New research led by Stanford University indicates that virtual reality (VR) can help people form personal connections to communities affected by climate change, even if those places are far from where they live. The study, published in Scientific Reports, found that VR experiences make the impacts of climate change feel more immediate and relevant compared to viewing static images.
“Virtual reality can make faraway climate impacts feel immediate and personally relevant,” said Monique Santoso, a PhD student in communication at the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and lead author of the study. “By helping people form emotional attachments to distant places, VR fosters constructive emotions that motivate engagement rather than paralyzing fear.”
The research involved 163 Stanford students who were randomly assigned to experience one of nine U.S. locations through either VR or static images. Participants listened to news stories about climate change-driven flooding while virtually exploring realistic 3D versions of locations such as New York City, Des Moines, Miami, and Massachusetts North Shore.
The findings show that participants who used VR were less dismissive and more frustrated by the stories about climate-related damages in these areas. According to the researchers, this frustration is linked with motivation rather than hopelessness. Both conservative and liberal-leaning participants reported stronger feelings of attachment and concern for the places they visited virtually.
“One of the main barriers to uptake with our past work is that people dont choose to put on a headset specifically to witness fear appeals about environmental degradation,” said Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and senior author on the study. “With Monique’s work, people explore places, gain attachment to those places, and then there are positive downstream effects simply by gaining that attachment.”
Unlike many approaches that rely on negative emotions like fear or guilt to communicate about climate issues, this study suggests letting people explore distant areas through VR may be a more effective way to boost concern without overwhelming them emotionally. This could have implications for education campaigns or journalism focused on climate action.
The technology used in the study included widely available consumer software such as Google Earth VR and Fly. These programs allow users to fly through 3D maps—a feature popular among thousands based on reviews from platforms like Steam and Meta Store.
Bailenson added: “The last decade of VR climate change research relied on experiential narratives about how the future will be dire. These simulations often took years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to build. This study shows one doesn’t need to tell a difficult story – simply playing a fun VR game that transports you to a faraway place is enough to make you care.”
Bailenson holds appointments as Thomas More Storke Professor and professor of communication at Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences; he is also a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Santoso is also recognized as a Knight-Hennessy scholar.
Other co-authors include Portia Wang from Stanford’s communication program and Eugy Han from University of Florida (formerly at Stanford). The project received early support from an Environmental Venture Projects grant from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
Previous studies from Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab have found similar results showing that VR can encourage prosocial behaviors such as reducing meat consumption or increasing empathy.
