Zhang, Ju, Ma, Fang, Birtel, Michèle Denise ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2383-9197, Pan, Xueni and Farmer, Harry ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3684-0605 (2025) Squeeze the pain away: using a wireless ball to measure efforts to reduce other’s pain expressions in VR. In: CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), New York, pp. 1-10. ISBN 979-8400713941 (doi:10.1145/3706599.3720164)

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Abstract

Virtual reality has often been used as a tool to study empathy. However, few studies have explored users’ willingness to make physical effort to actively reduce others’ pain. We developed a pipeline that integrates a wireless stress ball into a VR environment. This device measures continuous grip force, enabling participants to adjust a virtual character’s pain expressions through squeezing: the harder they squeeze, the less intense the pain expressions become in real-time. This shifts the participants’ focus from passive observation to active participation. Our results indicated that participants were highly motivated to use the ball to reduce virtual characters’ pain and showed particularly high use of effort in the first 10 seconds of a 15-second trial. Eye-tracking data revealed that participants focused primarily on pain-related facial features, consistent with previous pain decoding studies. Our effort-based approach offers a novel method to study pain perception.

Item Type:	Conference Proceedings
Title of Proceedings:	CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Uncontrolled Keywords:	real-time measures, engagement, pain, EDA, squeeze interaction, perception
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology T Technology > T Technology (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Mental Health Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2025 11:00
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50913

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