Peer-reviewed papers

These are the three independently peer-reviewed papers referenced elsewhere on this site. Each was written by named academics, published in an academic venue, and went through that venue's own peer-review process before acceptance. Program evaluations and client-reported outcomes, which have not been peer-reviewed, are collected separately on the evidence and outcomes page.

Two animated avatars in conversation inside the Equal Reality VR training scenario built for Google

Leveraging Virtual Reality to Enhance Diversity and Inclusion training at Google

Bursztein, E., Brown, K., Sanderson, L., and Kelley, P. G. (2024). In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '24), May 11-16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA. DOI: 10.1145/3613905.3637128.

A case study, co-authored by three Google researchers and Leonie Sanderson of Equal Reality, describing a four-scenario VR DEI training and reporting preliminary, self-reported feedback from a small group of Google employees who trialled it in September 2023. The authors present their findings as preliminary and list open concerns about hardware, scaling cost, fidelity and novelty effects.

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Black and white still of two animated nurse avatars from Mayo Clinic's VR DEI training module

Promoting Nursing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through Virtual Reality Learning

Nelson, D. E., Burkhartzmeyer, H. L., Kiker, K. M., Simiele, K. C., Proulx, A. L., Arcand, L. L., Alcock, L. R., Frederick, R. K., Phelan, S., and Storsveen, A. S. (2024). The Journal of Nursing Administration (JONA), 54(11), 638-644. DOI: 10.1097/NNA.0000000000001503.

Ten Mayo Clinic authors describe the rollout of a VR DEI training module, built in partnership with Equal Reality, to 1,149 nurse and social worker leaders across Mayo Clinic's network. The paper reports participant survey results from the programme's education evaluation and a separate randomised program evaluation, and discusses delivery limitations such as headset-versus-flatscreen variation and the training's mandatory nature.

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A person in a Meta Quest VR headset taking part in the Mayo Clinic VR training

A virtual reality intervention to increase interracial empathy and upstander behaviors in nursing leaders

Phelan, S. M., Burkhartzmeyer, H. L., Standen, E. C., Arcand, L. L., Kiker, K. M., Simiele, K. C., Proulx, A. L., Storsveen, A. S., Deng, Y., Foote, J. M., Kumbamu, A., Prakaashana, A. N., and Nelson, D. E. (2025). Social Science & Medicine, 366, 117648. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117648.

Thirteen Mayo Clinic authors report a quasi-experimental controlled trial of the same 1,149-leader programme, comparing an intervention group against a waitlist control group. It finds statistically significant increases in empathic feeling and expression, empathic perspective-taking and upstander-behaviour predictors immediately after the VR session, with most of these gains still present 6 to 8 months later. The authors note the sample was drawn from a single health system and was not fully randomised.

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