Virtual Reality: The Effects and Phenomenon of Sign

Research and development in virtual reality (VR) continues to influence all sectors of society. This has been particularly the case in the application of VR for learning and training. Due to the affordability of VR, it increasingly is providing a safe and cost-effective technology for studying learning and training. In this paper, we summarize findings from recent compilations of research in virtual reality that examined VR and learning. From this, we identify a set of recommendations distilled from these reviews in order to help the training research community structure their research based upon the extent empirical base. Our goal is to help the training community more effectively explore VR as a technology for learning.

The recent appearance of low cost virtual reality (VR) technologies – like the Oculus Rift, the HTC Vive and the Sony PlayStation VR – and Mixed Reality Interfaces (MRITF) – like the Hololens – is attracting the attention of users and researchers suggesting it may be the next largest stepping stone in technological innovation. However, the history of VR technology is longer than it may seem: the concept of VR was formulated in the 1960s and the first commercial VR tools appeared in the late 1980s. For this reason, during the last 20 years, 100s of researchers explored the processes, effects, and applications of this technology producing 1000s of scientific papers. What is the outcome of this significant research work? This paper wants to provide an answer to this question by exploring, using advanced scientometric techniques, the existing research corpus in the field. We collected all the existent articles about VR in the Web of Science Core Collection scientific database, and the resultant dataset contained 21,667 records for VR and 9,944 for augmented reality (AR). The bibliographic record contained various fields, such as author, title, abstract, country, and all the references (needed for the citation analysis). The network and cluster analysis of the literature showed a composite panorama characterized by changes and evolutions over the time. Indeed, whether until 5 years ago, the main publication media on VR concerned both conference proceeding and journals, more recently journals constitute the main medium of communication. Similarly, if at first computer science was the leading research field, nowadays clinical areas have increased, as well as the number of countries involved in VR research. The present work discusses the evolution and changes over the time of the use of VR in the main areas of application with an emphasis on the future expected VR’s capacities, increases and challenges. We conclude considering the disruptive contribution that VR/AR/MRITF will be able to get in scientific fields, as well in human communication and interaction, as already happened with the advent of mobile phones by increasing the use and the development of scientific applications (e.g., in clinical areas) and by modifying the social communication and interaction among people.

Planning an experiment in a virtual environment reality as a place of research on human behaviour using methods of neuroscience measurement – bibliometric analysis and methodological approach

The development of virtual reality (VR) research and innovation has mainly revolved around graphic enhancement and novel ways of human-computer interaction. In recent years, many VR researchers have urgently started to investigate methods to assess elements of the spatial experience of VR, such as presence and affordances. In the recent two decades, while VR researchers began to learn to measure such elements within the VR environment, studies of these elements have already been common in architecture, although the methods might differ. Therefore, this study reviews different techniques to study affordances in architecture and VR research through a mixed-method review. First, we conducted a systematic review on the methods used to study affordances in VR environments. Then, we proceeded to undertake a traditional literature review on those methods which assess spatial affordances in architecture. This study identifies the merits of current techniques of measuring affordances in both physical and virtual spaces. Through this study, we would like to suggest three methods employed in architecture as an alternative with which to assess affordances when studying spatial experience in VR environments.

A common goal of human-subject experiments in virtual reality (VR) research is evaluating VR hardware and software for use by the general public. A core principle of human-subject research is that the sample included in a given study should be representative of the target population; otherwise, the conclusions drawn from the findings may be biased and may not generalize to the population of interest. In order to assess whether characteristics of participants in VR research are representative of the general public, we investigated participant demographic characteristics from human-subject experiments in the Proceedings of the IEEE Virtual Reality Conferences from 2015-2019. We also assessed the representation of female authors. In the 325 eligible manuscripts, which presented results from 365 human-subject experiments, we found evidence of significant underrepresentation of women as both participants and authors. To investigate whether this underrepresentation may bias researchers' findings, we then conducted a meta-analysis and meta-regression to assess whether demographic characteristics of study participants were associated with a common outcome evaluated in VR research: the change in simulator sickness following head-mounted display VR exposure. As expected, participants in VR studies using HMDs experienced small but significant increases in simulator sickness. However, across the included studies, the change in simulator sickness was systematically associated with the proportion of female participants. We discuss the negative implications of conducting experiments on non-representative samples and provide methodological recommendations for mitigating bias in future VR research.

