Immersive Econarratives
Designing Immersive Experiences for Communicating Environmental Issues
PhD Research Project - Jacob Thomas
Research increasingly suggests the potential of virtual reality (VR) experiences as means of raising awareness of environmental issues to promote pro-environmental attitude/behaviour change. The potential for interactivity in VR experiences differentiates them from traditional, linear media experiences, and may open the possibility for creating novel spaces which could facilitate reflection on issues to support engagement. However, the role that the unique aspects of VR play in mediating environmental messages is not well understood, and studies present various (and often conflicting) results. In addition, existing research has focused primarily on the mechanical/technical aspects of the VR medium, and less on the interactions between these mechanics and the content of an experience. Furthermore, most studies have investigated the impacts of VR experiences on the attitudes/behaviour of individuals, with less investigation given to social experiences involving multiple participants.
Many studies have framed their investigation through one or more models/theories for behaviour change in environmental psychology. The notion of ‘administering’ a VR experience to an audience as a behaviour change intervention implies the assumption of a dynamic where the designer must persuade a passive audience, and has thus far entailed research methodologies which attempt to quantitatively measure changes in complex concepts like nature connectedness and pro-environmental intentions. This might oversimplify the complicated ways in which individuals grapple with environmental concerns in their own lives.
Planning is underway to design a mixed-methods study with the intention of investigating how audiences respond to a group VR experience on the topic of plastic pollution. Observation of participants during the experience will be coupled with post-experience interviews to assess whether the accounts of participants are consistent with past quantitative results, and with established theories of behaviour change.