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We know its most common uses: it makes
video games
provide
hyper-realistic sensations,
we can
travel
to distant places or play a game of paddle tennis without leaving the couch, and it even
gives life to an exhibition.
But what if virtual reality (VR) could be used to
prepare us for childbirth?
Or to promote
equality at work?
Or even so that people who have never experienced it could feel firsthand - as an avatar - what
sexual harassment means?
This last is precisely the question that entrepreneur and technology expert Morgan Mercer
asked herself ,
and that led her to found the first
immersive reality
company to raise awareness about
equality at work in the
United States,
Vantage Point .
"From my own experience as
a victim of sexual violence,
I knew how difficult it was to talk about this topic with friends and even family. Also, that society lacks a lot of education in this regard," she explains to YO DONA.
"At the same time, as a technology lover, I was convinced that, although it can cause apathy, in the immersive version of it it contributes to
generating empathy
and making the world a more human place," she adds.
Sexual harassment 'in the flesh'
The first tests proved him right;
Virtual reality achieved an effect that neither manuals nor seminars could achieve.
With their glasses or
headsets
on their heads and through an
avatar
- a digital character with which we identify and move in virtual reality - the participants in the Vantage Point sessions witnessed
harassment situations at work
in which they were asked them to react by choosing between several options.
Each of them had a direct and different impact on the
outcome
and, "at the end, many men came up to me to tell me that they had never even remotely imagined what sexual harassment could mean," Mercer details.
Today, Vantage Point has expanded the topics of the sessions it teaches, ranging from the
black lives matter
movement to
bullying in schools.
And the uses of virtual reality have also increased with a direct impact on women's lives, ranging from
preparation for childbirth
or
breastfeeding
to
self-defense.
Located in Alcobendas,
Gestaverso
is the first Spanish
virtual reality
company for pregnant women.
María Cantos,
midwife, CEO and founder together with
Juan Carlos Domínguez,
explains that the idea arose from seeing "the
fear
with which women went into
childbirth."
Knowing the good results of
simulation
as a
learning method,
"we decided to export it to the
world of gynecology and obstetrics
, and create this simulation center for mothers and fathers, where they can come from week 34," she adds. It, headsets and the pressure that midwives exert on certain points to simulate, with less intensity, physical pain, allow us to virtually reproduce from the moment contractions begin
at
home until
arrival at the hospital
and
delivery . The 250 euros that each session costs
are
not simulated, but Gestaverso provides a preparation that, with home births banished, today is difficult to obtain in any other way.
Self-defense without leaving... your glasses
The situations reproducible through virtual reality are infinite and also allow you to learn
self-defense
in a safe environment, explain the creators of
Fight Back VR.
The latter is an educational experience in virtual reality with which, according to the previous ones, "you can learn to
avoid danger and conflict,
increase
self-confidence
when participating in social and economic systems, improve your own ability of conflict resolution and learning self-defense.
Thus, compared to theories that predict
social isolation
as a consequence of the incorporation of virtual reality into society, there are those who trust that it can achieve just the opposite: generate empathy and create a better society, and not only for women.
This is, at least, the conclusion of a
study
carried out by the prestigious
Stanford University,
in the United States, which has been analyzing the impact of virtual reality on people's empathy for almost 20 years.
"Our experiences define us as humans, so it is understandable that an intense experience in virtual reality has a greater impact than any other," explains
Jeremy Bailenson,
professor of Communication at Stanford University and co-author of the study.
Virtual reality wants to make us better people
The latter is based on an
experiment
called
'Becoming Homeless',
developed at the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Laboratory, founded by Bailenson himself.
In it, and with the help of a narrator, participants live in interactive virtual reality different scenarios that could occur if they lost their job.
In one of them, for example, they are asked to look around and look for items to sell in an apartment to pay the rent.
In another, they end up sheltered on a city bus while trying to prevent a stranger from stealing their belongings.
In line with the opinion expressed by Morgan Mercer, the researchers found that the participants were more likely to develop a
positive attitude
towards homeless people than those who had only read or seen a two-dimensional document on the same topic and with the same situations.
And they were even more willing to sign a petition in support of housing subsidies.
Thus, Jeremy Bailenson is convinced that
virtual reality
can become a
force for good
.
"My virtual laboratory at Stanford has been studying the relationship between
empathy
and virtual reality for 20 years. Every year dozens of leaders of organizations and NGOs visit us, who often ask me if, scientifically, virtual reality generates empathy. I tell them that
creates experiences,
and that experiences can cause empathy."
Save the barrier reef
Thus, it is not surprising that Bailenson's team has expanded its experiments to the field of
environmental awareness,
for example, with a study in which participants swim for eight minutes in VR over a barrier reef.
Once the experience is over, they are asked if they are interested in knowing more about
ocean conservation,
and the answer is generally positive and unanimous.
"
Empathy
is the ability to share and understand the feelings of another person. Perspective taking is the ability to understand and understand the feelings of another person. Virtual reality has a unique aspect, and that is that it allows us to live for a few minutes in the someone else's skin," summarizes Bailenson.
The social potential of virtual reality can also contribute to
alleviating the effects of loneliness
or
anxiety
that some feel when interacting in society, experts say.
Not in vain, they project that, in our daily lives, health will be precisely the aspect in which virtual and augmented reality - a mixture of the physical and virtual world - will impact us the most in the future.
While, currently, it is already possible to treat the phobia of flying or spiders using simulation with virtual reality, or even mitigate certain chronic pain through the relaxation provided by some content experienced with a headset, in a few years VR could revolutionize
therapies rehabilitation
or even the
use of medications.
Specifically, the combination of virtual reality glasses with
haptic devices,
which simulate tactile sensations when we touch them or wear them, will allow patients with nerve damage to practice everyday actions in safe digital environments.
VR against depression
But in addition, VR could even replace
drugs for depression
or painkillers.
Not in vain, the American company
BrainWay
is already studying the treatment of the former through virtual reality, and it is not the only one.
The potential of VR to go beyond video games and improve certain aspects of people's lives is clear, as demonstrated by the fact that large technology companies continue to commit to launching their own virtual reality
glasses
-
Apple
launched the theirs in the United States the first week of January, but their arrival in Europe is to be determined.
We will have to wait to see if these effects are virtual or real.
Virtual reality