Food choices in VR – Carol Coricelli

Sustainable food choices are crucial as food production and consumption significantly impact the environment. Practices like adopting plant-based diets, prioritizing local produce, and reducing food waste can greatly lower this footprint. However, these changes are often challenging due to psychological factors. Food cravings—intense desires for high-calorie foods—can override rational choices, especially when triggered by emotions or environmental cues. Similarly, food neophobia, the reluctance to try new or unfamiliar foods, can limit acceptance of sustainable options like plant-based proteins. Understanding these behaviors is key to developing effective interventions. This course will explore how VR technology can simulate food environments, raise awareness of environmental impacts, and train participants to make more sustainable food choices while addressing these psychological barriers. This intersection of behavior and technology offers a powerful approach to shaping both healthy and sustainable eating habits.

The aim of this course is to show how VR can be used as a tool to train individuals on the environmental impact of food choices and how psychological and cognitive traits impact such decisions. Such class measures whether interactive and gamified learning increases participants’ sustainable choices in follow-up tasks.

Highlights of the course:

– Simulating real-life food environments to study and train for better food choices.
– Highlighting the environmental impact of certain choices, fostering awareness and motivation.
– Allowing participants to explore unfamiliar food options in a controlled, risk-free setting.

In this session, you’ll experience how psychological traits, eating patterns, and innovative technology converge to drive sustainable eating behaviors.