Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Nov 9:7:506984.
doi: 10.3389/frobt.2020.506984. eCollection 2020.

Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects

Jon Rueda  1 , Francisco Lara  1
Affiliations

Virtual Reality and Empathy Enhancement: Ethical Aspects

Jon Rueda et al. Front Robot AI. .

Abstract

The history of humankind is full of examples that indicate a constant desire to make human beings more moral. Nowadays, technological breakthroughs might have a significant impact on our moral character and abilities. This is the case of Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. The aim of this paper is to consider the ethical aspects of the use of VR in enhancing empathy. First, we will offer an introduction to VR, explaining its fundamental features, devices and concepts. Then, we will approach the characterization of VR as an "empathy machine," showing why this medium has aroused so much interest and why, nevertheless, we do not believe it is the ideal way to enhance empathy. As an alternative, we will consider fostering empathy-related abilities through virtual embodiment in avatars. In the conclusion, however, we will examine some of the serious concerns related to the ethical relevance of empathy and will defend the philosophical case for a reason-guided empathy, also suggesting specific guidelines for possible future developments of empathy enhancement projects through VR embodied experiences.

Keywords: applied ethics; empathy; empathy enhancement; moral enhancement; moral psychology; neuroethics; virtual embodiment; virtual reality.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Abu-Akel A., Palgi S., Klein E., Decety J., Shamay-Tsoory S. (2015). Oxytocin increases empathy to pain when adopting the other–but not the self-perspective. Soc. Neurosci. 10, 7–15. 10.1080/17470919.2014.948637 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Adida C. L., Lo A., Platas M. L. (2018). Perspective-taking can promote short-term inclusionary behavior toward syrian refugees. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115, 9521–9526. 10.1073/pnas.1804002115 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahn S. J., Bostick J., Ogle E., Nowak K. L., McGillicuddy K. T., Bailenson J. N. (2016). Experiencing nature: embodying animals in immersive virtual environments increases inclusion of nature in self and involvement with nature. J. Comput. Mediat. Commun. 21, 399–419. 10.1111/jcc4.12173 - DOI
    1. Ahn S. J., Le A. M., Bailenson J. (2013). The effect of embodied experiences on self-other merging, attitude, and helping behaviour. Media Psychol. 16, 7–38. 10.1080/15213269.2012.755877 - DOI
    1. Archer D., Finger K. (2018). Walking in Another's Virtual Shoes: Do 360-Degree Video News Stories Generate Empathy in Viewers? New York, NY: Tow Center for Digital Journalism, Columbia University; 10.7916/D8669W5C - DOI