Sustainability & virtual reality: the impact of immersive technology on behaviors and attitudes

Abstract

This project is a bachelor thesis conducted for Chalmers University of technologies, with the partner of this project being Visual Arena at Lindholmen Science Park. The purpose of this project is to investigate if VR can be used as a tool to engage individuals in sustainability. To accomplish this, a custom VR prototype was built in which the user symbolically travels from a linear economy to a circular economy, having a narrator leading the way and explaining how linear and circular systems can apply to ordinary products. After a test week in which 22 testers participated in testing the prototype, the results pointed to VR being an effective communication and engagement tool for sustainability. The large majority of testers affirmed feeling more engaged and motivated to live more sustainably after having experienced the custom built VR prototype, as well as generally feeling more knowledgeable about sustainability than they did before the experience. This report will extensively go into the making of the VR prototype and the choices made in creating it, as the result from the testers solely hinges on this experience. It will also provide information about the testing, the evaluation criteria, and the interviews in which the result was being concluded from. Lastly, the report will discuss the prototype quality and how it affected the users, potential engagement improvements, the choice of target group, and aspects of sustainability and ethics.