I made it only two steps before I detonated a land mine. The explosion ripped through my ears as my heart pounded. Were this a real land mine, a recording informed me, my hands would be torn apart. Shrapnel would fly at my face, blinding me. Without swift medical attention, I would die.

But none of this actually happened. The minefield I walked through was only virtual. I was on the top floor of New York's New Museum, overlooking a sea of silent Manhattan rooftops, far from the conflict zones where this sort of horror is a reality.

Within five minutes of the simulation, I detonated three more land mines.

The United Nations Mine Action Service organized the land mine simulation exhibit, called "Sweeper," which debuted in New York Friday. It communicates the terrifying threat of land mines throughout the world, despite a 1999 worldwide ban on anti-personnel mines. "Sweeper" simulates the very real terror of leaving home, walking to school or driving to work, and not knowing if you'll survive your next step.

Image: Rebecca Hiscott

According to UNMAS, at least 10 people are killed or injured by land mines each day, and their presence is enough to cripple entire communities. UNMAS works to disable mines and train local teams to do the same. A report from the organization indicates its explosive-clearing programs — comprising 17 countries in 2012 — disabled and destroyed 1.15 million explosive devices.

"We don't have to live with this," said Agnès Marcaillou, director of UNMAS. "We cross the street, we walk around, kids are playing soccer. But it's not the case everywhere. Remember that every time you see an image of a conflict on TV, whether it is the South Sudan, Somalia, Syria — these countries are affected, contaminated [by explosives]."

Using Apple's iBeacon technology, which allows devices to communicate with one another within an enclosed space, UNMAS was able to plant invisible, simulated land mines around the exhibit space. Inside the organization's app, also called Sweeper, a land mine "explodes" when an unlucky individual comes across one. A recording then explains the physical injury inflicted by each type of mine: Bouncing Betty, PRB M3, VS50 — all gruesome, most deadly.

"There is a Japanese saying: To hear about [a conflict] 100 times is less impactful than to actually see it one time," UN Japanese ambassador Kazuyoski Umemoto said. "In Washington, we don't have to see it. We don't have to experience it. But this exhibition will give us some idea what those dangers are."

UNMAS organized "Sweeper" in conjunction with digital marketing agency Critical Mass in honor of the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action, also Friday. The United Nations General Assembly established the organization in 1997 to assess and neutralize the threats of mines, unexploded ordnance, unsafe munitions depots, cluster bombs and improvised explosive devices in areas of conflict around the world, which injure and kill thousands of people worldwide every year.

These efforts not only help bring stability to communities, they improve peacekeepers and humanitarian organizations' ability to help deliver aid to nations in need, Marcaillou added.

To learn more about UNMAS, visit its website or text "Demine" to 27722 to donate $5 to the United Nations's demining and outreach efforts.

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