An Exploration of College Students' Perspectives on Empathy From Virtual Reality Applications

• In Event: Virtual and Augmented Reality Applications in Education

Abstract

We explore students’ perspectives on whether virtual reality experiences foster empathy to guide educators considering such activities. We qualitatively assess data from an undergraduate course on the potential connection between virtual reality and empathy. Some students felt that spending time in virtual reality environments could make them more empathetic as they take the perspectives of others and experience new situations. However, some students also noted that non-virtual reality experiences might be better for fostering empathy—students can spend more time with those experiences to get more information about those stories and characters, and create their own story images in their imagination. These conflicting perspectives show how more information is needed to make deeper connections between virtual reality and empathy.

Authors

• Jinzhi Zhou, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Chris Quintana, University of Michigan

• Rebecca M. Quintana, University of Michigan