Austin’s nearly two-week-long SXSW festival continues to grow significantly each year. Having started out as music event SXSW Music, it is now a highly regarded film festival as well, strategically positioned between the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals. SXSW Interactive, the digital and tech-focused leg of the conference, features Obama this year, an influential “get” which says it all about the growing prominence of SXSWi. Lesser known, but threatening to explode, is SXSW’s VR/AR experience.

This year, SXSWi features a dedicated Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality track from March 16-18. However, deliniating events as “VR” or “AR” simply doesn’t work in this ever-evolving, integrated world. VR has overlapped with film, with movies releasing VR experiences in conjunction with the features; music videos and behind-the-scenes tour videos being shot in VR; and gaming consoles adopting VR headsets. Sweeping the tech community are new, practical uses for VR, such as experiences aimed at training military personnel, treating PTSD, performing intricate surgeries and inspiring social change.

Leading the curve in VR is Orange Sunshine, directed by Washington Square Films director William A. Kirkley. The documentary follows the true story of Southern California hippie group The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, which became the world’s largest distributors of LSD in the 1960s and 1970s. The filmmakers asked themselves: what if audiences could experience being on LSD without doing drugs? The filmmakers of Orange Sunshine are releasing a VR experience in conjunction with the film, “Origins,” which is also debuting at SXSW 2016. There viewers can don HTC Vive headsets and immerse themselves in the world of the Brotherhood, the summer of free love, and, of course, mind-altering substances.

Virtual reality studios Reel FX and Specular Theory are tapping into the use of VR to powerfully engage audiences and make them care deeply about a cause. Their panel “Cause & FX” on Monday, March 14 explores how virtual reality can be used to engender empathy and inspire social change. From anti-texting-and-driving campaigns to street bombings in Syria, college frat party sexual assaults to food banks in Los Angeles, altercations between young black youth and white police officers and more, studios are using VR to connect, and connect powerfully.

Experiencing terrorism, traffic accidents and misjudged perceptions in virtual reality leads to a greater understanding and empathy. It can also cause people to change their behavior. For example, many viewers of Reel FX and AT&T’s VR experience for “It Can Wait” put their cell phones in the backseats of their cars after killing innocent pedestrians in a VR experience. However, did others ignore the message? Were some traumatized by the 360 experiences? And worse of all, were some viewers merely entertained, making light of serious subjects? ‘Cause and FX’ panelists will discuss all these questions and more.

Other innovative SXSW VR exhibitions include a VR live music concert, architecture and city planning using VR and, of course, VR porn.

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