"VR allows users to step into any experience from a first-person perspective. Some people call it an " empathy machine " and argue that it could influence decision-makers. I bought into it at first. However, after going through several simulations, I noticed that no matter how moved I was in the moment, none of it led to any real behavioral change."
"In theory, it makes sense. But in reality, this assumption is too ideal and shallow. First, your brain isn't that easy to trick. A tiny glitch - a slight delay between movement and render, or weird skin texture - will remind you it's fake. More importantly, embodiment alone is just a shallow representation of identity. For example, putting users in a Black body doesn't give them hundreds of years of history or lived experience."
Virtual reality can evoke immediate emotional responses by placing users in first-person experiences. Sense of embodiment can create a temporary illusion that a virtual body is one's own. Small perceptual glitches or unnatural representations quickly break immersion and reveal the simulation. Embodiment alone cannot transmit historical context, cultural membership, or lived experience. Emotional empathy is often transient and does not equate to cognitive empathy or sustained behavioral change. Brief simulations rarely induce long-term attitudes or actions. Sustainable empathy requires prolonged engagement, structural understanding, community relationships, and real-world accountability beyond short VR encounters.
Read at Medium
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