Improving the awareness of toddlers' initial emotional experiences in kindergarten with Virtual Reality

We used Virtual Reality (VR) technology to simulate a toddler's Ž rst few days' experiences in a daycare and improve the caregiver's understanding of their state of mind. The virtual worlds were developed in accordance with some well-known toddler's thinking modes, and emotional states. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the caregiver's awareness to the emotional experiences that the toddler undergoes in the Ž rst days in kindergarten improves through a VR simulation of a toddler's world. The participants in this study were 40 (female) caregivers who work with infants aged 6 months to 4 years old in private daycare. The Ž ndings indicate that experiencing a virtual world that re ects the real world of children improves, to some point, the caregiver's awareness to the emotional experiences that the toddler undergoes in her/his first days in a kindergarten or daycare.