The Empathy Lens: Gaining Insights through Immersive Learning

In an era rife with distrust and misunderstanding, empathy can be difficult to achieve. While some people have the best intentions, racial, gender, religious, and other biases are often evidenced in our daily interactions. But what if we can view the world from someone else’s perspective? Research has shown that understanding the perspective of another and exposure to diverse others can foster empathy and reduce implicit bias. The Empathy Lens is a cross-campus collaboration—including faculty, students, and executive leaders—to leverage emerging XR tools to help people learn about themselves and others. Using 360-degree immersive video, the Empathy Lens enables learners to experience what someone else is thinking and feeling. In addition to enabling participants to experience implicit bias and microaggressions from multiple perspectives, the Empathy Lens enhances empathy through complementary virtual tools (such as online forums and storytelling) as a platform for people to engage with fellow learners to develop empathy and understanding through these virtual interactions. This session will demonstrate how SDSU is building on a small but growing body of research demonstrating how this type of multi-sensory, multi-format, immersive learning method can be more effective and engaging compared with conventional professional development delivery modalities.