In January 2009, at Fort Lewis, Seattle, Farocki spent two days filming a workshop in which civilian therapists explain to army therapists how to work with ‘Virtual Iraq’ or ‘VI’, a computer animation programme designed to help soldiers overcome the experience behind their fear by reliving the past. The aim is to treat soldiers traumatised by war and train those who work with them. Immersion therapy lets soldiers repeat, retell and relive the experience. The training works like a game: while the VI programme is running, the therapist sits at the computer wearing headphones while the patient sits beside them with virtual reality goggles that transport them to a fictional Iraq the user can navigate, always under control.
