Homo digitalis

virtual reality in health care and education

Authors

  • André Luiz Schuh Teixeira da Rosa Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4677-3562
  • Daniel Tornaim Spritzer Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7408-6252
  • Nino Cesar Marchi Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6999-8118
  • Andressa Goldman Ruwel Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9006-2309
  • Lara Helena Zortea Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA). Faculdade de Medicina - Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil.
  • Félix Henrique Paim Kessler Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre – Porto Alegre (RS), Brasil. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7059-2564

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23925/1984-4840.2021v23i3/4a8

Keywords:

empathy, educational technology, virtual reality

Abstract

Homo digitalis refers to the man modified by technology. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality allow us to see the world from the perspective of others, being called the “empathy machine”. VR can be used in psychiatry and medical education to promote empathy. A narrative review was conducted on the Medline and Embase platforms, Google Scholar, article reference lists, and technology websites. Articles in English and French were selected, with no time limits for the search. A review of 66 references demonstrated that VR could generate positive cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes, especially in relation to individuals from different groups. Immersive narratives with VR facilitate empathic understanding, putting the user in the perspective of another person. VR is also associated with applied games and functional brain activity studies, indicating potential to generate positive behavioral changes. Larger studies and clinical trials are needed to validate outcome effectiveness and ensure safe and ethical use of the technology. The review demonstrated
promising results and an optimistic view of VR as a tool for generating empathy and promoting mental well-being.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

The Transhumanist Declaration. Transhumanist Values - Nick Bostrom [Internet]. 2002 [acesso em 10 maio 2023]. Disponível em: https://uutampa.org/uuhumanist/shaagdata/history/08xxxx_transhumanist.pdf

Gillings MR, Hilbert M, Kemp DJ. Information in the biosphere: biological and digital worlds. Trends Ecol Evol. 2016;31(3):180–9. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.12.013

Clark A. Supersizing the mind: embodiment, action and cognitive extension. Oxford University Press; 2010.

Belk R. Extended self and the digital world. Curr Opin Psychol. 2016;10:50–4. doi: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.11.003

Schultze U. Embodiment and presence in virtual worlds: a review. J Inf Technol. 2010;25(4):434–49. doi: 10.1057/jit.2009.25

Zuromski D, Fedyniuk A, Marek EM. Can new technologies make us more human? An inquiry on VR technologies in social cognition. Front Psychol. 2018;9:705. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00705

Seligman M. Authentic happiness: using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. Amsterdam: Atria; 2004.

Singer T, Lamm C. The social neuroscience of empathy. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009;1156(1):81–96. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04418.x.

Batson CD, Sager K, Garst E, Kang M, Rubchinsky K, Dawson K. Is empathy-induced helping due to self-other merging? J Pers Soc Psychol. 1997;73(3):495–509. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.3.495a

Batson CD. Self-other merging and the empathy-altruism hypothesis: reply to Neuberg et al. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1997;73(3):517–22. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.73.3.517.

Thompson E. Empathy and consciousness. J Conscious Stud. 2001;8(5-7):1–32.

Bertrand P, Guegan J, Robieux L, McCall CA, Zenasni F. Learning empathy through virtual reality: multiple strategies for training empathy-related abilities using body ownership illusions in embodied virtual reality. Front Robot AI. 2018;5:26. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2018.00026..

de Vignemont F, Singer T. The empathic brain: how, when and why? Trends Cogn Sci. 2006;10(10):435–41. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2006.08.008.

Brooks FP. What’s real about virtual reality? IEEE Comput Graph Appl. 1999;19(6):16–27. doi: 10.1109/38.799723

Gregg L, Tarrier N. Virtual reality in mental health. A review of the literature. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2007;42(5):343–54. doi: 10.1007/s00127-007-0173-4.

Diemer J, Pauli P, Mühlberger A. Virtual reality in psychotherapy. In: Wright JD, editor. International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. Oxford: Elsevier; 2015.p. 138–46.

Riva G, Gaggioli A, Wiederhold BK. Being different: the transformative potential of virtual reality. Front Psychiatr. 2016;7:Article 164. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2016.00164.

Gerry LJ. Virtual reality as a tool to facilitate empathy: embodied simulations and perspective taking in the body of another empathy, embodiment, and self-other perceptions in first-person point-of-view virtual environments. 2017 [acesso em 10 fev. 2023; retirado em 31 mar. 2023]. Disponível em: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319900413

Maister L, Slater M, Sanchez-Vives MV, Tsakiris M. Changing bodies changes minds: owning another body affects social cognition. Trends Cogn Sci. 2015;19(1):6–12. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.11.001

de Borst AW, de Gelder B. Is it the real deal? Perception of virtual characters versus humans: an affective cognitive neuroscience perspective. Front Psychol. 2015;6:576. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00576

Sundar SS, Kang J, Oprean D. Being there in the midst of the story: how immersive journalism affects our perceptions and cognitions. Cyberpsychol Behav Soc Netw. 2017;20(11):672–82. doi: 10.1089/cyber.2017.0271.

Shin D. Empathy and embodied experience in virtual environment: to what extent can virtual reality stimulate empathy and embodied experience? Comput Human Behav. 2018;78:64–73. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.09.012

Schutte NS, Stilinović EJ. Facilitating empathy through virtual reality. Motiv Emot. 2017;41(6):708–12. doi: 10.1007/s11031-017-9641-7

Iacovides I, Cox AL. Moving beyond fun: evaluating serious experience in digital game. In: CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Seoul Republic of Korea. April 18-23, 2015. New York: Association for Computing Machinery; 2015. p. 2245-54. doi: 10.1145/2702123.2702204

Kors MJL, Ferri G, Van Der Spek ED, Ketel C, Schouten BAM. A breathtaking journey. On the design of an empathy-arousing mixed-reality game. In: CHI PLAY '16: The annual symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. October 16-19, 2016. New York: Association for Computing Machinery; 2016. p. 91–104. doi: 10.1145/2967934.2968110

Tordo F, Binkley C. L’auto-empathie, ou le devenir de l’autrui-en-soi: définition et clinique du virtuel. Évol Psychiatr. 2016;81(2):293–308. doi: 10.1016/j.evopsy.2014.02.002

Milk C. How virtual reality can create the ultimate empathy machine. TED2015 [Internet]. 2015 [acesso em 10 fev. 2023]. Disponível em: https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_milk_how_virtual_reality_can_create_the_ultimate_empathy_machine/transcript?language=en

Kalyanaraman S, Penn DL, Ivory JD, Judge A. The virtual doppelganger: effects of a virtual reality simulator on perceptions of schizophrenia. J Nerv Mental Dis. 2010;198(6):437–43. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0b013e3181e07d66.

Glantz K, Durlach NI, Barnett RC, Aviles WA. Virtual reality (VR) for psychotherapy: from the physical to the social environment. Psychotherapy. 1996;33(3):464–73. doi: 10.1037/0033-3204.33.3.464

Published

2023-08-17

How to Cite

1.
Rosa ALST da, Spritzer DT, Marchi NC, Ruwel AG, Zortea LH, Kessler FHP. Homo digitalis: virtual reality in health care and education. Rev. Fac. Ciênc. Méd. Sorocaba [Internet]. 2023Aug.17 [cited 2024Nov.24];23(3/4):110-4. Available from: https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/RFCMS/article/view/62700

Issue

Section

Original Article