Approaching Difficult Terrain with Sensitivity: A Virtual Reality Game on the Five Stages of Grief

Abstract

Educating about death is a challenging task as facing death generally poses a severe and stressful situation. We present 5Days, an immersive virtual reality game in which the player has to proceed through five different levels, which are designed on the basis of the five stages of grief described by Kubler-Ross: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Immersed in an atmospheric virtual world, the five levels instigate reflection and education about these stages. Based on early feedback from palliative care specialists, we argue that the realised concept could be a new entry point into the education and reflection of death, especially for medical students and personnel.