Stigma towards individuals with schizophrenia reduces quality of life, creating a barrier to accessing education and employment opportunities. Schizophrenia is one of the most stigmatized mental health conditions, and stigma is prevalent particularly among healthcare professionals. In this study, we investigated whether Virtual Reality (VR) can be incorporated into interventions to reduce stigma. In particular, we compared the effectiveness of three VR conditions based on intergroup contact theory in reducing stigma in form of implicit and explicit attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Through an immersive virtual consultation in a clinical setting, participants (N=60) experienced one of three different conditions: the Doctor's perspective (embodiment in a majority group member during contact), the Patient's perspective (embodiment in a minority group member) and a Third-person perspective (vicarious contact). Results demonstrated an increase of stigma on certain explicit measures (perceived recovery and social restriction) but also an increase of empathy (perspective-taking, empathic concern) across all conditions regardless of perspective. More importantly, participants' viewpoint influenced the desire for social distance differently depending on the perspective: the Third-person observation significantly increased the desire for social distance, Doctor embodiment marginally decreased it, while Patient embodiment showed no significant change. No change was found in the Implicit Association Test. These findings suggest that VR intergroup contact can effectively reduce certain dimensions of stigma toward schizophrenia, but the type of perspective experienced significantly impacts outcomes.

Virtual Reality nonfiction (VRNF) is an emerging form of immersive media experience created for consumption using panoramic "Virtual Reality" headsets. VRNF promises nonfiction content producers the potential to create new ways for audiences to experience "the real"; allowing viewers to transition from passive spectators to active participants. Our current project is exploring VRNF through a series of ethnographic and experimental studies. In order to document the content available, we embarked on an analysis of VR documentaries produced to date. In this paper, we present an analysis of a representative sample of 150 VRNF titles released between 2012-2018. We identify and quantify 64 characteristics of the medium over this period, discuss how producers are exploiting the affordances of VR, and shed light on new audience roles. Our findings provide insight into the current state of the art in VRNF and provide a digital resource for other researchers in this area.

This study examined whether the high level of immersion provided by HMDs encourages participants to synchronise their attention during viewing. 39 participants watched the 360° documentary “Clouds Over Sidra” using either a HMD or via a flat screen tablet display. We found that the HMD group showed significantly greater overall ISC did the tablet group and that this effect was strongest during transition between scenes.