In partnership with Rare Beauty’s Rare Impact, winners “Apart of Me” and “What It’s Like To Be Me” utilize real-time 3D to address mental health and well-being
SAN FRANCISCO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — May 18, 2021 — Unity (NYSE: U), the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content, today announced the winners of the Unity for Humanity Rare Impact Challenge: Apart of Me and What It’s Like To Be Me. Created in partnership with Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact by Rare Beauty, the Unity for Humanity Rare Impact Challenge is a grant honoring leading creators building mental health-focused experiences. Winners receive funding, mentorship, and technical support to advance and scale their projects.
“We know technology is being used to raise awareness for and normalize mental health conversations, and as a method for treatment of mental health,” said Jessica Lindl, Vice President, Social Impact, Unity. “The quality and diversity of the entries we received underscores the power of real-time 3D to uniquely address this important area of social impact. Along with Rare Impact, we’re proud to support and amplify these voices.”
The Rare Impact Challenge winners were chosen based on each project’s commitment to impact, viability, community connection, innovation, and inclusivity, and use of Unity’s real-time 3D technology to tell their stories:
- Apart of Me is a mobile game that supports young people and their families through the heartbreak and confusion of grief, helping them learn to live fully despite their loss. The game translates bereavement-counseling techniques into a 3D world and was created by a team of 126 skilled volunteers from around the world, collaborating to help vulnerable young people transform their grief into compassion.
- What It’s Like To Be Me, a virtual reality experience, takes users through five personal stories where they can embody and navigate from the perspective of a member of the LGBTQ+ community experiencing discrimination. Each story is based on real-life experiences, showing the reality of the mental, emotional, and physical strain of minority stress, along with the strength and resilience of each storyteller. What It’s Like To Be Me was created by Marc Svensson, founder and CEO of Helsa, Kate Luxion, and Lee Stewart.
“This year more than ever, leveraging technology to address mental health is critical. The depth, breadth, and quality of submissions we received further validates the role technology plays in transforming issues, like mental health, for the better. Together with Unity, we are honored to lift up the voices of the incredible creators behind this work.” Elyse Cohen, VP Social Impact & Inclusion, Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez.
Rare Impact aims to reduce the stigma associated with mental health, address the epidemic of chronic loneliness, and support access to mental health services in schools and educational settings. As many creators are focusing their work on mental health and well-being, the Unity for Humanity Rare Impact Challenge is designed to enhance and support their work and is part of the existing Unity for Humanity program within Unity Social Impact, which celebrates and empowers creators who are using real-time 3D to inspire change.
To learn more about Unity’s commitment to Social Impact and other Unity for Humanity initiatives, please visit www.unity.com/social-impact. To learn more about Rare Impact, please visit www.rarebeauty.com/pages/rare-impact.
About Unity
Unity (NYSE: U) is the world’s leading platform for creating and operating real-time 3D (RT3D) content. Creators, ranging from game developers to artists, architects, automotive designers, filmmakers, and others, use Unity to make their imaginations come to life. Unity’s platform provides a comprehensive set of software solutions to create, run and monetize interactive, real-time 2D and 3D content for mobile phones, tablets, PCs, consoles, and augmented and virtual reality devices. The company’s 1,800+ person research and development team keeps Unity at the forefront of development by working alongside partners to ensure optimized support for the latest releases and platforms. Apps developed by Unity creators have been downloaded more than five billion times per month in 2020. For more information, please visit www.unity.com.
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Alivia Rasmussen
Unity Communications
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