Why Virtual Empathy Matters

Unpack how virtual reality can enhance empathy and cultural awareness for children and bridge communities.

CULTURE

TECHNOLOGY

12 MINS READ

DATE

JULY 10, 2023

AUTHOR

Sisi Savidge

Sisi is a writer and multidisciplinary artist based in Berlin. Her work is rooted in language and non-hierarchical global thinking; encompassing writing, translating and editing across broadening projects and outlets of communication.

IMAGE

João Araió, journalist, poet, photographer and filmmaker from Piauí, living in Rio de Janeiro. Graduated in Social Communication at PUC-Rio, he was part of collectives active in community communication, cultural production, right to the city, human rights, theatre and popular education. Currently, he acts as pedagogical coordinator of GatoMídia, an agency, network and learning methodology in media and technology focused on black and indigenous youth. In photography and audiovisual, he researches the everyday space, narratives and memory preservation devices of traditional, peripheral and diasporic communities.

In an age of snowballing digital development and online presence overtaking real-world presence, the concept of empathy matters more than ever for young minds. So is it really possible that the virtual space could, in fact, serve as a tool to enhance and promote cultures of empathy for children and young people? The arguments both for and against the use of virtual spaces and technologies when working and communicating with children are many, so let's take a closer look at the theories behind them in order to better understand the digital future of empathy.

“…the promise and peril of virtual reality as a tool to transport each of us into worlds beyond and lives unknown, conjuring feelings of fear and devastation along with those of excitement and hope…”

The intangible concept of empathy is deeply connected to the ever-expanding virtual world. As cognitive scientist Dr. Lindsay Portnoy expressed in her 2017 article ‘The Neural Technology of Empathy’, humans are hardwired to replicate empathy when prompted due to our own neural makeup. With this in mind, children around the world should be able to learn, access and reproduce feelings of empathy in virtual spaces without physical borders and while interacting with children with whom they would not usually have access to integrate. The potential benefits of a younger population able to utilise virtual reality (VR) to build bridges between different communities that are unbound by language, location, border or aesthetics are innumerable but they also present new and unexplored barriers and challenges. This article explores the psychological and social benefits of virtual experiences; the possibilities of designing spaces that promote empathy, understanding and cultural awareness; and ethical considerations and challenges concerning children and development.

Virtual reality: friend or foe?

Delving into the world of VR can feel at once alienating and all-consuming, as it’s easy to forget that we possess within our own brains the very same technology that VR utilises. Vilayanur Ramachandran expanded on this concept of ‘neural technology’ in his 2009 talk for TEDIndia, highlighting the importance of these so-called mirror neurons as having “shaped civilization”. Though only discovered relatively recently, mirror neurons are designed to ‘fire’ during an action or during a witnessed action. This explains how we can sometimes ‘feel another’s pain’: essentially the physical manifestation and e...