What Good (and Bad) is VR?

This performance lecture, originally presented at VisMatters 2021, critically examines VR’s role in journalism, therapy, and military training. While often praised as "the ultimate empathy machine," VR may just as easily desensitize audiences to others humanity, suffering, and trauma.

Through real-world examples—including exposure therapy, HR training, and military simulations—this talk explores the fine line between immersion and emotional distancing. Drawing from Dave Grossman’s On Killing, I discuss how VR inherits and evolves military training techniques, raising urgent ethical questions about habituation and emotional conditioning in virtual spaces.