Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information

General Information
Course Code: CS4267
Course Title: Effects of Virtual Reality Technologies
Lecturer: Assistant Professor Benjamin (Benjy) Li
Email: [email protected]
Office: 03-17
Office Hours: By appointment
Class meetings: Wednesdays 10.30 am – 1.30 pm (TR+9)

Required Text
Blascovich, J., & Bailenson, J. (2011). Infinite reality: Avatars, eternal life, new worlds, and
the dawn of the virtual revolution. William Morrow & Co.
Bailenson, J. (2018). Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works, and
What It Can Do. WW Norton & Company.

Further required readings will be posted on the course website in NTULearn.

Course Description & Objectives

In this course, you will learn about the concept of virtual reality (VR) and its effects on
human behavior and psychology. You will learn about how VR works, examine current
applications of VR and explore various studies that have been conducted to help us
understand the impact of VR.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
1) Understand the factors that makes VR a compelling experience
2) Explain the role of VR as both a tool and a medium
3) Describe the potential influence on VR on individuals and society
4) Examine and critically evaluate the use and impact of VR in various disciplines

Course format and procedure: Generally for every lesson, the instructor will be the lead
facilitator for discussion and critical examination of concepts relevant to the course materials.
Students will participate in activities on specific topics.

NTULearn Website
https://ntulearn.ntu.edu.sg

WEE KIM WEE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES | COURSE SYLLABUS | ACADEMIC YEAR 2020/2021 SEMESTER 2
Assessment Component and Weightages
Course assessment will be based on the following elements:
Attendance and Participation 10%
Journal Club 30%
Midterm 25%
Final Project 35%
Total 100%

Attendance and Participation 10%. Your attendance and active participation during class
will be evaluated. Students should come to class prepared and ready to participate.
Participation in discussion questions and students’ quality of contribution will be assessed.
Journal Club 30%. Working in a small group, you will be assigned to give two 15-minute
presentations about a class topic. Each presentation is worth 15%. Your group will need to
find a journal article (e.g. an empirical study, meta-analysis, systematic analysis, etc.) and
talk about the article in class. A one-page handout should be prepared for your classmates for
each presentation.
Midterm 25%. There will be a closed book midterm on Week 8. It will consist of multiple
choice questions (and possibly short essay questions) and will cover all material presented in
class and assigned for reading.
Final Project 35%. Working in a larger group, you will work on a term paper with no more
than 25 pages in length, double spaced, references excluded. This includes a two-page topic
proposal and a class presentation on Week 12 (10%). A detailed guideline for the project will
be provided later in the semester.

Course Policies
Absence: Class absence cannot be made up unless you provide an official excuse such as
doctor’s documentations (MCs) or official letters from your schools or professors. The MCs
or other official letters should be submitted in advance, on the class day (i.e., Wednesday), or
the day after class (i.e., Thursday). Late submissions will not be accepted and will be
considered as absence. Inform the instructor in advance, if you will be late due to another
class.
Assignments: All assignments should be typewritten (double spaced with no space between
paragraphs, 12-point font size on Times New Roman, 2.54 cm margins on each side) and
include relevant bibliographic references in the correct the 6th edition APA style. For more
information on the APA format, visit the following site:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01. Work not following the APA style
requirements will be graded mark-down. Late submissions will be penalized without prior
permission or official excuses.

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Tentative Nature of Syllabus: This syllabus – including scheduling, topic order, topics
themselves, assessment times and dates, and assessment strategy – is subject to change if
circumstances warrant. The modifications will be announced in class and through email.

Policy on Plagiarism
All work presented in this class must be the product of your own effort. Your work should not
be copied without appropriate citation from any source, including the Internet. Any student
caught presenting work which is not his or her own will face disciplinary action, which may
include award of zero marks for the assignment, receiving a failing grade for the class, or being
expelled from the university. This policy applies to all work submitted, either through oral
presentation or written work, which includes outlines, briefings, group projects, self-
evaluations, etc. You are encouraged to consult us if you have questions concerning the
meaning of plagiarism or whether a particular use of sources constitutes plagiarism.

Short Leave of Absence

You must apply for short leave of absence or medical leave with your respective Schools if
you cannot attend classes on the following occasions:

• On days when quizzes or tests are conducted during classes

• On any occasion during the attachment/internship, students must submit leave application
or medical certificate via the online leave system under the attachment/internship module
in the StudentLink.
• On any other occasions that course instructor/s deemed as compulsory for students'
attendance

If you wish to apply for short leave of absence, you must obtain the approval from the course
instructor/s at least seven working days in advance. Upon the instructors’ approval, you are
required to submit the supporting documents to the Undergraduate Office (WKW Building,
Student Services Centre, Level 4) for processing.

You should not go on leave during the above-mentioned occasions until the UG office has
processed your application.

Compassionate Leave

Compassionate leave will be granted in the event of the demise of an immediate family
member (defined as parents, siblings and grandparents). Normally absence from School
within 7 days of the event and on the day of the funeral is accepted as valid leave of absence
on compassionate ground.

Please inform the course instructor/s and submit the supporting documents for
Compassionate Leave to the Undergraduate Office for processing.

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Weekly Lecture/Tutorials Schedule

Week/Date Topic Notes

Week 1 Course Introduction
(16 Aug)
Readings:
• Steuer, J. (1992). Defining virtual reality: Dimensions
determining telepresence. Journal of Communication,
42(4), 73-93.

• Fox, J., Arena, D., & Bailenson, J. N. (2009). Virtual

reality: A survival guide for the social scientist.
Journal of Media Psychology, 21(3), 95-113.

• https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/ready-player-
one-vr-tech-1202739419/

Week 2 Psychological Relativity / Avatars and Agents Form teams

(23 Aug) for Journal
Readings: Club
• Infinite Reality, Chap 1

• Blascovich, J., & McCall, C. (2010). Attitudes in

Virtual Reality. In J. P. Forgas, J. Cooper, & W. D.
Crano (Eds.), The Psychology of Attitudes and
Attitude Change (pp. 283-297). New York:
Psychology Press.

• Bailenson, J. N. & Blascovich, J. (2004). Avatars. In

W.S. Bainbridge’s (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Human-
Computer Interaction, Berkshire Publishing Group,
64-68.

• Nowak, K. L., & Rauh, C. (2005). The influence of

the avatar on online perceptions of
anthropomorphism, androgyny, credibility,
homophily, and attraction. Journal of Computer-
Mediated Communication, 11(1), 153-178.

Week 3 Tracking, Rendering, Display / Embodiment

(30 Aug)
Readings:
• Infinite Reality, Chapter 3

• “How smartphone-based VR works”

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-smartphone-
based-vr-works

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 • Kilteni, K., Groten, R., & Slater, M. (2012). The
sense of embodiment in virtual reality. Presence:
Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 21(4), 373-
387.

• Gratch, J., Rickel, J., André, E., Badler, N., Cassell,

J., and Petajan, E. (2002), "Creating Interactive
Virtual Humans: Some Assembly Required," IEEE
Intelligent Systems, July/August 2002, pp. 54-63.

Week 4 Social Influence / Immersion and Presence

(6 Sep)
Readings:

• Infinite Reality, Chapters 4-5

• Lee, K., M. (2004). Presence, Explicated.

Communication Theory, 14, 27-50.

• Bowman, D. A., & McMahan, R. P. (2007). Virtual

reality: how much immersion is enough?
Computer, 40(7). [focus on Page 38]

Week 5 Avatar Effects on Self and Others Form groups

(13 Sep) for final
Readings: project
• Infinite Reality, Chapters 6-8

• Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. (2007). The Proteus effect:

The effect of transformed self-representation on
behavior. Human communication research, 33(3),
271-290.

• Oh S.Y., Bailenson J., Krämer N., Li B. J. (2016). Let

the Avatar Brighten Your Smile: Effects of
Enhancing Facial Expressions in Virtual
Environments. PLoS ONE 11(9): e0161794. doi:
10.1371/journal.pone.0161794

Week 6 Perspective Taking and Empathy

(20 Sep)
Readings:
• Yee, N., & Bailenson, J. N. (2006). Walk a mile in
digital shoes: The impact of embodied perspective-
taking on the reduction of negative stereotyping in
immersive virtual environments. Proceedings of
PRESENCE, 24, 26.

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 • Peck, T. C., Seinfeld, S., Aglioti, S. M., & Slater, M.
(2013). Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar
reduces implicit racial bias. Consciousness and
cognition, 22(3), 779-787.

• Groom, V., Bailenson, J. N., & Nass, C. (2009). The

influence of racial embodiment on racial bias in
immersive virtual environments. Social
Influence, 4(3), 231-248.

Week 7 The Dark Side of VR Final project

(27 Sep) proposal due
Readings: 29 Sep
• Experience on Demand, Chap 2 (p. 58-75) 5 PM

• Bailenson, J. (2018). Protecting Nonverbal Data

Tracked in Virtual Reality. JAMA pediatrics.

Recess
No Class
Week
Week 8
Midterm
(11 Oct)
Week 9 VR in Pain Management and Rehabilitation
(18 Oct)
Readings:
• Hoffman, H.G. (2004). Virtual Reality Therapy.
Scientific American, 291, 58–65.

• Rizzo, A. “S.”, & Koenig, S. T. (2017). Is clinical

virtual reality ready for primetime? Neuropsychology,
31(8), 877-899.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/neu0000405

Week 10 VR in Education and Conservation

(25 Oct)
Readings:
• Dede, C. (2009). Immersive Interfaces for
Engagement and Learning. Science, 323, 66-69.

• Ahn, S.J., Bailenson, J.N., & Park, D. (2014). Short-

and long-term effects of embodied experiences in
immersive virtual environments on environmental
locus of control and behavior. Computers in Human
Behavior, 39, 235-245.

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Week 11 VR and Society
(1 Nov)
Readings:
• Franks, M. A. (2017). The Desert of the Unreal:
Inequality in Virtual and Augmented Reality. UCDL
Rev., 51, 499.

Week 12 Group Presentations

(8 Nov)

Week 13 Submission of Group Projects Final project

(15 Nov) due 17 Nov
5 PM