New book · Yellow Press, 2026

Empathy Machines

The Use of Virtual Reality in Advancing Human Rights

By Ryan X D’Souza and Alexander M Gross

ISBN 978-1-917990-06-6

Pre-order and review copies Book Ryan to speak

About the book

Can technology make us care again?

We can now witness distant suffering in real time. Yet mass atrocities have rarely seemed so frequent, so visible and so hard to stop. Empathy Machines asks how virtual reality can restore presence and moral engagement in an age of distraction, and turn awareness of suffering into action.

Drawing on a decade of atrocity-prevention work, the book uses Nobody’s Listening as its main case study. The authors are frank about the limits: VR cannot prosecute perpetrators or rebuild communities. What it can offer is a rare space where survivors are heard directly.

Three parts

Part oneTowards the PrecipiceHow human rights grew from natural law into today’s international system, and why that system now faces a crisis of effectiveness.

Part twoIdeal PresenceOur empathy deficit, shaped by economic disruption, polarisation and digital media, and how immersive technology can deepen or ease it.

Part threeNobody’s ListeningHow a VR experience on the Yazidi genocide moved parliamentarians, students and diplomats from awareness to action, and what the evidence shows.

What readers say

“Thoughtful, timely, and convincing, Empathy Machines offers a powerful vision of virtual reality’s potential to reaffirm our shared humanity. Drawing on specific examples, D’Souza and Gross articulate how this technology can foster meaningful empathetic engagement at a moment when social media echo chambers and nonstop news consumption often leave us divided and disconnected.”Dr Jeremy MaronCurator, Canadian Museum for Human Rights

“In an age of blistering technological change, Empathy Machines presents an urgent and compelling case for the role of virtual reality in human rights advocacy. By immersing us, albeit briefly, in the lived realities of some of the most vulnerable and oppressed, it explores how technology can deepen our capacity for empathy and transform our ability to bear witness.”Dr Shiraz MaherReader in Non-State Actors, Department of War Studies, King’s College London

“As lead producer of Nobody’s Listening, an immersive exhibition on the 2014 Yezidi genocide, Ryan X D’Souza is a pioneer in the field of virtual reality in human rights education. … Curators, educators, and activists will all find something useful – and inspiring – from this book.”David SimonDirector, Genocide Studies Program, Yale University

“The current discourse around AI and other emerging technologies has understandably focused heavily on risks and harms, including to human rights. … Ryan and Alexander’s book reminds us that technology can create the empathy and human connection that drives a commitment to the humanity of others.”Iain LevineHuman rights expert, formerly Meta human rights team, Human Rights Watch and UNICEF

“At a time when AI and digital technologies are being weaponised to commit atrocities, it is important to remind ourselves that technology can also be a tool to expand empathy and bear witness. Empathy Machines engagingly reveals how we can better promote human rights, connect communities, and inspire a new generation of global activists.”Simon AdamsFormer President, Center for Victims of Torture

The authors

Ryan X D’SouzaA human rights practitioner and the founder of Upstream XR. He created Nobody’s Listening and has worked on atrocity prevention at the UN, the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Full biography →

Alexander M GrossA writer and teacher in London, with a PhD in English Language and Literature. He wrote Over the Line, a history of the England v Germany football rivalry, and has written for the Nobody’s Listening campaign since its early days, including transcribing survivors’ accounts.

Launch events, talks and media

For review copies, interviews, launch events or to book Ryan as a speaker, get in touch.

ryan@nobodys-listening.com