The Stigma Machine: A Study of the Prosocial Impact of Immersive VR Narratives on Youth in Spain and Canada

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly employed to create immersive, interactive audiovisual narratives that accentuate emotion, storytelling, and user engagement. By harnessing the potential of VR, these avant-garde narratives aim to instill values of equity, justice, and fairness. This article critically examines the largely unsubstantiated assertion that VR is the ultimate tool for fostering empathy by means of a qualitative evaluation of the influence of prosocial VR audiovisual narratives. The study involved the production of the first episode of <em>The Stigma Machine</em>, a VR short film series in both traditional 2D and immersive VR formats, in a two-pronged production approach designed to examine the effects of the film on a sample of 44 university students from Spain (<em>n</em> = 22) and Canada (<em>n</em> = 22). The participants were segregated into two groups: Group 1 (1st VR Condition) viewed the VR experience first, followed by the traditional version, while Group 2 (1st Video Condition) viewed the two formats in reverse order. Data was collected before, during, and after viewing, using standardized questionnaires (interpersonal reactivity index, basic empathy scale, and Igroup presence questionnaire) and electroencephalogram devices to monitor brain activity. The dependent variables included: empathy, assessed using the interpersonal reactivity index and basic empathy scale surveys; electroencephalogram brain activity measures, indicating engagement, excitement, focus, interest, relaxation, and stress; presence, evaluated using the Igroup presence questionnaire; and various outcome variables. The results reveal no significant differences in presence and no significant changes to the empathy scores. The findings point to a need to focus more on narrative design and audiovisual content creation strategies than on VR technology itself.