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(Photo: Lux Interaction / Unsplash)
At this early stage, virtual reality is fundamentally a new high-tech toy. But researchers are discovering that this can bring tangible benefits, including reducing pain and stimulating creativity.
A new study is examining a particularly promising use of immersive technology: to increase empathy. It emerges that, compared to traditional approaches, the use of virtual reality to experience the precarious life of a homeless person creates more understanding, long-lasting, understanding and compassion for this often ignored population.
"Virtual reality is increasingly seen as the" ultimate machine of empathy "because it allows users to cope with any situation, from any point of view," writes a research team of the Stanford University run by Fernanda Herrera. His study shows that this effect can last for weeks and inspire concrete actions.
In the online journal PLoS One, The researchers describe two studies comparing the effect of a virtual reality excursion to older and less immersive methods of assuming another person's point of view. The first group included 117 people recruited from the San Francisco Bay Area. Everyone was invited to imagine what life would be like if they suddenly found themselves homeless.
About half read a story about the life of a homeless person, including being expelled from home, living out of his car and feeling threatened by criminals. The others had the same vision by listening to the same story while wearing a virtual reality headset.
Participants completed a questionnaire immediately afterwards and responded to three follow-up surveys over the next eight weeks.
Researchers report that, while both techniques have been successful in increasing empathy for homelessness and shelter giving, the virtual reality experience "has led to more positive and sustainable attitudes toward homeless until two months after the intervention.
At the end of the initial session, participants were asked if they supported a votable ballot proposal that would increase taxes and increase the number of affordable housing units in the area.
"Although participants in both cases claimed to support proposal A to the same extent," the researchers reported, "a significantly higher proportion of participants who performed the virtual reality task physically signed a petition in support." The experience has apparently led some passive participants to those active in a homelessness initiative.
Four weeks later, participants were asked if they supported a different initiative on affordable housing. The researchers found that the effect of the intervention was blurred for those who had simply read information about the experience of homelessness; their support for the second measure was significantly lower than their support for the first.
But those who had experienced it first-hand via virtual reality remained unshakable, supporting the second initiative at a pace similar to that of the first. It seems that the experience has been passed on to them and has reinforced their commitment to help.
Another element of the study suggests that virtual reality creates a stronger personal connection with the homeless community than simply reading their fate. In a writing exercise two weeks after taking perspective, members of the VR group who "wrote about the homelessness problem and its possible solutions" used the pronouns "we", "we" and "us". our "more frequently than those who simply read the story.
A follow-up study, which used four different types of perspective-taking, including virtual reality, also showed that virtual reality had the greatest impact. People who experienced virtually homelessness were much more likely to sign a petition for an affordable housing initiative than members of other groups (including those who experienced a version of the illustrated story. by pictures).
Now, most people who use virtual reality will surely do so to escape into beautiful fantasy realms and not to depress homeless encampments. But this research suggests that technology has great potential for developing empathy. Today, you can walk in the shoes of someone else by simply tying a helmet.
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