A recent study led by Monique Santoso and her team at Stanford University has revealed that virtual reality (VR) can significantly alter perceptions of climate change by making distant communities feel psychologically closer. The study, published in Scientific Reports, demonstrates that immersive VR experiences are an antidote to climate apathy. This technology has the ability to create a more profound emotional response in individuals as they see environmental disasters profoundly affecting communities even in faraway places.
The research included 163 Stanford University students who took part in a controlled experimental study. We randomly assigned participants to teams. Some traveled through nine distinct U.S. settings in real-time, immersive VR, while others only looked at still pictures of those same places. As the outcomes suggested, there was a distinct impact on emotional engagement. Participants who engaged with the VR landscapes were more dismissive at first but became more frustrated with the climate change stories associated with those locations.
Study Insights
Jeremy Bailenson is the founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. Senior author of the study, he noted how inspiring such findings can be. He pointed out that VR can cultivate a sense of immediacy and personal relevance concerning climate impacts far from one’s immediate surroundings. Instead of creating a sense of despair, this strategy motivates people to reflect on how they can contribute to overcoming climate obstacles.
The research confirmed that virtual reality experiences can forge emotional connections to far-off places. Participants are allowed to experience these places and foster their own impactful connections. Santoso argues that this attachment fosters positive downstream impacts. In turn, people are more likely to feel responsible for the health of their communities and the environments where they live. By enabling users to experience these locations firsthand, VR effectively bypasses the emotional overload that often accompanies traditional media portrayals of climate distress.
Methodology and Results
Santoso and her co-authors came up with an impressive research framework. Joining her to make this case were Portia Wang, a Ph.D. student in communication at Stanford, and Eugy Han, an assistant professor at the University of Florida. We saw from the paper what the study participants went through with this unique experiential learning opportunity aided by immersive VR. This technology allowed them to visualize the immediate impact of climate change on these communities. People who looked at printed images were less likely to feel concern and urgency.
The findings are significant: participants who experienced VR reported feeling a greater sense of responsibility for climate-related issues than their counterparts who engaged with static images. We want to ensure that VR can become a powerful tool for environmental advocacy. It can encourage people to act on climate change by developing more profound emotional ties to communities impacted by climate change.
Implications for Climate Advocacy
The implications of this study are deep and far-reaching for climate advocacy work today. This is how advocacy organizations can leverage the unique power of virtual reality to run compelling campaigns. These campaigns clearly speak to people’s personal experiences, which is why they work. Rather than overwhelming audiences with distressing statistics or images, VR experiences can foster empathy and understanding, leading to increased motivation for action.
Bailenson is the Thomas More Storke Professor and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. His work emphasizes the need to include emerging and innovative technologies into environmental communication strategies. As research has demonstrated, VR storytelling increases awareness. Beyond that, it equips ordinary people, making them some of the strongest advocates for change.