DiVRsity

Virtual Reality · Disability Awareness · Educational Technology · Empathy through Role-Play · Social Inclusion

Can VR help people understand the subtle biases people with disabilities face in everyday life? Traditional disability awareness programs often rely on individual sensory simulations, like blocking vision to mimic blindness. While memorable, these methods rarely capture the social interactions where bias and microaggressions actually occur. DiVRsity is a customizable VR role-play platform that places participants into everyday group scenarios, allowing them to experience — and reflect on — the social dimensions of disability.

Project Overview

DiVRsity situates participants in interactive social contexts such as group projects or library visits, where subtle discrimination often surfaces. Participants join in pairs: one takes the role of a visually impaired student, the other a non-disabled peer. Each person keeps their assigned role throughout, allowing for deeper immersion in that perspective. Instructors can design or adapt scenarios through a dedicated client, aligning activities with teaching goals and guiding post-session reflection.

Approach

We first conducted formative interviews with disability awareness and VR education experts to identify design requirements. We then developed a dual-client system: an instructor client (Windows) for scenario design and facilitation, and a student client (Meta Quest 2) for immersive role-play. The platform was evaluated in a lab study with 28 participants (14 pairs). Each pair role-played a scenario together — one consistently as a visually impaired student, the other as a peer — followed by pre/post surveys and group interviews to assess changes in awareness and attitudes.

Results & Contributions

• VR role-play improved disability awareness. Participants' awareness significantly increased, especially among those without prior disability awareness education.
• Social interaction fostered empathy and reflection. Role-playing everyday scenarios enabled participants to recognize microaggressions and reflect on subtle, often unintentional discrimination.
• Practical implications for DAE tools. Highlighted the need for flexible scenario authoring, user-friendly interfaces, and diverse avatar customization to support inclusive learning.

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