Case Study
Antti Martikainen
July 9, 2025
VR Social Change with Virtual Dawn & ERA-VR Project
Virtual Dawn is proud to announce a groundbreaking collaboration funded by the Kone Foundation with the University of Helsinki, the visionary art collective behind Self-renewal | Rebirth | Celebration, and social psychologist Professor Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti. Together, we are fusing science, performance art, and cutting-edge immersive VR technology to spark dialogue and drive social change through research. This initiative is a prime example of VR social change research in Europe.
Shaping the Future with VR Social Change & Research
Virtual Dawn is proud to announce a groundbreaking collaboration, generously funded by the Kone Foundation (a renowned arts and research funder), with the University of Helsinki (a leader in social psychology research), the visionary art collective behind Self-renewal, Rebirth, Celebration (pioneers in immersive live art), social psychologist Professor Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti (ERA-VR Project Lead) and postdoctoral researcher Matilde Tassinari. Together, we are fusing science, performance art, and cutting-edge immersive VR technology to spark crucial dialogue and drive social change. This project is a pioneering example of VR social change research in Europe.
This collaboration is a central part of the ERA-VR Project (2024–2027), which rigorously explores the transformative role of Virtual Reality in advancing social equality and activism through art and psychological research. Learn more about the ERA-VR project: Equality through Research and Art in VR.
Social Change Through Virtual Experience
Backed by Kone Foundation funding, this innovative initiative reimagines performance art and behavioural research through VR. A central pillar of the collaboration is the creation of a virtual Pride parade, developed using Virtual Dawn’s powerful SDK. This VR-based collective action experience brings together sexual minority and majority group participants in a shared digital space, providing fertile ground for VR social psychology studies.
By simulating vital social movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter in a virtual context, researchers are meticulously studying how embodied participation in digital collective action affects identity, empathy, and real-world activism. This is crucial for understanding the impact of VR in social change research.
"There is limited research on how virtual activism can influence real-life social engagement. ERA-VR is changing that by combining art, science, and immersive technology to study collective action and social identity in a completely new way."
Built for Custom, Collaborative, and Creative Research
At the heart of this innovation is Virtual Dawn’s SDK, a purpose-built development kit designed to create modular, immersive VR experiences. Whether you’re an artist, a researcher, or an educator, the SDK empowers you to turn abstract ideas into fully functional interactive worlds, making it ideal for VR SDK academic research in Europe.
ERA-VR & The Power of Research
While the ERA-VR research is led by the University of Helsinki —an internationally recognised leader in research excellence—and funded by the Koneen Säätiö | Kone Foundation, Virtual Dawn’s SDK plays a crucial role as the enabling tool that powers the immersive environments for experimentation. Researchers are able to simulate complex social scenarios—such as group dynamics, identity expression, and collective action—that would be difficult or ethically challenging to reproduce in real life. Our SDK becomes a vessel for academic creativity and experimental integrity by providing the technological infrastructure for cutting-edge VR social psychology studies.
Learn more about our VR Social Change
Key Capabilities of Virtual Dawn’s SDK for Academic Research & Custom Art Experiences
Customisable VR Environments: Build fully interactive, 3D simulations tailored to specific research questions or artistic concepts for VR social change research.
Real-Time Data Collection: Integrate biometric sensors, eye tracking, and behavioural data for rich, measurable insights in immersive VR research.
Precise Environmental Control: Manipulate variables like lighting, sounds, objects, and social cues to test participant responses in controlled scenarios.
Avatar Embodiment & Social Dynamics: Simulate body ownership, identity shifts, and group behaviours within social VR platforms.
Adaptive, Multi-User Experiences: Enable real-time interaction between participants to study social presence, collaboration, and hierarchy formation.
Narrative & Art Integration: Create immersive, story-driven environments that explore empathy, emotion, and visual storytelling.
Cross-Platform VR Deployment: Deploy across high-end VR systems or scalable setups—flexible for various academic settings in Europe.
Modular & Scalable Design: Easily adapt to evolving research needs or multi-phase experimentation with a future-ready toolkit.
Pioneering VR Social Change Research with the ERA-VR Projec
Having just outlined the groundbreaking details of the ERA-VR Project and how Virtual Dawn’s SDK powers its innovative VR social change research, I want to conclude by sharing my personal perspective on this unique collaboration. For me, it truly represents a pivotal moment where technology, art, and science converge to drive meaningful social change.
At the intersection of technology, art, and social change lies a unique opportunity. Thanks to the generous support of Kone Säätiö, I’m immensely proud that Virtual Dawn is collaborating with such a visionary artistic team and the University of Helsinki on a project I believe the world has truly never seen before. Together, we are creating live performance art powered by Virtual Dawn’s creation tools and our SDK. This rare, fully funded, high-budget project is deeply important to me as it explores how VR can be meaningfully used in live performances and behavioural research, setting a new benchmark for immersive VR research.
Through the ERA-VR initiative, our SDK serves as a dynamic foundation for researchers to craft bespoke virtual scenarios that support innovative research on social identity, allyship, and collective action. I’m incredibly proud to be part of this journey and I genuinely look forward to what this powerful fusion of research and technology will achieve in the vital field of VR social change.
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