Men are unlocking the virtual reality of being a woman. Get ready
Recent research has looked beyond how the technology could be used to increase Facebook’s profits. In one mental health study, by UCL and the University of Barcelona, patients entered the virtual world where they were asked to talk to a child and stop them from crying.
After a few minutes they were transferred to the child’s POV, and replayed the comforting words they’d given a few moments earlier. And thus, self-help takes on a whole new meaning.
“Virtual reality could remove the cognitive biases that we face in our day to day lives in the professional world” explains Liv Erickson, VR Developer and Evangelist at Microsoft.
“When we start to see a wider adoption of avatar technologies, I'd imagine that we'll also see a corresponding drop in cognitive bias around race, age, and gender.”
Right now the VR industry itself is enjoying an almost utopian, discrimination-free existence, according to a number of women I spoke to (though the majority of tech workers are male, of course).
See the full story here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/men-are-unlocking-the-virtual-reality-of-being-a-woman-get-ready/