Reflecting on Attitudes Towards Death Through the use of Immersive Virtual Reality Commercial Video Games

Abstract

Video games can be an invaluable learning tool beyond pure skill acquisition, such as teaching us how to empathize with others or even self-reflecting on basic existential concerns: isolation, freedom, meaninglessness or death. This is further emphasized with the use of immersive technologies and becomes especially relevant when the experience itself is very difficult to replicate, when not impossible, in the real world. On that regard, this paper analyzes the impact of virtual reality (VR) commercial video games on the existential concern of one's own death. Participants (N 30) played one of three games for 15 minutes and the aftermath was examined using questionnaires and the implicit relational assessment procedure (IRAP). Our results show that there is no difference in the game experience, despite the different gameplay. However, IRAP results seem to indicate that players of the action game have a different attitude towards death.