The mediating role of technology affordances in virtual reality perspective-taking: a systematic literature review

The burgeoning interest in Virtual Reality (VR) extends even to non-profit organizations, harnessing the immersive powers of VR for pro-social advocacy. VR User Experience (UX) offers unique affordances such as immersion, presence, and embodiment, engaging human senses more profoundly than conventional media channels. Empirical studies underscore VR's potential to heighten awareness, evoke empathy, and stimulate prosocial and parasocial thought-action tendencies in response to perspective-taking scenarios. In our systematic review, we examined 66 records from an initial screening of 7026 studies. Our research inquiries encompassed an exploration of the existing typology of prosocial outcomes studied in VR Perspective Taking (VRPT) literature, the identification of specific technology affordances acting as mediators, and studying how these distinct technological affordances interplay within the context of VRPT-mediated prosocial behaviors. Results indicate that VRPT empowers users to adopt diverse perspectives, from first-person immersion to third-person sympathetic engagement, with technology affordances playing a key role in mediating a positive UX. This review substantially advances our understanding of the intricate relationship between perspective-taking, technology affordances and prosocial user behaviors within the domain of VRPT research.