With the Rio 2016 Olympics underway in Brazil, all eyes are on the city of Rio de Janeiro and the 11,000 odd athletes who’re competing for gold medals for their respective countries. But for all the glitz and glamour the Olympics brings there’s a stark contrast that doesn’t always get shown in the media, the favelas. This mass of tightly packed buildings are home to one in every five residents of Rio and Google has released a short 360-degree film delving into their lives.
As part of Google’s Beyond the Map series, A Day in a Favela starts with a scenic look at the coastline of Brazil, but as the camera moves the narrator talks about the divide in Rio, between the wealthy and the poor.
But this isn’t an immersive video that’s all doom and gloom, in fact its the opposite. It shows that inside the tightly intertwined streets and houses there’s a close community, all living and working in close proximity to each other. There’s a broad range of diversity and creativity around every corner, with shop keepers selling their wares, surfers going out to catch their next wave, dancers practicing on rooftops an so much more.
So take a look at another side of Rio and VRFocus will bring another Life in 360° next week.
