Empathy and Virtual Reality (VR)

April 15, 2026 updated by: Jennifer Britton, University of Miami
This study will characterize the subjective and physiological changes associated with empathy following a fear-inducing virtual reality (VR) experience.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

110

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Coral Gables, Florida, United States, 33146
        • University of Miami

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • College-aged adults (18-25 years old)
  • English-speaking
  • Normal or corrected vision.
  • Able to provide consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Presence of a significant and/or unstable medical illness (e.g., cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurological disorder) or head trauma (e.g., concussion).

Additional exclusion criteria apply to virtual reality (VR):

  • VR contraindications: epilepsy, migraines, flu, sleep deprivation, etc.
  • More than minimal VR experience assessed via self-report (e.g., How often have you used virtual reality in the past? 0=never, 6=very frequently)
  • Extreme phobia of heights and/or spiders will be assessed using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) specific phobia subscale.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Fear-inducing Virtual Reality (VR) experience
Participants will complete a single virtual reality (VR) exposure lasting approximately 1-2 minutes, involving a fear-inducing scenario (e.g., walking a plank above a high-rise building or canyon).
Behavioral: Fear-inducing Virtual Reality (VR) experience
Participants will complete a single virtual reality (VR) exposure involving a fear-inducing scenario (e.g., walking a plank above a high-rise building or canyon).
Active Comparator: Neutral Virtual Reality (VR) experience
Participants will complete a single virtual reality (VR) exposure lasting approximately 1-2 minutes, involving a neutral scenario (e.g., walking to the edge of a curb at street level).
Behavioral: Neutral Virtual Reality (VR) experience
Participants will complete a single virtual reality (VR) exposure involving a fear-inducing scenario (e.g., walking to the edge of a curb at street level).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in self-reported empathy scores
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.
Participant will view videos of other individuals undergoing a fear-inducing virtual reality (VR) experience and will self-report level of empathy on a scale 0=not at all to 10=extremely. Average empathy ratings will be compared pre-VR and post-VR.
Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.
Change in heart rate
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.
Average heart rate (beats/minute) will be collected while watching videos of other individuals undergoing a fear-inducing virtual reality (VR) experience and will be compared pre-VR and post-VR.
Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in the correlation between self-reported anxiety scores of self and another
Time Frame: Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.
Participant will view videos of other individuals undergoing a fear-inducing virtual reality (VR) experience and will self-report level of anxiety on self and other on a scale 0=not at all, 10=extremely. Anxiety ratings of self and another will be correlated and compared pre-VR and post-VR. Greater correlation will reflect greater alignment of anxiety.
Baseline (prior to VR experience) and approximately 5 minutes post-VR experience.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Miami

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jennifer Britton, Ph.D., University of Miami

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 18, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 18, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 20241195

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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