Since 1938 educators have known the best education is experiential. When the student is engaged, having fun and feeling confident they learn more and learn faster. Virtual Reality is well-known to be an effective tool to create experiential learning. After all, you can see, hear, and feel while you are in VR.
% Increase in retention rates for dry materials.
% More likely to seek out more information.
Virtual Reality is Experiential Education
Virtual Reality Generates Empathy and Sustainable Behaviors
The Impact Of Vivid And Personal Messages On Reducing Energy Consumption Related To Hot Water Use
From the Stanford University webpage here.
Research suggests that vivid and personalized interventions influence proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors. Through the use of immersive virtual environment technology, people can experience vivid environmental scenarios that are personalized to the individual. An experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of vivid and/or personal messages on energy savings behavior related to hot water use. Participants experienced a virtual shower in which they received feedback (varying in vividness and/or personalization) on the amount of energy used to heat and transport the virtual water. Participants’ hot water use during hand washing in the physical world was tracked before and after treatment. Participants exposed to vivid messages used cooler water compared with not vivid messages. There was no significant effect for personal messages and no interaction effect. The results suggest that technology that leverages vividness may be effective in promoting proenvironmental behaviors.
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Can Virtual Reality Make You More Empathetic?
The Ultimate Empathy Machine
Chris Milk uses cutting edge technology to produce astonishing films that delight and enchant. But for Milk, the human story is the driving force behind everything he does. In this short, charming talk, he shows some of his collaborations with musicians including Kanye West and Arcade Fire, and describes his latest, mind-bending experiments with virtual reality.
Other Uses of Virtual Reality
Application of VR Technology in Rehabilitation
Virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology with a variety of potential benefits for many aspects of rehabilitation assessment, treatment, and research. Through its capacity to allow the creation and control of dynamic 3-dimensional, ecologically valid stimulus environments within which behavioral responding can be recorded and measured, VR offers clinical assessment and rehabilitation options that are not available with traditional methods. Initial applications of VR in other aspects of medicine and psychology have yielded encouraging results, but continued research and understanding of this evolving technology will be crucial for its effective integration into rehabilitation. This article provides a brief introduction to VR technology, examines the specific benefits VR offers consumers and providers of rehabilitation services and discusses potential areas of application and important considerations in applying this technology. Finally, 2 examples of current Vr applications are presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The application of virtual reality technology in rehabilitation (PDF Download here).