iStrayPaws: Immersing in a Stray Animal's World through First-Person VR to Bridge Human-Animal Empathy

While Virtual Reality Perspective-Taking (VRPT) demonstrates its efficiency in inducing empathy, its application primarily focuses on vulnerable humans, not animals. Existing animal-related works mainly targets farm animals and wildlife. In this work, we focus on stray animals and introduce iStrayPaws, a VRPT system that simulates stray animals’ challenging lives. The system offers users an immersive first-person journey into the world of stray animals encountering different difficulties like inclement weather, hunger, and illnesses. Enriched with audio-visual and kinesthetic design, the system seeks to deepen users’ understanding of stray animals’ life and foster profound emotional connections. To evaluate the system, a user study was conducted, which showed that VRPT recipients exhibited significant improvement in both state and trait empathy compared to traditional method. Our research not only delivers a novel, accessible, and interactive animal empathy experience but also provides innovative solutions for addressing stray animal issues and advancing broader animal welfare work.