Virtual Reality Is the Ultimate Empathy Machine

Virtual reality is often thought of as the ultimate empathy machine. A machine that makes humans more human or, more strictly speaking, empathetic. It’s the chance to convey personal stories and make complex issues more relatable and understandable. This article presents how virtual reality, usually used for gaming, has transformed into complimenting human emotions. 

Read below how a machine can change a human’s mind.

Ultimate Reality

Virtual reality (VR) is a 3D simulation that allows interaction through electronic equipment like a helmet or gloves. With the rise in technology, VR can simulate a life-like scenario that can elicit an emotional response. When a VR experience targets social issues, empathy building, or social activism, the game increases users’ understanding and engagement with social challenges.

VR builds bridges of understanding by breaking down barriers and providing individuals with various cultures, traditions, and perspectives. One can explore first-hand, virtually walking a mile in someone else shoes.

Empathy Machine Stories

Some companies, such as Meta, have already recorded cultural accounts or day-to-day activities in life, not one’s own. Accessible to people worldwide. CEO of Within, a virtual reality technology company, and co-founder of Here Be Dragons, a VR production company, Chris Milk’s TED talk, How Virtual Reality Can Create the Ultimate Empathy Machine, exams how virtual reality can change one’s mind. The example is from a Clouds Over Sidra VR simulation within Meta Quest. It’s about a 12-year-old girl living in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. In this camp, the virtual reality 360-degree camera captures the whole day of Sidra’s life. One person who views her world sits with her as she sits, evoking one to feel her humanity more profoundly.

Through VR, the impact of Sidra’s story was displayed at World Economic Forum in a room full of Swiss innovators and entrepreneurs who could help the situation in Jordan. Ultimately the sessions immersed these people into a realistic atmosphere they would not likely find themselves in, and the program elicited an emotional response of empathy for the people living in that Syrian refugee camp.

Additional Virtual Responses

Much like Chris Milk’s TED talk, Thong Nguyen, Vice Chairman and Head of Global Strategy & Enterprise Platforms at Bank of America, TED talk, Can Virtual Reality Change Your Mind?, talks about the many different options VR works for an emotional response. Still, the one scenario that stuck out was a collaboration with Columbia University. In the VR simulation 1000 Cut Journey, the user takes on the perspective of a black boy growing up experiencing racism firsthand. This simulation promoted empathy and a more in-depth understanding of social issues.

Meta Technologies, the owner of Facebook, has dedicated its mission to a metaverse, the successor to the internet. With meta quest, their VR hardware, they established VR for Good, immersive storytelling focused on social impact. Meta features work narratives are about how people of any race, religion, gender, or sexual identity get studied by other people to promote connection, empathy, and equality.

Conclusion

Virtual reality has been hailed as the ultimate empathy machine, capable of transforming society and promoting empathy. VR can challenge one’s perspectives and evoke powerful emotions by bringing together communities, tackling social problems, and inspiring activism. It may be vital to harness VR’s potential for humanity’s betterment.

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