Social cognition in Virtual Reality

The "Social cognition in VR" student conference aims to bring together students and researchers in philosophy of mind, epistemology, cognitive science, philosophy of technology, in order to advance our understanding of social cognition in VR - how do we use our TOM skills (if we do) when interacting with virtual agents, what are the features of intersubjectivity in virtual reality, can we use VR apps to develop or improve empathy, theory of mind and social skills? 

The conference will take place 5-6April 2024, between 9 AM-  9 PM, local time for Bucharest, Romania. Regular presentations will be 20 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes long Q&A.

It will have a mixed format, in that speakers may choose whether they present online only or face to face at the event's location (if so, their session will enjoy a live audience, but it will also be streamed to remote participants).

Keynote speakers:

Zuzanna Rucinska (University of Antwerp)

Topic areas:

• Social cognition training in VR 
• Theory of mind in VR
• Empathy and VR experiences
• 4E approaches to social cognition in VR
• Intersubjective features - interacting with virtual agents

Program

Friday Apr 5, 2024

17:20 - Opening remarks 

17:30-18:00 Sandra Brânzaru (University of Bucharest) -"Theory of Mind and Empathy - what makes VR special?"

18:00-19:00 Keynote:Zuzanna Rucinska (University of Antwerp): Pretense and Virtual Reality: Is pretend playing possible in virtual spaces?

19:10-19:40 Paul Athes (Babeș Bolyai University) -"Empathy, emotions and cognition in the times of AI and cyber-reality"

Saturday Apr 6, 2024

10:20 -10:50 Victor Ristea (University of Bucharest) -"Social cognition as one source of axiological difference between Reality and VR."

11:00-11:30 Michael Paskaru (Tilburg University, York University )- "Picturing Virtual Reality"

11:40-12:10 Elena Roșu (University of Bucharest) - "Group Identification and Sexual Motivation in the Furry Subculture"

12:20-12:50 Ana Cimpoieru (University of Bucharest) -"Reflections on selfhood in VR"

13:00-13:30 Volodymyr Tymoshenko (University of Bucharest)- "Social cognition in VR chat"?

13:50-14:20 Anda Zahiu (University of Bucharest) - "Political emotions and Virtual Reality"

14:30-15:00 Cătălin Teoharie (University of Bucharest) - "Treating  depression   with   VR:   an   argument   for   the   Dark   room problem"