XR for Pro-social Behaviour Change: From Empathy to Assistance

Pro-social behaviour, in the simplest term, is defined as acts of help and assistance. An altruistic pro-social action refers to the intent to extend this help to others, be it the people around you or a specific target audience such as the elderly, disabled patients, and so on. An egoistic pro-social action, on the other hand, refers to self-help. An effective intervention to trigger a pro-social behaviour change can ultimately create a positive impact starting from a single individual to the global society. Such an intervention may exist in many forms, and this research topic proposes the exploration of XR technology to trigger pro-social behaviour change.

Augmented, virtual and mixed reality, which is collectively referred to as extended reality (XR), provides sensory feedback unlike any other. It transcends our perception of reality, enabling us to cultivate behaviour that is beneficial to not just ourselves but society as a whole. For XR to be able to trigger pro-social behaviour change, this research topic explores the journey from empathy to assistance. Past works have explored the use of XR as a tool for empathy, often being called the “ultimate empathy machine” due to how it can immerse individuals to experience the life of another from a realistic perspective and with immersive sensory stimuli. Such an experience can create a cognitive and emotional change that reflects our ability to feel for another. Yet, it is important to push the boundaries beyond just feeling to also include acting on another. What is empathy if it only achieves the ability to feel for another, but no direct assistance is provided? An Assistive XR experience refers to this action; an exploration of how XR as a tool can share the experience and ultimately lead to tangible assistance.

This research topic aims to explore how XR can promote pro-social behaviour change, from awareness content that promotes empathy to assistive tools to help those in need. For effective behaviour change to happen, we are interested in novel artefact contributions, empirical evaluations involving longitudinal studies, co-designing with target users, and theoretical discussions regarding XR for pro-social behaviour change.

We welcome submissions from a wide range of topics, including but not limited to the following:

- Perception and Behaviour Change from XR
- Cognitive and Emotional Empathy
- Empathic and Affective Computing
- Assistive Augmentation with XR
- XR solutions for therapy and self-help
- Experience Sharing with XR
- Evaluating physiological and emotional states
- Social Impact of XR
- Learning, Training and Information Transfer

Keywords: Extended reality, Pro-social behavior, Empathy, Assistance, XR

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.