[Michigan State University has launched a new virtual reality app called “A Mile in My Shoes” that uses presence to build awareness and empathy about, and practice responding to, macroaggressions and other negative experiences on campus. The original version of this MSU Today story includes three different pictures and a 3:50 minute demonstration video (also available via YouTube). You can listen to or read an interview with Associate Dean and Director for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Quentin Tyler in WKAR’s May 10, 2021 story; here are some highlights:
“On How the Program Works: ‘These are scenarios based on situations that happened on Michigan State’s campus or even other classrooms across the country. You know, they will experience maybe some microaggressions, based on a certain part of their identity, and they have an opportunity to act through those situations. So again, it talks about ways to be an ally, ways to be an accomplice, and see things through the eyes of other folks.’
On One of the Scenarios in the Training: ‘One in particular is an individual that utilizes a wheelchair. She’s arriving to class, and she sees that she can’t come through the first part of the building, so she has to go all the way around the building, right? And so then again, in that, there’s difficulties in that, you know, in timing. There’s also difficulties in accessing, you know, the doorways. And then when she arrives in the classroom, there’ll be a situation in which the professor, you know, may even chastise her on being late.’
On How the Program Will Help People Recognize Unconscious Bias: ‘A lot of times we don’t know what we don’t know. So again, it brings people to the situation and also has, you know, real conversations that can happen. A lot of times when I interact with different faculty and staff, or even students, they say, “What do I say in the moment? You know, how do I advocate for folks?” And to me, this is the way to not only, you know, see and observe, but also to practice.’
On the Future: ‘We had a goal in mind of focusing specifically on the College of Ag. and Natural Resources then branching out across MSU, and then also across the country. We’ve already been contacted by several folks and several institutions across the country on partnering with this, and we have some things in the works now to partner with other universities.'”
And EdScoop’s coverage adds this:
“The use of virtual reality in higher education has been on the uptick since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year. Schools like the University of Illinois started offering campus tours in VR, while students at the University of North Carolina began attending class through VR headsets. California Polytechnic State University has also created VR tools for diversity and inclusion training. Several other universities have reported using VR over the past year for career preparation and other efforts.”
–Matthew]
[Image: One of the scenarios in the program involves a woman using a wheelchair looking for an accessible entrance to a school building. Source: WKAR. Credit: MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources]
Virtual reality application supports diversity, equity and inclusion
April 8, 2021
MSU launches new A Mile in My Shoes app, which enables people to interact with real-world scenarios of racism, microagressions and biases to help increase awareness and empathy for others.
Michigan State University has developed a new virtual reality, or VR, application, A Mile in My Shoes, to help individuals recognize unconscious bias through different real-world situations. The project is led through the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, ODEI, and School of Planning, Design and Construction, or SPDC, both in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, or CANR.
Quentin Tyler, associate dean and director for diversity, equity and inclusion in the CANR, connected with Linda Nubani, an assistant professor in SPDC, in 2019 with the idea to create a virtual reality application that included data from common scenarios to help individuals recognize their own biases in action. Nubani specializes in interior design and VR, which is a computer-generated simulation of an interactive, 3D environment.
“The purpose of developing this immersive, 3D experience is to demonstrate examples of actual situations many people experience every day,” Tyler said. “This tool can help us collectively better understand the lives and experiences of people different from ourselves. It can help build awareness, understanding and empathy.”
VR is different from augmented reality, or AR in that AR adds virtual elements to an existing, physical space. VR creates a world that is hypothetical or replicating a physical space in a digital world. These experiences typically require the use of headsets, hand-held controllers or other electronic equipment that allow people to interact with the simulation.
A Mile in My Shoes will be available through a computer VR software download and immersive VR using Oculus Quest headsets.
The 3D examples will allow users to traverse through scenarios as different avatars and to interact with others in a space patterned on the Chittenden Hall building on MSU’s campus.
“I accurately modeled the building to increase the level of presence and immersion while in the environment, which is in line with research findings using virtual reality,” Nubani said. “I have used this technology in many applications and it has been quite effective.”
Nubani previously created an immersive VR model of the MSU Broad Art Museum along with all the artwork and exhibits in spring 2018. This earlier work informed the A Mile in My Shoes VR application development.
“I was interested in understanding how similar the real world is to the virtual world. After following Broad Art Museum visitors in both the real and the virtual world, we found that the visiting patterns were strikingly very similar,” Nubani said. “This makes us very confident in using VR in various applications such as training, simulating complex scenarios, treating people with trauma or even providing a healing environment.”
A Mile in My Shoes participants will be able to experience simulated scenes as one of seven avatar characters that represent a cross-section of MSU students. This is meant to accelerate learning, empathy and understanding of how biases affects certain demographics. Several avatars can also join the virtual space in real time.
For example, a student avatar will find themselves outside of Chittenden Hall and have to find their way to the classroom where an instructor avatar will be waiting. The instructor avatar has the capacity to engage with student avatars, play videos as part of the class and use the web browser for demonstrations.
In addition to Tyler and Nubani, the team includes ODEI representatives Ayodele Daré, Shedra Rakestraw and Emily Sorroche. Expanding the application to be used on a computer as well as with a headset, enabled the continuation of research and testing remotely instead of needing to be in person. This made progress possible even while most MSU employees and students were in remote environments beginning in March 2020.
A Mile in My Shoes is expected to launch within CANR in April 2021. The team will continue testing with VR participants following the launch. Future plans include making the VR application available to more people and units at MSU, as well as supporting broader usage by other universities and organizations.
Now, more than ever, it is important for people to experience different situations and have conversations with others about diversity, equity and inclusion in safe and enlightening spaces.
“We have to be creative and innovative in our learning and development, and virtual reality allows participants to act on different scenarios they may potentially experience,” Tyler said. “Virtual reality allows participants to get comfortable being uncomfortable in a virtual space, so that when they experience a microaggression they can act and support those that may experience it.”