I study how people come to understand one another’s inner lives.
My research combines experimental psychology, physiological measures, and immersive environments to investigate empathy, compassion, and social cognition.
I hold a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Auckland, with co-supervision from Psychological Medicine. My doctoral research explored the use of a virtual reality compassion meditation to support emotional regulation and recovery from empathic distress.
My broader research interests span embodied cognition, phenomenology, cognitive neuroscience, contemplative science, and human-computer interaction.
I'm currently seeking postdoctoral opportunities with interdisciplinary teams that bring together behavioural and psychophysiological methods to investigate cognition, emotion, and subjective experience.
More About MeHow do individuals respond to another person's suffering, and how can contemplative interventions help regulate empathic distress while cultivating compassion?
Equanimity VR and doctoral experimental studies
How does embodied experience shape our understanding of other people's perceptions, emotions, and actions? How can immersive technologies facilitate perspective-taking and interpersonal understanding?
Paint With Me, ADEPT, and Enactive Co-Presence
How can immersive environments respond to users' physiological or neural activity to adapt to changes in cognitive load and support more responsive interactions?
Levity — a virtual reality brain-computer interface
My research combines experimental psychology, psychophysiological and behavioural measures, subjective experience, and immersive technologies to investigate cognitive, emotional, and social processes.
A research programme investigating responses to another person's suffering and the potential of compassion-based contemplative interventions to support recovery from empathic distress.
The programme uses video stimuli depicting suffering alongside compassion meditation interventions and pre- and post-intervention assessments. It includes Equanimity VR, a breath-guided virtual reality meditation designed to support emotion regulation and the cultivation of compassion.
A mixed-reality piano training system exploring how novice musicians can experience aspects of an expert teacher's hand movements and technique to support embodied musical learning.
An experimental simulation exploring empathy and enactive co-presence in an asylum interview context. Participants assumed the role of immigration officers, encountered animated virtual asylum seekers, and decided whether to grant asylum. The study examined how narrative context, empathy, and perspective-taking relate to social and moral decision-making.
A social skills training simulation for autistic adults using foveated imaging as a gaze cursor within a first-person, 360-degree video of a roundtable conversation. The project investigated gaze following, social cue detection, and interpretation of others' emotions and intentions.
A virtual reality brain–computer interface designed to respond to changes in users' cognitive load, exploring how neural measurements can inform adaptive immersive environments.
A virtual reality experience designed to help novice painters embody an expert painter's movements and creative process, exploring embodied learning, creativity, and empathy.
Gerry, L. J. (2026). Cultivating Compassion in Virtual Reality: Regulating Empathic Distress via Breath-Guided Meditation. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Auckland]. View dissertation ↗
Includes four experimental studies; manuscripts in preparation for journal publication.
Gerry, L. J., Billinghurst, M., & Broadbent, E. (2022, March). Empathic skills training in virtual reality: A scoping review. In 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops (VRW) (pp. 227–232). IEEE. PDF ↗
Tikka, P., McNamara, R. G., Gerry, L. J., Kosunen, I., & Kaipainen, M. (2021). Designing enactive co-presence: Second-order simulation of empathy for artificial humans in narrative contexts. Presence: Virtual and Augmented Reality, 30, 149–166. PDF ↗
Gerry, L. J., Dahl, S., & Serafin, S. (2019). ADEPT: Exploring the design, pedagogy, and analysis of a mixed reality application for piano training. Sound and Music Computing 2019. PDF ↗
Schoeller, F., Zenasni, F., Bertrand, P., Gerry, L. J., Jain, A., & Horowitz, A. H. (2018). Combining virtual reality and biofeedback to foster empathic abilities in humans. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2741. PDF ↗
Gerry, L. J., Ens, B., Drogemuller, A., Thomas, B., & Billinghurst, M. (2017). Levity: A virtual reality system that responds to cognitive load. CHI 2018 Late Breaking Work. PDF ↗
Gerry, L. J. (2017). Paint with me: Stimulating creativity and empathy while painting with a painter in virtual reality. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 23(4). DOI: 10.1109/TVCG.2017.2657239. PDF ↗
Høeg, E. R., Gerry, L., Thomsen, L. A., Nilsson, N. C., & Serafin, S. (2017). Binaural sound reduces reaction time in a virtual reality search task. In 2017 IEEE 3rd VR Workshop on Sonic Interactions for Virtual Environments. PDF ↗
Below are videos of various research projects I have designed and developed.
Interviewed alongside Sophie Costin of Make Real for Episode 70 of Learning Hack, discussing the scientific evaluation of digital perspective-taking training programme and its implications for decreasing mental health stigma and improving empathic attitudes and behaviours.
Listen to interview ↗
An interview exploring empathy, embodied cognition, phenomenology, and the potential of virtual reality to facilitate perspective-taking and interpersonal understanding.
Listen to interview ↗
Featured expert interview in the University of London’s online course on virtual reality design and development, sharing insights into immersive technologies and VR research.
View course ↗I'm always happy to connect with fellow researchers, collaborators, and others who share my interests.