Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T21:46:02.884Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

SEEING FROM THE USERS' EYES: AN OUTLOOK TO VIRTUAL-REALITY BASED EMPATHIC DESIGN RESEARCH

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Xinhui Hu*
Affiliation:
University of Oulu
Vijayakumar Nanjappan
Affiliation:
University of Oulu
Georgi V. Georgiev
Affiliation:
University of Oulu
*
Hu, Xinhui, University of Oulu, Center for Ubiquitous Computing, Finland, [email protected]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The extent to which designers can understand users often determines the quality of design outcomes. A deep understanding of users allows the designers to focus on the right problem and make optimal design decisions, which encouraged designers to empathize with users. However, the current imagination-based empathizing strategy appears to be too susceptible to their previous experience and knowledge, which has been questioned concerning effectiveness and accuracy. On the other hand, Virtual Reality (VR) technology provides an opportunity for designers to gain experience-driven empathy by immersing them in a virtual environment that mimics the users' surroundings as if they are seeing the world from users' eyes. While abundant studies covered empathy VR and empathy for design, limited attention has been paid to the chance of bringing VR, empathy, and design research together. Addressing this gap, this study explored literature across domains, identified major concerns about this approach, synthesized the evidence, and discussed the feasibility and validity of the VR-based empathic design research approach.

