Empathic Skills Training in Virtual Reality: A Scoping Review

Abstract

This scoping review identifies and summarizes previous research exploring the efficacy of Virtual Reality (VR) training for empathy and compassion. We clarify working definitions of empathy and compassion by breaking the constructs into emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. These components correspond to three key design features of immersive VR technologies: biofeedback, perspective-taking, and simulation. Although previous reviews address techniques for empathy-enhancement in VR, there is no comprehensive exploration of the topic of empathy training in VR. This paper presents findings on VR empathy training to date, research gaps, and recommendations for future research.