Using virtual environments to facilitate refugee integration in third countries

Abstract

AbstractVirtual experiences (VEs) have significant potential to enrich emotional interactions, to encourage socialisation and improve communication. In education, VEs offer new approaches for delivering content. In this paper we consider the application of VEs for assisting refugees in Senegal to learn how to navigate the complexities of the UK health system; a substantial stumbling block for their integration into society and for their own health. Participants ($$N=122$$ N = 122 ), refugees awaiting to be repatriated, were exposed to material presented via three different media text, 360° videos and virtual reality (VR) across a total of seven different modalities. The experiment investigated specific attributes of the media that would facilitate refugees’ integration, such as knowledge received and retained, experience, usability and presence. The results show that interactive media, in particular VR, was significantly better across all tested attributes.