Virtual Empathy
AN EXPERIMENT INVESTIGATING VIRTUAL EMPATHY, 2016
Graphics, Vision and Visualisation Group at Trinity College Dublin (IE)
What happens to the empathy levels of users when virtual characters are depicted in emotionally charged scenarios? This experiment measures the level of responsiveness and warmth visitors have towards virtual characters in highly immersive virtual reality.
When they don an Oculus Rift and co-exist with an avatar in virtual reality, do visitors have higher levels of rapport with the character than they would with a typical character displayed in movies and games? Will high levels of visual realism in the character affect their empathy levels?
The project involves visitors making decisions about the feelings they are experiencing while co-existing with realistic virtual humans, seeking a deeper understanding of human empathy.
BIO
The Graphics, Vision and Visualisation group (GV2) at Trinity College Dublin is an internationally active research group dedicated to carrying out innovative research in computer graphics, computer vision and all aspects of visual computing.