Quick Search: Research is a series dedicated to unpacking some of the emerging research on 3D, VR, and other dynamic visualization technologies. See my introductory discussion on this topic, entitled the Research Chase. In the concluding segment of this series, I am hoping to unpack some insightful upcoming research on the role of virtual reality in promoting empathy and prosocial behaviors. (See the previous article for more context: Educational Research: VR and Empathy)
Fernanda Herrera, a PhD candidate out of Stanford University drew a sizeable crowd at this year’s SXSWedu innovation in education conference as she spoke about her research in the arena of virtual reality. In the last two segments in this series (See Part 1 and Part 2), we laid some preliminary groundwork. Now, let’s fast forward to Herrera’s most recent scholarly work. Herrera’s current research, still in process, focuses on two central questions, instantiated in two separate studies:
- Can VR interventions be used to teach empathy and prosocial behaviors toward the homeless?
- How long do these effects last, given three follow-up assessments at 2, 4 and 8 weeks after the intervention?
Can VR interventions be used to teach empathy and prosocial behaviors toward the homeless? The scenario offered to each study participant in this research begins in the present:
Your landlord knocks on the door. When you open it, he says you have until the end of the day to pay your past-due rent or you will lose your apartment. You owe $750. The VR simulation then requires you to choose what objects in your apartment you will sell to stay. But the items you sell simply won’t add up to the necessary amount. Next, you receive an eviction notice, and soon you’ve run out of time. You get kicked out of your apartment and start living in your car. In your car, you struggle looking around for a misplaced toothbrush and discover, in general, how hard it is to do mundane things while living in a small vehicle. [Unfortunately, in San Francisco, there is a law if you get caught sleeping in your car three times, you get your car impounded.] One moment, while rustling through your belongings, trying to find your toothbrush, you get caught–and cited. Your car gets impounded. At this time you are now sleeping on a bus, experiencing the dangers of not having shelter, and not being able to get to a community shelter before they close the doors (most shelters are full by 4:00 pm). Although many homeless do indeed have jobs, they cannot always get off work to make it to a shelter on time. While on the bus, someone tries to get close to you Once, you have your belongings stolen. There is even an interactive scene where you talk to others on the bus, people who are also homeless, learning why they became that way. [Spousal abuse or loss of a job, as an example.]
Does the narrative of virtual reality outperform information in the ecology of virtual reality?
Findings. Herrera captured the overall experience well when she stated that “VR is really a good perspective-producing machine.” Although the findings are preliminary (the study is still ongoing), she summarized the key points of her latest research project, one which employs virtual reality to impart empathy, for an all-ears crowd:
- Just ‘receiving’ information about homelessness does not appear to lead to action in addressing those challenges
- Neither does simply ‘imagining’ the above presented scenario lead automatically toward active, prosocial behaviors
- ‘New’ and previously ‘unknown’ information, however, can indeed promote more prosocial behaviors (Information such as the notion that many community shelters close by 4:00 pm, already filling to capacity by that time)
- Immersive and experiential conditions (VR) enable study participants to feel closer to the homeless and their plight
- Participants in the experiential VR condition evidence heightened movement toward becoming engaged and making a difference
Apparently, the narrative of virtual reality goes a long way to outperform simple information-giving in the ecology of empathy. How long this empathy, prosocial behavior, and inclination to act will linger, however, remains to be seen. Herrera has not yet completed the second study. But we may be well on the way to observing the demonstrable emergence of Milk’s “ultimate empathy machine”.—Len Scrogan
