Virtual Human Libraries and the Efficacy Effect of VR: Power of Stories Reflection
This week’s focus on “The Power of Stories” allowed me to reflect on the massive impact technology is having on changing the modality of human storytelling and the ripple effect those changes have on the depth at which audiences are able to connect with the human stories they are told and the people that sit at the heart of them.
The Human Library program is a shining example of how human stories connect people. By engaging users with the first-hand stories of the misunderstood, the stereotyped, and the marginalized of their communities, the program fosters a rich dialogue that challenges preconceived notions and prejudices through direct human connection (Wentz, 2013). What I find so compelling about the Human Library is that it treats human story as a service. The service being access to a first-person perspective – to weigh against one’s own, to stand as a counterpoint against, to help confirm or redress assumptions. Users can lean on the insight of the “book” just as they can hire a consultant or advisor.
A few semesters ago, I took the fabulous Feel the Learn course here at SJSU. The program explored the myriad ways the library can advance VR & AR technologies (commonly referred in tandem as XR) to deliver cutting edge, impactful programming. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, when we look past the many gaming applications of XR technologies, we can find the same types of engaging lived experience stories that we find the Human Library being told in highly impactful, medium-exclusive ways on mass-market XR devices. The VR for Good collection in the Meta Quest store is a great example of a repository of such human stories featuring, “Narratives that examine the treatment of people belonging to any race, religion, gender, and sexual identity [that] aims to use these stories to promote connection, empathy and equality for all.” Like the Human Library, XR experiences also invite participants to consider perspectives they might typically disregard or otherwise never consider. While virtual experiences cannot replace the vulnerability and responsiveness of a face-to-face conversation with a survivor of trauma or societal neglect, it does give the user access to something completely unique to the modality – embodiment.
The real power behind XR formats is the embodiment of perspective-taking, the psychological and physical illusion of owning and inhabiting a virtual body, that helps participants more completely feel the reality of the other by virtually lacing the user into their shoes. A large body of research from Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) shows that VR can significantly enhance our ability to empathize with marginalized groups. In VHIL’s own Becoming Homeless, participants move through scenarios connected to housing insecurity, including trying to save their home and protect their belongings. Their research uses this and other virtual experiences to measure how engaging with them can influence empathy and behavior in the user. Findings show that participating in immersive VR experiences highlighting the lived experiences of individuals from diverse backgrounds has been shown to promote empathy, reduce biases, and spur prosocial behaviors toward these excluded communities at levels greater than traditional storytelling methods can produce (Herrera et. al., 2018).
This makes me wonder how libraries might use XR as a companion to programs like the Human Library. As a place users come to both connect with their community and to experience new and emerging technologies, marrying the two seems like a natural union. A library could host a Human Library event where community members share their lived experiences, while also offering VR or AR experiences that deepen reflection around related topics such as homelessness, disability, immigration, aging, neurodivergence, or environmental justice. In doing so, the library would become a bridge between conversation and immersion, between hearing someone’s story and briefly inhabiting a designed version of their world.
At the same time, I think libraries must approach this carefully. Empathy should not become entertainment, and marginalized lives should not be turned into spectacles. The most meaningful XR programs would need to be created with, not just about, the communities being represented.
For me, the connection between the Human Library and XR is the belief that stories can change how we see one another. Whether through conversation or immersion, libraries can help people move beyond stereotypes and toward recognition, understanding, and action.
References
Herrera, F., Bailenson, J., Weisz, E., Ogle, E., & Zaki, J. (2018). Building long-term empathy: A large-scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking. PloS One, 13(10), e0204494–e0204494. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0204494
Wentz, E. (2013, April 26). The human library: Sharing the community with itself. Public Libraries Online. https://publiclibrariesonline.org/2013/04/human_librar/
