Virtual Reality

New research finds it's an effective way to step into the shoes of someone less fortunate.

• By Tom Jacobs

Chinese researchers demonstrate how high-tech tools can be used to harness the power of metaphor.

• By Tom Jacobs

The most disturbing insight into the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal has little to do with either Facebook or Cambridge Analytica.

• By Jared Keller

Today, Karutz creates and designs direct-media experiences—using both virtual reality and augmented reality—that tell stories concerning the environment and science.

• By Rosie Spinks

A reduction roughly equivalent to a dose of morphine.

• By Tom Jacobs

From cave art to virtual reality, a timeline of communication methods.

• By Morgan Baskin & Jack Denton

The cheapest VR out there has already saved a life.

• By Elena Gooray

The tensions at this year's summit have yielded scenes of strange beauty.

• By Ted Scheinman

Immersive journalism uses virtual reality to insert viewers directly into the story—potentially revolutionizing how reporters and activists do their work.

• By Rachel Nuwer

An early look at a Pacific Standard story that's currently only available to subscribers.

• By Pacific Standard Staff

There’s a lot of comfort to be found in virtual worlds.

• By Kyle Chayka

The autonomous sensory meridian response videos are garnering a massive audience, but an explanation for their intense effects has eluded scientific inquiry.

• By Rick Paulas

Researchers in Sweden create the illusion of being see-through, which might reduce social anxiety.

• By Nathan Collins

It’s not just for gaming. Cheap and accessible virtual reality will soon change how we look at just about everything, and this group of novelists, artists, and designers are leading the way.

• By Kyle Chayka

Players of an online survival game expressed guilt for killing, but less so for non-lethal actions that would result in a character’s death.

• By Tom Jacobs

But even with odd experiments and disparate conclusions, researchers are edging closer to a more nuanced idea of how they change our behavior.

• By Paul Bisceglio

New research finds patients are more likely to respond honestly to personal questions when talking to a virtual human.

• By Tom Jacobs

New research finds a virtual-reality experiment in which you experience yourself as a person of color reduces deep-seated prejudice.

• By Tom Jacobs

New research finds people who flew in virtual reality were more eager to help later.

• By Tom Jacobs

The psychologist Jeremy Bailenson’s quest to prepare us for the coming virtual world

• By Bonnie Tsui

The virtual reality world is usually thought of as escapist entertainment. But a University of Houston researcher has found computer-generated environments can serve as an effective tool to help recovering addicts.

• By Tom Jacobs