Anyone who has felt a heightened appreciation for others after watching a powerful film or gazing at a vibrant painting understands how media can trigger empathy. While creative works have long helped us understand those who are different from ourselves — Roger Ebert described film as "a machine that generates empathy" — researchers have found that a relatively new medium may be especially effective at inspiring individuals to see the world through others’ eyes: virtual reality.
A wealth of research has uncovered how virtual reality can serve help encourage greater empathy between individuals — whether to better understand the life of an unhoused person, gain insight into elderly people’s experiences, or to appreciate other cultures, to name a few.
"We found that VR was able to elicit empathy in a variety of settings," says Megan Brydon, PACS Application Specialist at IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was the lead author of a new research survey published in Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, which found that VR could help medical professionals to cultivate greater empathy for their patients.
The survey examined seven studies in which researchers used VR to encourage empathetic behavior in caregivers. They played the role of physician in some cases, along with patients diagnosed with conditions including breast cancer, cranial nerve injuries and dementia.
