The reading starts by explaining a well known TED talk my Chris Milk, where he dubbed VR as a “Empathy Machine”. He explains that in the talk Milk talks about the empathy produced by Virtual Realities as opposed to other interactive performances where the subject can can be visually immersed. Sutherland explains that only part of Sidra’s world is shown in this video and the presentation of her displacement, physical danger and inner experiences could never be simulated in the presentation of an “Empathy Machiene”.
Sutherland explains that although there are obvious limitations to the kind of simulation of emotion that the experience presents, there are unique and most definatly helpful perceptual experiences that can be gained from VR experience. Sutherland questions why empathy is the means for massive social change and how virtual reality is expected to facilitate this.
It is integral to the thesis to unpack the term empathy. The term “Empathy” has been defined in Karsten Stueber’s Rethinking Empathy, as a form of inner or mental imitation for the purpose of gaining knowledge of other minds. Sutherland proposes that the term ‘staged empathy’ is a anaylitical term to examine the impact of virtual reality in immersive journalism or story telling. This is from the basis of looking as the primary source of engagement in VR experiences in immersive journalism. Sutherland employs the term “inner imitation” to practice the critical context of virtual realities potential of “putting someone in another shoes” which is an often used term of phrase when talking about virtual realities. Sutherland explains that there are fairly strong constraints when it comes to initiating empathy through the use of 360 videography and specifically, relationships to nonhuman nonliving objects. She argues that it is much more of a process of inner imitation. In Suttherlands unpacking of empathy she examines a quote from Ian Hacking that explains that for empathy to be present there must be a previous trajectory of memories, connection or relationship to the context.
Sutherland states that her findings of empathic reason are distinct from the event of virtual reality and this draws her conclusion of the subject towards staged empathy as opposed to the philosophical context of empathy, because of the modification of the process of empathising. “Affordances”, a term that she acquired off James Gibson is what the environment affords the participant, they are not entirely objective nor subjective perceptions but are percieved - and make things possible for the viewer.
Sutherland explains that empathy is frequently used to describe a interpersonal emotion that is acquired by a person and the lack of empathy would cause chaos and distress. She explains that before empathy was dubbed as the saviour of human disconnection, the feeling was still shared through the meaning of ‘inner imitation’. Sutherland explains that the social behaviours we interpret as empathic refers to the influences that we also deem as empathic and also the definitions that we learn. Sutherland explains that is recent research; empathy has become the largest term of phrase for interpersonal, collective emotion or social feeling. However, Gibbons spatial affordances informs a framework to look at how the phrase is being misused to describe the experiences perceived in virtual realities.
Empathy was brought into the English language in 1909 and was used to describe a process of understanding of another emotions which lead to common agency and shared interest. It was translated from the German concept, Einfuhlung. Empathy was translated as a emotion which projected oneself on to an object, projecting outward the sensation they felt. It was understood as the reciprocation of objects and the transformation of the scenario of two separates to one connected state. Sutherland explains that empathy as a process of understanding another is a poor concept as it relies on the simulation of ones mind into another. She explains that empathy is based on an assumption that ones inner perception, based off of their own life experience can be accurately simulate another life experience and perception. “Stueber notes that empathy is egocentric.”
The frame of empathy is that two subjects can simultaneously feel epistemically similar, but as Sutherland explains, people feel differently so the potential of the empathiser to retain full knowledge of felt experience is questionable.
Gibson explains affordances as the relationship between the objects in space to the subject. Sutherland explains the intentionality of staged empathy where there is “intentional looking” this is a technique in immersive journalism where the participant enters a space for a purpose; the purpose of peceiving. Sutherland then explains the term “Phantasms” which are peoples perceptions of situations according to their experience, background culture and identity. This reminds me of the “othering” that is described in Homi Bhabhas writing. He explains how journalistic representations of the “other” are reflexive and where subjects might feel they know about a subject or situation where they have no “empathy” or understanding of the perceived subject at all.
“Staged Empathy: Empathy and Visual Perception in Virtual Reality Systems.” MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing, August 4, 2015. https://cmsw.mit.edu/staged-empathy-empathy-and-visual-perception-in-virtual-reality-systems/.
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