Empathy for the game master: how virtual reality creates empathy for those seen to be creating VR
Name
Roquet-Visual Culture-Empathy for the Game Master-preprint.pdf
Size
655.69 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
2ab2c32c6990b580f5d062d21889db90
Author(s)
Roquet, Paul
Date Issued
April 2020
Journal
Journal of Visual Culture
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Citation
Roquet, Paul. "Empathy for the game master: how virtual reality creates empathy for those seen to be creating VR." Journal of Visual Culture 19, 1 (April 2020): 65-80.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
This article rethinks the notion of virtual reality (VR) as an ‘empathy machine’ by examining how VR directs emotional identification not toward the subjects of particular VR titles, but toward VR developers themselves. Tracing how both positive and negative empathy circulates around characters in one of the most influential VR fictions of the 2010s, the light novel series-turned-anime series Sword Art Online (2009–), as well as the real-life figure of Palmer Luckey, creator of the Oculus Rift headset that launched the most recent VR revival, the author shows how empathetic identification ultimately tends to target the VR game master, the head architect of the VR world. These figures often already inhabit a socially privileged position. A better understanding of how VR channels empathy towards VR creators points to the need to ensure a broader range of people have opportunities to take up the role of VR game master for themselves.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1177/1470412920906260
