In this video Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab briefly describes how virtual reality works and then explains how it is being used to give a personal experience of climate change.
In one example, you can feel what it is like to be under the ocean on a reef as it is affected by carbon dioxide levels in the environment, known as ocean acidification. You get to experience life as a molecule, life as a scientist, and life as a piece of coral. Bailenson said Stanford will be giving out the ocean acidification VR experience for free.
In another example he talks about raising individual awareness of how many trees are cut down for our personal paper use. Cutting down a tree in a virtual environment affects a person’s use of paper products in the future. Follow-up studies showed that people who cut down the trees in virtual reality used 20% less paper in their daily lives.