Type
Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

References

Ahn, S., Le, A. and Bailenson, J. (2013), “The Effect of Embodied Experiences on Self-Other Merging, Attitude, and Helping Behavior”, Media Psychology, Routledge, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 738. 10.1080/15213269.2012.755877CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ash, E. (2016), “Priming or Proteus Effect? Examining the Effects of Avatar Race on In-Game Behavior and Post-Play Aggressive Cognition and Affect in Video Games”, Games and Culture, SAGE Publications, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 422440. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412014568870CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailenson, J., Blascovich, J. and Beall, A. (2003), “Interpersonal Distance in Immersive Virtual Environments”, Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 29, pp. 819–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167203029007002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Banakou, D., Groten, R. and Slater, M. (2013), “Illusory ownership of a virtual child body causes overestimation of object sizes and implicit attitude changes”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110 No. 31, pp. 1284612851. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1306779110CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Batson, C.D., Early, S. and Salvarani, G. (1997), “Perspective Taking: Imagining How Another Feels Versus Imaging How You Would Feel”, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 23 No. 7, pp. 751758. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167297237008CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernhardt, B.C. and Singer, T. (2012), “The Neural Basis of Empathy”, Annual Review of Neuroscience, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 123. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150536CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bollmer, G. (2017), “Empathy machines”, Media International Australia, Vol. 165 No. 1, pp. 6376. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X17726794CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bombari, D., Schmid Mast, M., Canadas, E. and Bachmann, M. (2015), “Studying social interactions through immersive virtual environment technology: virtues, pitfalls, and future challenges”, Frontiers in Psychology, Frontiers, Vol. 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00869Google Scholar
Bošnjaković, J. and Radionov, T. (2018), “Empathy: Concepts, Theories and Neuroscientific Basis”, Alcoholism and Psychiatry Research: Journal on Psychiatric Research and Addictions, Vol. 54 No. 2, pp. 123150. https://doi.org/10.20471/dec.2018.54.02.04CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bujić, M., Salminen, M., Macey, J. and Hamari, J. (2020), “‘Empathy machine’: how virtual reality affects human rights attitudes”, Internet Research, Emerald Publishing Limited, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 14071425. https://doi.org/10.1108/INTR-07-2019-0306Google Scholar
Chang-Arana, Á.M., Piispanen, M., Himberg, T., Surma-aho, A., Alho, J., Sams, M. and Hölttä-Otto, K. (2020), “Empathic accuracy in design: Exploring design outcomes through empathic performance and physiology”, Design Science, Cambridge University Press, Vol. 6. https://doi.org/10.1017/dsj.2020.14Google Scholar
Coleman, R., Lebbon, C. and Myerson, J. (2003), “Design and empathy”, in Clarkson, J., Keates, S., Coleman, R. and Lebbon, C. (Eds.), Inclusive Design: Design for the Whole Population, Springer, London, pp. 478499. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-0001-0_29CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, M.H., Conklin, L., Smith, A. and Luce, C. (1996), “Effect of perspective taking on the cognitive representation of persons: A merging of self and other”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 70 No. 4, pp. 713726. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.70.4.713CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Decety, J. (2011), “Dissecting the Neural Mechanisms Mediating Empathy”, Emotion Review, Vol. 3 No. 1, pp. 92108. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073910374662CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Devecchi, A. and Guerrini, L. (2017), “Empathy and Design. A new perspective”, The Design Journal, Vol. 20 No. sup1, pp. S4357S4364. https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2017.1352932CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eres, R. (2016), “Scanning for empathy”, Australasian Science, Vol. 37 No. 2, p. 30. https://doi/10.3316/INFORMIT.146323167516241Google Scholar
Garau, M., Slater, M., Pertaub, D.-P. and Razzaque, S. (2005), “The Responses of People to Virtual Humans in an Immersive Virtual Environment”, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, MIT Press, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 104116. https://doi.org/10.1162/1054746053890242CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gillath, O., McCall, C., Shaver, P.R. and Blascovich, J. (2008), “What Can Virtual Reality Teach Us About Prosocial Tendencies in Real and Virtual Environments?”, Media Psychology, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 259282. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213260801906489CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrera, F., Bailenson, J., Weisz, E., Ogle, E. and Zaki, J. (2018), “Building long-term empathy: A large-scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking”, PLOS ONE, Vol. 13 No. 10, p. e0204494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204494CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heyselaar, E., Hagoort, P. and Segaert, K. (2017), “In dialogue with an avatar, language behavior is identical to dialogue with a human partner”, Behavior Research Methods, Vol. 49 No. 1, pp. 4660. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-015-0688-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hu, X., Georgiev, G.V. and Casakin, H. (2020), “Mitigating Design Fixation with Evolving Extended Reality Technology: An Emerging Opportunity”, Proceedings of the Design Society: DESIGN Conference, Cambridge University Press, Vol. 1, pp. 13051314. https://doi.org/10.1017/dsd.2020.91Google Scholar
Hu, X., & Georgiev, G. V. (2020). Opportunities with Uncertainties: The Outlook of Virtual Reality in the Early Stages of Design. Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Design Creativity (ICDC 2020), Oulu, Finland, 215222. https://doi.org/10.35199/ICDC.2020.27CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, S. (2017), “Disrupting the narrative: immersive journalism in virtual reality”, Journal of Media Practice, Routledge, Vol. 18 No. 2-3, pp. 171185. https://doi.org/10.1080/14682753.2017.1374677CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koskinen, I., Mattelmäki, T. and Battarbee, K. (2003), Empathic Design.Google Scholar
