Learning About Catcalling: an Interactive Virtual Gallery Concept Raising Awareness for Street Harassment
André Helgert, Sabrina Cornelia Eimler, Alexander Arntz · 2021
In this paper, we describe a virtual reality (VR) application that educates and sensitizes visitors for street harassment, a globally prevalent form of violence predominantly targeted against women. The phenomenon, also known as Catcalling, recently gained renewed attention in public discussions initiated by social media activists. Combining VR with interactive instruction settings known from museums might be a promising way to effectively reach victims, bystanders, and aggressors alike and obtain a lasting attitude and behavior change. We present a virtual gallery where visitors can explore a variety of curated interactive multimedia material intended to inform, raise awareness, inspire empathy, perspective-taking, and behavioral change. With interactions such as a self-assessment test, as well as opportunities for visitors to leave feedback and thoughts in the gallery, this virtual world can be used as a sensitization tool. Based on a first evaluation with experts${\left(N\,=\,16\right)}$, the original proof-of-concept prototype was extended and evaluated by a larger group including students${\left(N\,=\,50\right)}$.