us or write out how they felt during that experience and what takeaways they had, and we hear all kinds of amazing feedback. We hear things about people who felt like they felt scared they felt worried for Lisa they felt anxious that her trafficker was going to walk in on them. We have kids who tell us now they want to be more careful with their social media or they want to delete their Snapchat after experiencing Lisa because it wasn't even in their mind that they could be exploited in that way, so it's been a really effective tool.
I think our biggest challenge with VR is actually that we need more of it! When we take it into a school, we want to put it on as many heads as possible. That means we're going to need to invest in more headsets soon and it's something that we are looking at doing because we have found so much value in it. Not only has it been great for the professionals at our conference and for youth, but we also just use it at community events so anyone from our average community member to a legislator to a law enforcement officer.
I cannot recommend it enough.”
-- Terri Markham, Executive Director, Uprising
“The storyline is very authentic”
“The VR application, TRAPPED, was a great experience. I have 16 years in law enforcement. And out of those 16 years, about 12 of them were spent dealing with cases that focus on domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse, and human trafficking. So seeing this and actually going through the experience of assimilation of what a victim of human trafficking goes through...
It's very real and the storyline is very authentic. And it actually aligns with what you see in a lot of these types of incidents where young girls and boys are trafficked and these are experiences they go through: the Grooming Phase, it was spot on the grooming phase explaining how she was trafficked, into on down to the family dynamics that tend to take place and what type of children, young people, are actually more vulnerable or susceptible to being put into these type of positions of being trafficked.
So I really enjoyed the simulation. It was a great experience and I definitely recommend that it's something that continues to be taught and brought into education environments as well as First Responders because they definitely need to have this type of training available to these types of tools available to them.”
-- Dr. LaTienda Pierre, graduate coordinator for LSU Shreveport and retired law enforcement 16 years
“This allows us to scale training infinitely”
“Being immersed in Virtual Reality, where you have control to drive what you're seeing and work through something, where you understand, almost like a game, that I have to drive through this. When you feel it and you hear it, it's much more memorable, and so it gets planted in. You wanna reach out and touch this girl as opposed to hearing about something out there.
This does that with more feedback for the brain so the brain's actually picking it up and it's engaged, it's connected. And it's actually feeling it alongside her, and that's what you want to do when you do a talk. This allows you to be assured that people are getting in the situation.
You have to have something that can go to small towns, particularly, because they are as much a target as any. Having a speaker is not gonna do. We're not going to get the work done quickly. What this allows us to scale training infinitely, so suddenly you can take it anywhere and simply get access to more people to get more communities educated.
When the kids themselves believe in the story, that's critical. Kids can recognize and go, well, this sounds like my friends, this is my life, I have these kinds of problems and I would like someone to talk to. And so all of the "positives" of potentially running away, all the things that a child easily thinks of, all [a trafficker has] to do is create a conduit for them. And so this helps them to see how dangerous these conduits are and those relationships are. And so I think it's very good.”
-- David Reid, RedM, Advocate and Changemaker
“Every parent should experience this”
“Being actively immersed in Lisa’s story in virtual reality was probably one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. VR really brings an understanding of abuse and manipulation to life in a way that you often don’t get from just reading articles or hearing about it in the news. It really puts you in the experience and helps you understand what someone goes through when they’re being groomed and the kind of life they have to lead. I can't imagine a better way to tell this story, to tell you the truth. It really brings everything to life.
Every parent should experience this. I think educators, police departments, and advocacy groups should experience it too. It’s a great tool for everyone to use so you’re not just getting snippets of it through the news—you can actually walk through and experience what someone goes through when they’re trafficked.
Taking the time to make this a VR experience is something I would never have thought to do. Next week, I’ll be giving a speech on this topic. This is going to be part of what I talk about—how you can use this tool to immerse people in the experience. From a third-party perspective, you’re getting a new viewpoint, but from a first-person perspective, you’ll really understand. I would tell them to experience it first, and I think you’ll be sold in two seconds.
I’ve only been here for 20 minutes, and I think this is going to be on my mind all day. I’m going to be spending a little bit of time with our governor in about 30 minutes, and I’m actually going to see if I can share this experience with him. What a wonderful tool! I can’t speak highly enough about it.”
-- Wichita Falls, Texas Mayor, Stephen Santellana
About Billy Joe and Jacqueline Cain
Billy Joe and Jacqueline Cain are the passionate founders of Radical Empathy Education Foundation. Together, they are on a mission to educate the world about emotional abuse and abuse prevention through immersive experiences like TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story. Their goal is to empower individuals to recognize, prevent, and respond to these issues, saving lives along the way.
If you believe in this mission, you can support their work through Buy me a coffee or a donation to Radical Empathy Education Foundation.
About TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story
TRAPPED: A VR Detective Story provides users with an immersive, interactive experience that tells the story of Lisa, a 14-year-old trafficking victim. Through Lisa’s narrative, participants gain insight into the subtle yet powerful tactics predators use to manipulate and control their victims. This engaging VR experience has already reached over 15,000 participants across 10 states, serving as a critical resource for abuse prevention in schools, shelters, law enforcement, and corporations.
About Radical Empathy Education Foundation
Radical Empathy Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing abuse and human trafficking through innovative, immersive VR technology. Their award-winning training tools educate users on the tactics predators use and empower individuals to recognize and avoid abusive situations.
Learn more about Radical Empathy Education Foundation and connect to access their VR training at ArborXR’s XR Directory.
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