GoPro Project Claims Technology is Making People Lose Empathy for Homeless

A project involving GoPro cameras and people living on the streets of San Francisco has suggested technology is making people feel less compassionate towards the homeless.

Started by Kevin F Adler, the Homeless GoPro project aims to "build empathy through a first-hand perspective" by strapping one of the cameras onto homeless volunteers to document their lives and daily interactions.

GoPro cameras are usually associated with extreme sport such as surfing, skateboarding or BMX cycling with users attaching the cameras to their helmets, handlebars and surfboards to a give a point-of-view footage of their stunts.

However, those behind the project are hoping the camera can give a fresh perspective on what they call "extreme living".

Adam Reichart, 44, is a homeless person who agreed to take part in the project. He described how he has been homeless for six years due to a series of "tough breaks and losses" such as the death of his wife and mother and a drug addiction that "spiralled out of control".

Now four years sober, Reichart said he agreed to take part in the Homeless GoPro project in a bid to turn his life around. He will wear the camera for two hours a day, with the footage uploaded onto the project's website.

Reichart says one of the hardest things about living on the street is the lack of sympathy he receives from the public, something he puts down to an increase in the use of technology.

"Most people who are homeless don't have any type of real interaction that means anything when you're homeless because people treat you so much differently," he said.

"I notice every day that people are losing their compassion and their empathy not just for homeless people but for society in general.

"I feel technology has changed so much where people are emailing and don't talk face-to-face anymore, people are losing social skills...and their compassion.

"I feel like it's a lot easier to be, the best way to put it is, be cold, or have less feelings when you're typing something, than when you're looking someone in the eye," he told ABC Local.

Reichart hoped the project will also dismiss some of the more negative view about homeless people, such as they are all alcoholic and drug addicts.

"In the last five years, without exaggeration, I have known around 100 people that are normal everyday working people that have become homeless" he said.

"I'm just trying to show people the true side of homelessness and try to get people's compassion and empathy back to where it should be because I feel like we're all the same...we all need food and water and love and compassion."