For my final RE project (as of 3/15/20) I’m going to be making an experience that helps people who have never experienced depression gain some empathy for those that have through the use of physical and virtual spaces, so this weeks research assignment for IMD was the perfect next step for me!
The Mike Alger videos were super informative on the current state of XR design, and I’ll probably have them running in the background once I get my project off the ground, but something I noticed in several different articles/blog posts was this idea that as a designer we need to build these experiences to be positive ones, to keep people coming back.
Seeing as we’re still in the beginning stages of the XR revolution I understand why everyone is pushing this idea, but my project—promoting empathy through imposed depression—a positive experience is not the ideal outcome. We are treating XR like an entertainment/gaming tool in order to get the publics interest, but there is so much potential in the XR space for us to start building stronger empathetic ties to one another and, ultimately, stronger communities.
I found a scholarly article by Donghee Shin that explores the connection between empathy and XR, it includes a study that compares empathy levels of XR users with people that experienced the same story through a TV screen. To make a long story short (though I highly recommend reading the article—we get it free through the college) people are able to form stronger empathetic bonds to a narrative when they experience it in XR.
Here are some excerpts that I found particularly impactful:
“Users view and accept VR stories in the way they imagine and want to experience them. Although providers design VR constructs and develop stories, ultimately, it is the users who must engage with those stories.”
“VR does not merely make users feel, it also changes who they are in the virtual space.”
“Stimulated empathy in VR can make users perceive a virtual environment as a more realistic and generally empathic experience.Through empathy, users can feel a sense of embodiment or embodied cognition based on the news stories.”
“One practical implication is that, no matter how functional and advanced the technology, the key is to focus on the story, not the technology itself or any special 3D effects. The real challenge is not so much that things can look too real or not real enough; instead, it involves the feel of the piece, as perceived by the users of VR stories.”
On a lighter note, I also found this ridiculous 5 minute Medium article about how to design XR for Hollywood:
