Virtual reality is an opportunity to broaden interpersonal relationships

In a scenario in which we are trying to promote more and more initiatives capable of building a sustainable future, inclusive and technologically advanced, the digital dimension can no longer be considered a simple support. On the contrary, it becomes an educational and relational environment, capable of promoting cultural contamination and to transform the way we experience social interactions.

The society of tomorrow will be increasingly digital, with immersive virtual worlds that host social experiences as complex as real ones. Understanding how we interact in these spaces is essential to exploiting their potential, as the immersive environments they reflect and broaden the cultural background, making it an extraordinary lever for overcoming barriers and creating new forms of coexistence.
On the occasion of‘Expo 2025 OsakaEY contributed to the creation of the Virtual Italian Pavilion, a digital environment that reproduced in 3D the most significant areas of the Italian Pavilion at the Japanese expo, in which they passed over 7 million additional users to visitors to the stand. This environment was the ideal scenario to carry out research by EY Italia, the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and La Sapienza University which demonstrated how cultural norms influence proxemic choices even in the virtual world. EY Italy, IIT and La Sapienza University research “Virtual proxemics: influence of bodily, social and cultural factors on the modulation of interpersonal distance in immersive virtual reality”

Involving about 200 peopleequally distributed between Italians and Japanese, the researchers measured the comfort distance between the subjects and the avatars belonging to different ethnic groupsthrough virtual reality experiments, analyzing the influence of cultural factors, perceptions of attractiveness and trust and implicit bias towards one’s own group.
The analysis highlighted some differences in the methods of interaction between the two cultural groups: the Japanese participants maintained an average distance of 161 centimeters, compared to the 129 centimeters of the Italians, with a difference of 32 centimeters which confirms that culture continues to shape behavior even in digital environments.

But digital does not limit itself to replicating reality: it transforms it. The same research also highlights that perceptions of attractiveness and trustworthiness towards avatars predict the reduction of preferred distance. For each point of increase in attractiveness (how pleasant the avatar is considered), the distance is reduced by 0.27 centimeters; for each point of increase in trustworthiness (how much the avatar conveys trust), the reduction is 0.17 centimetres. In other words, openness towards others can be built and enhanced through immersive virtual experiences, creating the conditions for greater inclusion.

“Digital is much more than an extension of the physical world: it is a social laboratory in which we can rewrite the rules of coexistence”, he states Giuseppe Perrone, AI & Data Consulting Leader of EY Italia.

“The data collected shows that even small changes in perceptions – such as an increase in 10 points on the attractiveness scale – they reduce the distance by almost 3 centimetres. This means that immersive spaces are a concrete tool to promote cultural contamination and reduce barriers. An opportunity not to be missed on occasions likeExpo 2030 Riyadh because it can help realize its goal of building a more inclusive and sustainable future.”

Virtual reality, therefore, influences interpersonal space and interactions, offering a unique opportunity to overcome distances, go beyond the horizons of physicality and promote culture even more, especially on the occasion of international events such as the expo. Expo 2030 Riyadh, in fact, represents a unique opportunity to enhance digital as a lever for social and cultural change. An opportunity to go beyond the horizons of physicality and build, through technology, new forms of trust and collaboration between peoples.