In this episode, we dive into the world of Virtual Reality and prejudice reduction. We explore whether embodying a different avatar can truly build empathy, when these immersive experiences might backfire and inadvertently increase bias, how researchers are using VR to tackle real-world problems like hiring discrimination and what the future holds for this powerful technology.

The episode features Cassandra Crone and Dr Matilde Tassinari. We learned a lot from them, so we hope you enjoy the conversation as well!Please get in touch with any thoughts and suggestions. You can reach Emine at emine.bilgen@btu.edu.tr or Lukas at l.wallrich@bbk.ac.uk - or email contactresearchnetwork@gmail.com

If you want to find out more about our guests and their work, they recommended the following papers to start:

Crone, C. L., Richardson, M. J., & Kallen, R. (2025). Can Virtual Reality Improve Cisgender-Transgender Relations? Embodied Interactions in Perspective Taking and Intergroup Contact. OSF Preprint, https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ezrnw_v1

Tassinari, M., Aulbach, M. B., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2022). The use of virtual reality in studying prejudice and its reduction: A systematic review. PloS one, 17(7), e0270748. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270748

Cover photo by Nicolas Arnold on Unsplash