How Virtual Reality Is Deactivating Unconscious Bias

The game industry has been revolutionized by the rise of virtual reality (VR). By placing a user in a simulated world, the technology brings virtual environments to life. VR headsets are now widely available, allowing users to take their virtual reality experiences with them wherever they choose.?

However, should virtual reality also have a role in the corporate domain?

Forward-thinking companies increasingly use virtual reality to educate employees about their unconscious biases. This article will explain how this works and the science behind it.

What exactly is unconscious bias?

Unconscious biases are biases?that we all have but aren't aware of. So, for example, when it comes to race or gender, some of us may have unconsciously held prejudices. Or about people who are neurodivergent.?

We may not be aware of our own biases because they are not apparent biases that we would ever choose to act on. They can, however, creep into our decision-making process unnoticed. Therefore, leaders and their people must overcome their own unconscious biases. Otherwise, it will impact the?interactions with coworkers and clients.

Many companies are currently providing their employees with unconscious bias training to ensure that their businesses work fairly for everyone.

Can?virtual reality deactivate unconscious bias?

Virtual reality allows us to feel what it's like to be someone else. Virtual environments will enable us to experience the world in a different light.

With VR, you can have a life-changing experience. It's possible that the roles we play in virtual reality and the experiences we have there can impact our behavior in the real world.

Because of this, I am using virtual reality as part of the?Check Your Unconscious Bias ?training.?In addition, I partnered with IBIAS VR for the?Amplify Empathy ?training, which is a virtual reality training program designed to deactivate?unconscious biases in the workplace and activate inclusive (self-)leadership.

To address workplace?isms like sexism, racism, ageism, and so on, during the Amplify Empathy training, we use virtual reality to re-create working scenarios. As a result, to better understand the world of work from a different?perspective.

Allowing employees to see and feel how unconscious biases?manifest in diverse contexts is one of our primary goals. As a result, people develop their own strategies for deactivating?biases.

Since unconscious?bias is not a conscious choice, other training approaches can be challenging to modify. For example, rather than telling?employees about unconscious bias, it's better to let them experience it for themselves. This empowers them to look themselves in the mirror and?change their behaviors.

A long-term strategy for reducing unconscious?bias is cognitive-behavioral training. It's a big step for many organizations to address this issue, both internally and in terms of how they present themselves to their customers.

What's the scientific?evidence?

According to experts and scientists, virtual reality can play an essential role in cognitive training and therapy.

Virtual reality has a significant impact on racial bias, according to a?2018 study . According to the study's findings, participants' race bias was reduced in a courtroom setting after playing as a black avatar in a virtual reality simulation.

Virtual reality can help us overcome our?unconscious?biases by allowing us to see the world through the eyes of someone who is different from us.

According to?a study ?done by PwC, researchers found that learners in VR required less time to learn, had a higher emotional connection, felt more confident, and were less distracted during the training.?

75% of the learners shared that they had a wake-up call moment during the VR training and realized that they were not as inclusive as they thought they were.

The ability to put someone in a captivating environment, there's no multitasking. Instead, they're focused, and the experience is much more real. In addition, virtual reality is faster and more impactful so that your organization can save time and money for learning & developing talent.

VR learners felt 2.3 times more connected than e-learners and 3.75 times more emotionally connected to the content than classroom learners.

Conclusion

Virtual reality is revolutionizing the delivery of unconscious bias training in companies that are ready to take inclusive actions. With the power of virtual reality, employees may see things from another person's perspective, shifting biases they didn't even know they had.

Virtual reality (VR) can train the brain in an effective and non-judgmental manner.

Virtual reality allows employees to experience unconscious prejudice firsthand. This helps people build relevant ways of dealing with it in the workplace and beyond.

Amplify DEI

The Amplify DEI Newsletter is a bi-weekly newsletter that focuses on amplifying diversity, equity, and inclusion in order to activate and apply the inclusive mindset. Vivian Acquah is also known as the inclusive Workplace Wellness Advocate (aka speaker, moderator, coach, facilitator). She is committed to making topics related to workplace wellness & DEI accessible to everyone.?

Her last name means water, and yes from to time she is being hired to put out fires related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her unique value is that she provides people with the right tools at the right time to embrace inclusive changes, especially when you want to prevent these fires from happening.?

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