# Beyond Presence: Exploring Empathy within the Metaverse
## 2 Methods  
This study aims to systematically review empathy applications in both situated and universal contexts within metaverse environments, employing the PRISMA methodology for this purpose [13]. Previous studies relevant to our research scope were gathered using keywords associated with empathy and immersive technologies. For empathy-related searches, terms including \"empathy\", \"general empathy\", \"context-based empathy\", and \"situated empathy\" were utilized. \"Empathy\" serves as the core term, reflecting the overall subject of investigation. \"General empathy\" was selected to encompass the universal aspect of empathetic experiences that transcend specific contexts, aligning with the psychological perspective of empathy as an inherent human capacity to connect with others' emotional states. \"Context-based empathy\" and \"situated empathy\" were included to specifically target the nuanced ways in which empathy is experienced within environments or situations, highlighting the importance of context in eliciting empathetic responses.  
To encompass immersive technologies, we employed keywords including \"virtual reality\", \"augmented reality\", \"avatar\", and \"immersive empathy\". These terms were designed to capture relevant studies that explore how immersive technologies facilitate the experience of empathy. These keywords and corresponding search strings are detailed Table 1.  
A comprehensive search was conducted across the following databases: Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and PubMed. These databases were selected due to their extensive coverage of studies in psychology, virtual reality, and immersive technology. The search was restricted to articles published between January 2016 and July 2023, capturing the most recent developments in empathy and metaverse-related research. Figure 1 outlines our systematic review process using PRISMA 2020. Following the initial search, 100 articles were subject to screening, resulting in the removal of 41 duplicates. We conducted a title and abstract screening process for the remaining 59 articles, leading to the exclusion of 7. Following a full-text assessment, 18 articles were further excluded. We, then proceeded with data extraction from the remaining 30 papers.  
We applied the following criteria to determine which studies would be included: studies focusing on empathy in virtual or immersive environments, particularly specific or universal empathy; research on VR, AR, or avatar-based experiences that elicited empathetic responses; and articles written in English and published after 2020. The exclusion criteria were studies not directly addressing empathy, such as those focusing solely on the technical aspects of VR or AR without considering user emotional engagement, and articles not peer-reviewed, such as editorials, opinion pieces, or unpublished theses. Data  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{p{113.8 pt} p{284.5 pt}} \hline \hline Keywords & Empathy, situated empathy, context-based empathy, universal empathy, immersive technology, VR, AR, avatar, extended reality, mixed reality, shared experience \\ \hline Search string & (“empathy” OR “situated empathy” OR “general empathy” OR “universal empathy” OR “context-based empathy”) AND (“Metaverse”) AND (“virtual reality” OR “avatar” OR “augmented reality”) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Keywords and search strings.  
Figure 1: Review process using PRISMA.  
extraction was performed using a pre-defined template to capture relevant information from each study. Key factors considered during the data extraction process included type of empathy (situated or universal), technologies used (VR, AR, avatars), study participants (age, demographics, sample size), methodology (qualitative or quantitative approach), and empathy measurement tools (self-report surveys, behavioral analysis, biometric tools). The extracted data are compiled and summarized in Table 2, detailing the key factors evaluated during data collection.