Empathy & Compassion

Can virtual reality make us kinder? increase the user’s compassion and empathy.

by |Published

“We want to see if having this intense emotionally arousing experience could change the way you think and the way you act toward the homeless,” says Elise Ogle, project manager at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, which designed this VR environment.

It’s one of a growing number of virtual reality worlds designed not for video gaming or entertainment, but rather to change human attitudes, and increase the user’s compassion and empathy.

 

The concept is based on the Atticus Finch philosophy that the best way to understand someone else is to slip into their skin, and then walk around for a bit.

 

BY TODD BOOKMAN

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