Embodied time travel in VR: from witnessing climate change to action for prevention
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Pi, Yuke; Pan, Xueni; Slater, Mel and Świdrak, Justyna. 2025. Embodied time travel in VR: from witnessing climate change to action for prevention. Frontiers in Virtual Reality, 5, 1499835. ISSN 2673-4192 [Article]
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Abstract or Description
This study explores the impact of embodied experiences in Virtual Reality (VR) on individuals’ attitudes and behavior towards climate change. A total of 41 participants were divided into two groups: an embodied group that interacted with a virtual environment through full-body avatars, and a non-embodied group that observed the scenarios from an invisible observer’s point of view. The VR experience simulated the progressive consequences of climate change across three generations within a family, aiming to make the abstract and relatively distant concept of climate change a tangible and personal issue. The final scene presented an optimistic scenario of a future where humans had successfully combated climate change through collective action. The evidence suggests that there is an effect of the scenario on the carbon footprint response, even 6 weeks after the VR exposure, irrespective of condition. Additionally, increases were found in participants’ perceived influence on climate action and engagement in pro-environmental behaviors, with the embodied group showing a more pronounced response in the short term. These findings suggest that immersive VR experiences that incorporate virtual embodiment can be an effective tool in enhancing awareness and motivating pro-environmental behavior by providing a powerful and personal perspective on the impacts of climate change.
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Article |
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Funding: The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work received support from the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/W003120/1) to YP and XP, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AH/T011416/1) to XP. MS is partially supported by the European Union-funded Horizon Europe project “environMENTAL” (101057429) and co-funding by United Kingdom Research and Innovation under the United Kingdom Government’s Horizon Europe funding guarantee (10041392 and 10038599) and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) National Key Project of “Inter-governmental International Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation” (2023YFE0199700). Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union, the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA) or UKRI. Neither the European Union nor HADEA nor UKRI can be held responsible for them. |
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| Data Access Statement: |
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation. |
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| Keywords: |
climate change, virtual reality, embodiment, environmental attitudes, time travel |
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| Item ID: |
38218 |
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| Date Deposited: |
28 Jan 2025 10:25 |
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| Last Modified: |
28 Jan 2025 10:27 |
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Peer Reviewed: |
Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed. |
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