[Air-L] CfP - Virtual Reality for Pro-Social Attitude Change - Special issue New Media & Society

[Tanja Aitamurto]

Dear all,
We are looking for papers about virtual reality for pro-social attitude
change, to be considered for a special issue of New Media & Society.

The approaches can be multidisciplinary and stem from several disciplines,
including communication, psychology, digital humanities, and human-computer
interaction. The submission procedure has two rounds: first *500 word
abstracts by October 10, 2018,* and upon selection, a full paper by
February 1, 2019. More information below. Please consider submitting and
feel free to distribute the CfP, which is also available in this link.
<http://bit.ly/VRSpIssue>

Call for Papers: Special Issue of New Media & Society
*Virtual Reality for Pro-Social Attitude Change*
Guest editors

   - Tanja Aitamurto, Stanford University
   - Andrea Stevenson Won, Cornell University
   - Shuo Zhou, University of Colorado

Tentative timeline

   - • Extended abstract submission deadline: October, 10, 2018
   - • Notification on submitted abstracts: November 10, 2018
   - • Article submission deadline: February 1, 2019

Call for Papers

In the recent years, virtual reality (VR) has become a more common medium
both in professional and personal consumer use. As a parallel development,
the cost of producing and publishing VR content has become easier with new
platforms such as YouTube Virtual Reality and Facebook 360°. VR is being
produced, published and consumed more than ever, and as a result, virtual
reality has permeated numerous domains.

While entertainment and gaming remain the dominant contexts, VR is
increasingly deployed also in a multitude of civic applications, including
education, healthcare, and journalism. One common theme of these
applications is using VR for pro-social attitude change. This potential is
supported by decades of research showing that the traditional game-engine
based VR may be a powerful tool for affecting people’s attitudes
(Bailenson, 2018). With its immersive features, VR can help users to
understand other people’s perspectives better compared with other media.
Building on this work, the scholarly inquiry has expanded from traditional
VR to cinematic virtual reality (CVR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed
reality (MR), which combines several types of reality in one medium. The
term XR refers to all aforementioned real-and-virtual combined environments.

These developments create space for a multitude of research questions on
VR. Many of the discussions about virtual reality center around its ability
to change behavior, for good or ill. Such applications of VR may change or
enhance users’ attitudes, leading them to contribute to society positively.
This special issue calls for papers with both theoretical and empirical
inquiries into the use of VR for pro-social attitude and/or behavioral
change toward others. While there is much current interest in virtual
reality as a tool for empathy driving prosocial behavior, we are
particularly interested in empirical work which refines, defines or
problematizes this concept. The research questions we are interested in
include, but are not limited to the following:

   - • What is the role of VR, AR, and/or MR in contributing to pro-social
   attitude change?
   - • Under what circumstances does pro-social attitude change occur in VR?
   - • Under what circumstances might such interventions backfire?
   - • How can VR efficiently balance the sense of presence and pro-social
   attitude change?
   - • How should VR interfaces be designed to maximizing the positive
   effects of VR?
   - • What are the ethical aspects related to VR and pro-social attitude
   change?

The approaches can be multidisciplinary and stem from several disciplines,
including communication, psychology, digital humanities, and human-computer
interaction.
Information about submission

Proposals should consist of an extended abstract of 500-750 words (not
including references). The extended abstract should contain the key
elements of the paper, including the problem statement with justifications,
methodology and the main contribution of the submission. The proposal
should also include an abbreviated bio of the authors that describes their
main research interests and background.

Please submit your proposal as a PDF to the e-mail address
specialissuevr at gmail.com no later than October 10, 2018. By November 10,
2018, the authors will be notified whether their abstract has been
selected, and consequently if they will be encouraged to develop and submit
an article for peer review. Finally, full articles (8,000 words) will be
due February 1, 2019, for full blind review, in accordance with the
journal's peer-review procedure. The peer-reviews will determine whether
the article is accepted for publication in the special issue.

Tanja Aitamurto, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Management Science & Engineering
Stanford
www.tanjaaitamurto.com