Date of Award

Winter 2026

Document Type

Thesis (Master's)

Department or Program

Computer Science

First Advisor

Lorie Loeb

Second Advisor

Nikhil Singh

Third Advisor

James Mahoney

Abstract

Virtual reality is increasingly explored as a tool for cultivating empathy, and haptic feedback as a tool for enhancing immersion. This paper investigates the effects of combining the two.  Fifty-two participants experienced a custom-built VR scene in which a character was shown packing up a room. Participants were assigned to either a haptic condition, receiving passive haptic feedback corresponding to the character's actions, or a non-haptic control condition that did not receive any haptic input. Trait empathy was measured beforehand, and state empathy and engagement were measured after the experience. Thematic analysis was conducted on post-study interviews, and headset recordings were analyzed to gauge visual attention and behavior towards the character. Analysis revealed that haptic feedback did not uniformly increase empathy scores. Its effects varied based on participants' baseline trait empathy, particularly the Fantasy subscale, with lower Fantasy individuals benefiting more. However, the haptic condition significantly increased sustained visual attention to the character, regardless of individual differences. Qualitative themes revealed influences on sensory specificity and character connection.  Interactive behaviors were predicted more strongly by previous VR experience than by condition or trait empathy. Together, these findings suggest that the haptic sensation in VR functions less as a universal empathy amplifier and more as a conditional one, shaped by the individual experiencing it.

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