Parasocial intergroup contact in virtual reality: The importance of presence in 360-degree videos for reducing prejudice
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Parasocial intergroup contact in virtual reality: The importance of presence in 360-degree videos for reducing prejudice

ByNili Steinfeld

Virtual reality (VR) has been hailed as the “ultimate empathy machine” (TED, 2015), with immersive storytelling demonstrating remarkable capabilities in eliciting empathetic responses. However, the question remains: Can VR truly change opinions and, if so, what mechanisms drive this change? This study investigated the effects of parasocial intergroup contact on empathy and attitudes towards LGBTQ+…

Can virtual reality innovate the future of Chinese humanities education?
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Can virtual reality innovate the future of Chinese humanities education?

ByYu Shan

This article is derived from a paper recently published in International Journal of Cultural Policy, titled ā€˜Innovating the humanities, reimagining the future: empirical evidence from virtual reality practice in Chinaā€™. For a more detailed account, you can find the full article here. Despite ongoing conflicts across culture, geopolitics and economics, the challenges faced globally within…

Virtual reality as an empathy machine and its discontent
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Virtual reality as an empathy machine and its discontent

BySandra Ponzanesi

This article is adapted from my research recently published in Postcolonial Theory and Crisis, titled “Post-Humanitarianism and the Crisis of Empathy.” For a more detailed account of my research, see here. This article is also in conversation with two previous pieces published in CAVRN: Exploring ā€˜proper distanceā€™ in virtual reality for humanitarian practice and Virtual…

Virtual reality and refugee crises: Impact of “Clouds Over Sidra”
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Virtual reality and refugee crises: Impact of “Clouds Over Sidra”

ByPorismita Borah, Danielle Ka Lai Lee, Di Mu, Anastasia Vishnevskaya, Bimbisar Irom, Ron Price, Onur Ramazan and Yoon Joo Lee

While the Syrian refugee crisis has elicited varying responses from different nations, the American perspective remains critically understudied, even in the light of evidence suggesting that the U.S. public opinion toward refugees is less favorable than in other countries (Carlier, 2016). Studies have pointed out that quality information sharing in the context of a refugee…

Exploring ā€˜proper distanceā€™ in virtual reality for humanitarian practice
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Exploring ā€˜proper distanceā€™ in virtual reality for humanitarian practice

ByBimbisar Irom

Emerging technologies are increasingly being incorporated into humanitarian practice by non-governmental organizations, governments, and leading institutions. Such new technologies include digital mapping systems, GPS technologies, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), satellite imagery, and virtual reality deployed in the service of humanitarian rescue and aid efforts.  Among all of these, virtual reality (VR) seems to occupy a…

How Play Shaped Augmented Reality
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How Play Shaped Augmented Reality

ByKyle Moore

Play has always been at the centre of the metaverse. Gaming technology has a clear place in the history of virtual reality and worlds. From Oculus Riftā€™s role in reinvigorating interest in virtual reality (Evans, 2018), to persistent virtual worlds like Second Life shaping our perception of virtual worlds (Boellstorff, 2015), games and gaming technology…

The body as data: Immersive technology and biometric artistic performance
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The body as data: Immersive technology and biometric artistic performance

ByLucy Sparrow, Caiti Galwey, Ben Loveridge, Solange Glasser, Margaret Osborne and Ryan Kelly

The performer Sarah Nicolls sits poised at a piano at a darkened concert hall in London. This is no ordinary recitalā€”strapped around her arms are Myo Armbands that track her arm movements, allowing her to generate curious and unnerving sounds through gesture as she plays Atau Tanakaā€™s (2019) biometric piano piece Suspensions. In Madrid, Marco…

Who wants to govern the metaverse?
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Who wants to govern the metaverse?

ByBen Egliston, Marcus Carter and Kate Euphemia Clark

The governance of the ā€˜metaverseā€™, underpinned by extended reality (XR) technology, has garnered increasing attention from policymakers, industry, and regulators. Despite highly productive critiques of industrial governance practices and initiatives – such as those focused on responsible innovation and diversity, equity, and inclusion within XR – there has been limited comprehensive examination of XR governance…

Dying in VR/AR/XR: Rehearsing to get it right
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Dying in VR/AR/XR: Rehearsing to get it right

ByTonya Meyrick, Stefan Greuter, Kiah Hawker and Luke Heemsbergen

Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Extended Reality (XR) are mediating technologies uniquely positioned to explore and experience death and where death might be rehearsed. Like an illusionistā€™s suitcase of magic tricks, what you see may not be real, but imagination of the intangibility of death is possible with ā€˜artificialā€™ design propositions through technological…

Apple’s vision of ourselves
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Apple’s vision of ourselves

ByLuke Heemsbergen

What is Apple’s spatial computing getting us into? Appleā€™s first mixed reality headset combines and relates digital visual and auditory information with your surroundings launched this week. Despite despite critics questioning its actual use cases, desire for the device has seemingly blown through pre-order availability with deliveries now tracking more than a month out from…