LegacySphere: Facilitating Intergenerational Communication Through Perspective-Taking and Storytelling in Embodied VR

Title of the Paper

LegacySphere: Facilitating Intergenerational Communication Through Perspective-Taking and Storytelling in Embodied VR

Paper Information

• Subject Area: Human-Computer Interaction, Applications of Virtual Reality in Intergenerational Communication
• Keywords: Virtual Reality, Intergenerational Communication, Perspective-Taking, Empathy, Role-Playing, Storytelling, Proteus Effect

Research Background and Problem

• What issues or challenges did the authors identify?

  • Intergenerational Communication (IGC) is hindered by generational stereotypes, low empathy, and relational barriers. Communication between younger and older generations often involves negative stereotypes about older adults and a lack of understanding and respect for their life experiences.
  • Existing research primarily focuses on making intergenerational communication more convenient and accessible but does not sufficiently address emotional and relational barriers.

• Why is this issue important?

  • Intergenerational communication is crucial for strengthening familial bonds, maintaining family ties, and fostering understanding and respect. Addressing this issue is significant for improving interactions and social relationships between generations.
  • With the global aging population, fostering understanding and respect between generations is becoming increasingly important.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  • Previous studies have shown that perspective-taking in virtual reality can effectively enhance understanding and empathy by allowing users to "embody" others.
  • The Proteus Effect suggests that virtual self-representation (avatars) can influence users' behaviors and attitudes, indicating that leveraging this effect could be an effective approach to improving intergenerational communication.

Solution

• Proposed Solution:

  • Developed a virtual reality system called "LegacySphere," which integrates perspective-taking, role-playing, and storytelling to enhance empathy and understanding in intergenerational communication.
  • The system achieves its goals through three core design elements:
    1. Avatar Embodiment: Younger participants embody the virtual representation of older adults to experience their life journeys.
    2. Storytelling Procedure: Older adults share meaningful personal experiences, while younger participants engage by asking reflective questions.
    3. Role-Playing Protocols: Younger participants are guided to interact in the first-person perspective of the older adult's role.

• Innovations:

  • Combines avatar embodiment (e.g., virtual representations of different ages) with intergenerational role-playing to create an interactive historical narrative space, enhancing the quality of intergenerational dialogue.
  • Presents various possible scenarios, including virtual representations of older adults in their current or younger selves, allowing younger participants to experience different stages of older adults' lives and social contexts.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  • Used the Character Creator 4 tool to generate virtual avatars.
  • Built the VR environment and deployed scenarios using the VRChat platform.
  • Utilized Oculus Quest 2 devices for system interaction and designed immersive mirrored experience scenarios.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Results:

  • LegacySphere facilitated more empathetic and reflective dialogues between generations.
  • Avatar embodiment enhanced participants' emotional understanding, reducing "relational buffering" barriers in real-life parent-child communication.

• Advantages:

  • Compared to traditional methods, the system's immersive experience through virtual reality made it easier for users to "step into someone else's shoes." Unlike other storytelling or intergenerational interaction systems (e.g., photo or digital archive interactions), LegacySphere better evoked deep emotional resonance and a desire for communication.
  • Role-playing and interactive storytelling not only improved intergenerational communication but also promoted self-reflection and personal growth.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  • Observations from five pairs of parent-child participants revealed that the use of virtual avatars and reflective questions facilitated deeper emotional exchanges and mutual understanding.
  • Younger participants exhibited increased cognitive and emotional empathy, while older participants experienced significant personal reflection and growth through storytelling and virtual experiences.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  • Participant recruitment challenges: The requirement for high-quality photos and in-person experiments limited the study's participant pool.
  • The individual impact of each design element in the system, such as whether the VR environment alone influenced outcomes, was not separately evaluated.
  • The visual quality of avatars may affect the experience, which requires further exploration.
  • Future research could expand to broader intergenerational combinations (e.g., two- or three-generation gaps) and explore the long-term effects of system use.

Conclusion and Contributions

• Designed and developed an innovative VR system that allows younger participants to experience life journeys from the perspective of older adults, enhancing emotional and verbal communication between generations.
• Provided three design recommendations for the future development of similar immersive VR experiences, driving technological innovation in the field of intergenerational communication.
• The study demonstrates that through role-switching and storytelling, virtual reality technology has the potential to mitigate intergenerational conflicts and enhance intergenerational understanding.