Kouprie, M. and Visser, F.S. (2009), “A framework for empathy in design: stepping into and out of the user's life”, Journal of Engineering Design, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 437448. https://doi.org/10.1080/09544820902875033CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lam, N. (2015), Investigating the Impact of Virtual Actors in Priming on Presence in Virtual Reality, Master of Science (Human-Computer Interaction with Ergonomics), University College London.Google Scholar
Laws, A.L.S. (2020), “Can Immersive Journalism Enhance Empathy?”, Digital Journalism, Routledge, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 213228. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2017.1389286CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leonard, D. and Rayport, J. (1997), “Spark Innovation Through Empathic Design”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 75, pp. 102–13.Google ScholarPubMed
Liu, Y. (2020), “The application of virtual reality in empathy establishment: Foresee the future”, presented at the 2020 5th International Conference on Computational Intelligence and Applications (ICCIA), pp. 188193. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCIA49625.2020.00043CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loon, A. van, Bailenson, J., Zaki, J., Bostick, J. and Willer, R. (2018), “Virtual reality perspective-taking increases cognitive empathy for specific others”, PLOS ONE, Vol. 13 No. 8, p. e0202442. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202442CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
McDonagh, D. and Thomas, J. (2010), “Disability + Relevant Design: Empathic Design Strategies Supporting More Effective New Product Design Outcomes”, The Design Journal, Vol. 13, pp. 180198. https://doi.org/10.2752/175470710X12735884220899CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peck, T.C., Seinfeld, S., Aglioti, S.M. and Slater, M. (2013), “Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias”, Consciousness and Cognition, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 779787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2013.04.016CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peña, J., Hancock, J.T. and Merola, N.A. (2009), “The Priming Effects of Avatars in Virtual Settings”, Communication Research, SAGE Publications Inc, Vol. 36 No. 6, pp. 838856. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650209346802CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, P.A. and Roberts, J. (2017), “Situational determinants of cognitive, affective, and compassionate empathy in naturalistic digital interactions”, Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 68, pp. 137148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.11.024CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, A. and Dambha-Miller, H. (2019), “Empathy as a state beyond feeling: a patient and clinician perspective”, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, Vol. 112 No. 2, pp. 5760. https://doi.org/10.1177/0141076818790665CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ratan, R. (2013), “Self-Presence, Explicated: Body, Emotion, and Identity Extension into the Virtual Self”, Handbook of Research on Technoself: Identity in a Technological Society, IGI Global, pp. 322336. https://doi:10.4018/978-1-4666-2211-1.ch018CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinhard, R., Shah, K., Faust-Christmann, C. and Lachmann, T. (2020), “Acting your avatar's age: effects of virtual reality avatar embodiment on real life walking speed”, Media Psychology, Routledge, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 293315. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2019.1598435CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, R. and Allen, P. (2018), “Empathy Is not Evidence: 4 Traps of Commodified Empathy”, Ethnographic Praxis in Industry Conference Proceedings, Vol. 2018 No. 1, pp. 104124. https://doi.org/10.1111/1559-8918.2018.01199CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Rooij, A., Corr, P and Jones, S. (2017), “Creativity and Emotion: Enhancing Creative Thinking by the Manipulation of Computational Feedback to Determine Emotional Intensity”, Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition, Association for Computing Machinery, Singapore, Singapore, pp. 148157. https://doi.org/10.1145/3059454.3059469CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schutte, N. and Stilinović, E. (2017), “Facilitating empathy through virtual reality”, Motivation and Emotion, Vol. 41 No. 6, pp. 708712. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-017-9641-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shamay-Tsoory, S.G., Aharon-Peretz, J. and Perry, D. (2009), “Two systems for empathy: a double dissociation between emotional and cognitive empathy in inferior frontal gyrus versus ventromedial prefrontal lesions”, Brain, Vol. 132 No. 3, pp. 617627. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awn279CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slater, M., Antley, A., Davison, A., Swapp, D., Guger, C., Barker, C., Pistrang, N., et al. . (2006), “A Virtual Reprise of the Stanley Milgram Obedience Experiments”, PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, Vol. 1 No. 1, p. e39. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0000039CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ventura, S., Badenes-Ribera, L., Herrero, R., Cebolla, A., Galiana, L. and Baños, R. (2020), “Virtual Reality as a Medium to Elicit Empathy: A Meta-Analysis”, Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2019.0681CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yagil, Y. (2015), “The Physiology of Empathy: Theoretical and Practical Implications”, Encountering Empathy, p. 3.Google Scholar
Yee, N. and Bailenson, J. (2006), “Walk a mile in digital shoes: The impact of embodied perspective-taking on the reduction of negative stereotyping in immersive virtual environments”, Proceedings of PRESENCE 2006: The 9th Annual International Workshop on Presence, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.Google Scholar
Yee, N. and Bailenson, J. (2007), “The Proteus Effect: The Effect of Transformed Self-Representation on Behavior”, Human Communication Research, Oxford Academic, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 271290. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2958.2007.00299.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar