Kavi O. Ali

Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers promising approaches for engaging with difficult heritage and human rights issues, potentially fostering deeper emotional connections than traditional media. This paper presents a mixed-methods evaluation of Nobody’s Listening, a VR experience documenting the Yazidi genocide in Iraq (2014–2017). Employing a historical empathy framework, the study analyses pre- and post-experience surveys, interviews, and observational data from 127 non-Yazidi participants across five Iraqi cities. It contributes a replicable framework for evaluating immersive heritage experiences, assessing how VR can foster emotional engagement, raise human rights awareness, and inspire positive action. Findings reveal substantial impact across cognitive, emotional, and behavioral domains: 85% reported increased awareness of the genocide, 71% gained new knowledge of Yazidi culture, and over 80% experienced intense emotional reactions, including empathy, grief, and shock. When describing what impressed them most, 57% demonstrated historical empathy (including contextualization, perspective taking, and affective connection). Notably, 92% believed justice had not been served, with many expressing intentions to support advocacy. Our findings suggest that VR’s impact in post-conflict contexts stems not solely from immersion, but from resonance with participants’ own trauma histories—activating empathy through analogical recognition and collective memory. The study offers key design and ethical principles, including cultural specificity, survivor testimony, community consultation, and trauma-informed evaluation. These insights contribute to inclusive heritage interpretation, reconciliation, and human rights education.

Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers promising approaches for engaging with difficult heritage and human rights issues, potentially fostering deeper emotional connections than traditional educational formats. This paper evaluates the impact of ‘Nobody's Listening’ (NL), an immersive VR experience documenting the Yazidi genocide in Iraq (2014-17). Through assessment of 127 non-Yazidi participants from diverse Iraqi ethnic backgrounds, we examined VR's effectiveness for emotionally engaging with difficult heritage, raising awareness of sensitive human rights issues, and inspiring positive action. Our mixed-methods approach combined pre-experience surveys, observations, and post-experience interviews and questionnaires, employing historical empathy theory framework to assess cognitive and emotional engagement. Results demonstrate significant impact across multiple dimensions: 85% of participants reported increased awareness of the genocide, with 70.8% describing positive knowledge change about Yazidi culture. Emotional engagement was substantial—over 80% experienced intense reactions to the VR experience, with 86.7% reporting feeling moved by the Yazidi’s story. Notably, 56.6% of significant impressions included elements of historical empathy (historic contextualization, perspective-taking, and affective connection). Furthermore, 92.2% of respondents believed justice had not been served in the Yazidi genocide, with many expressing intentions to learn more and support advocacy efforts. This research contributes empirical evidence for how immersive technologies can effectively communicate traumatic cultural heritage while fostering reconciliation in post-conflict societies, with implications for museums, heritage sites, and human rights education.