Seeing is Not Thinking: Testing Capabilities of VR to Promote Perspective-Taking

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies offer compelling experiences by allowing users to immerse themselves in simulated environments interacting through avatars. However, despite its ability to evoke emotional responses, and seeing ‘through the eyes’ of the displayed other, it remains unclear to what extent VR actually fosters perspective-taking (PT) or thinking about others' thoughts and feelings. It might be that the common belief that one can “become someone else” through VR is misleading, and that engaging situations through a different viewpoint does not produce a different cognitive standpoint. To test this, we conducted a 2 (perspective, first-person or third-person) by 2 (perspective-taking task or no task) to examine effects on perspective taking, measured via audio-recordings afforded by the think-aloud protocol. Our data demonstrate that while first-person perspective (1PP) facilitates perceived embodiment, it has no appreciable influence on perspective-taking. Regardless of 1PP or third-person perspective (3PP), perspective-taking was substantially and significantly increased when users were given a specific task prompting them to actively consider a character's perspective. Without such tasks, it seems that participants default to their own viewpoints. These data highlight the need for intentional design in VR experiences to consider content rather than simply viewpoint as key to authentic perspective-taking. To truly harness VR's potential as an “empathy machine,” developers must integrate targeted perspective-taking tasks or story prompts, ensuring that cognitive engagement is an active component of the experience.