The goal of this project was to create an empathic VR experience. It was a groupwork of 4 people.
Our group set out to simulate the experience of sexual harassment that many women face on trains in Japan, commonly referred to as chikan. The main goal of the project was to raise awareness about this widespread issue, particularly among men, and to educate them about its scale and emotional impact. A secondary goal was to empower women by helping them recognize early warning signs and learn effective self-protection strategies.
In 2019, the advocacy group WeToo Japan conducted an online survey to better understand the prevalence of sexual harassment in public spaces. The survey gathered 12,000 responses from individuals aged 15 to 49 living in and around Tokyo. The findings were alarming:
These numbers suggest that chikan is not only disturbingly common but also, in many cases, normalized. As a result, many victims may feel helpless, while witnesses—particularly men—often don’t know how to respond effectively.
We concluded that modern educational tools like Virtual Reality (VR) can offer a powerful way to foster empathy and engagement, particularly among young people. VR has the unique potential to make abstract issues visceral and memorable by immersing users in realistic scenarios.
The role of each team member:
Cajole Yang - 3D models, UI
Dominika Worek - Concept, research
Marina Nakagawa - Programming for Oculus
Zhou Songchen - Programming for iPhone
Concept & Motivation
During our research, we discovered that sexual harassment on public transport takes many forms. We were especially moved by a series of illustrations created by a Japanese artist that vividly depicted these behaviors. Our team also drew from personal experiences, including instances where members of our group were victims of chikan in Japan.
Contrary to popular belief, harassment often occurs in less crowded trains, where the perpetrator can more easily isolate the victim. This insight guided our decision to design an experience that generates anxiety when someone sits too close or begins following the player around the train.
The gameplay is simple but emotionally intense:
We designed storyboards and flowcharts to illustrate how player choices impact the narrative and emotional outcomes.
Technology & Methodology
To explore different forms of interaction, we developed the experience for two platforms:
This allowed us to test a range of input methods and user experiences. Key features included:
For interaction, players used either a physical button (on mobile) or VR controllers (on Quest 2) to respond to different scenarios. This dual-platform approach helped us evaluate how different users might engage with the content and allowed us to adapt the experience to a wider audience.
Research citations:
