Exploring Immersive Technologies to Simulate Fear of Crime

The implementation of Virtual Reality (VR) tools in criminological research is very scarce, and almost non-existent in the fear of crime (FoC) field. Our objective is to assess the feasibility of Immersive Technologies for research on FoC. To do so, a simulation (360° video) grounded on the manipulation of environmental variables (street lighting) was conducted. Our preliminary results suggest that: (a) virtual simulation of absence of urban lighting elicits experiences of FoC, and (b) that simulation of experiences of FoC in virtual reality is an adequate strategy for analysis of this phenomenon.