This mini review presents the current state of the art in studies on the personalization of virtual reality for basic research and treatment of fear-related disorders. Of particular interest to the review are the choice of self-report measures and manipulations of contextual factors that researchers are using in their virtual reality procedures. As this mini review will show, work is starting to emerge on the area of the interaction between context and individual differences, yet this topic remains a current gap in the literature on fear learning mechanisms and therapies for fear-related disorders. Studies in this review conclude that virtual reality environments offer many advantages, as they can be adjusted to model different contexts with great precision and control of the experimental context. Virtual reality is also seen by researchers as an opportunity to decrease the translational gap that exists between the research laboratories and the practical use for therapy treatments in clinics. However, the heterogeneity of methodological approaches that have created replicability as well as comparability issues in the field of fear learning is also a concern in studies using virtual reality. Thus, another, albeit secondary, aim of this mini review will be to point out some of the methodological challenges that should be addressed in future research aimed at the personalization of virtual reality for the research and treatment of fear-related disorders. Factors that will be addressed are 1) the use of self-report measures, and 2) interactivity aspects of contextual factor design in the virtual reality environment.

Virtual Reality (VR)’s unprecedented ability to virtually transport the user is purported to be its biggest strength. Yet, despite postulations about VR’s benefits as a tourism marketing tool; the concept of presence, ubiquitous in ICT and cyberpsychology research on immersive technologies, remains nascent in tourism literature. More importantly, researchers in the field have called for empirical studies focused on the determinants as well as consequences of presence, particularly in commercial environments. Existing presence literature has shown that both determinants and consequences of presence are not transferrable across contexts. Understanding the interplay of presence determinants is vital for optimising the technology’s utilisation in different contexts, especially for budget and development focus considerations. A VR experience developed for education or training purposes would have differing impacts and emphasis when compared to a VR experience developed for tourism marketing purposes. Thus, the objective of this project was to investigate the effectiveness of VR as a tourism marketing tool, anchored through establishing a framework encompassing the determinants (immersion, ecological validity, engagement) and consequences of presence on emotional response – an association that has been suggested in cyberpsychology studies. Using a mixedmethod randomised within-subjects experiment, 72 participants experienced computergenerated, fully synthetic virtual environments of a cruise ship. The experiences were administered across pictures, video, and VR. This thesis is structured as a series of three papers. Paper 1 was a critical review aimed at establishing the presence-emotion-intention conceptual framework. Through reviewing VR and presence literature across disciplines, the paper uncovered gaps in previous presence research, compounded by the fragmented and evolving approach to exploring presence. Methodologically, paper 1 revealed the lack of qualitative approaches to presence and VR research, informing the mixed-methods approach of this thesis. The literature review also highlighted that whilst VR research in tourism is growing, researchers have called for future studies to focus specifically on presence determinants. Quantitative findings were presented through Paper 2. Findings from this paper suggest that VR is significantly more effective than traditional media in evoking positive emotional responses to the stimuli. Theoretical implications include suggestions that fully-interactive synthetic VR may be more effective than 360° VR due to the significance of engagement as a presence determinant. Managerial implications include suggestions to focus on engagement mechanics, rather than chasing photo-realistic VR advancements, for impact on emotional response. Paper 3 presented qualitative phase findings. 36 participants were interviewed after experiencing all three stimuli. In terms of triangulation, similar results were found – participants associated the engagement and immersion presence determinants with increases in their positive emotional response as well as intention to visit the cruise. However, several unexpected themes emerged – the sense of agency and goal congruence that users associated with the levels of engagement that VR provided. Participants felt that being in control to see what they wanted, how they wanted, and when they wanted, positively affected their emotional response toward the stimuli and corresponding behavioural intentions toward the cruise. Several participants also attributed a positive shift in perception of cruising to the presence levels from VR, suggesting that the influence of higher presence was amplified for marketing enclosed, all-inclusive tourism products such as cruising or resorts. Theoretically, paper 3 introduced the association between engagement and sense of agency as a key component to the effectiveness of VR for marketing; previously unexplored. The findings also suggested the incorporation of dimensions from cognitive appraisal theory such as goal congruence into the presence-emotion framework from papers 1 and 2. Methodologically, the thesis overall highlights the importance and value of mixed-methods in VR research; traditionally heavily focused only on quantitative approaches. Practically, this thesis emphasises the focus on engagement and level of agency that marketers introducing VR should provide potential travellers. Users should be given a sense that they are in control and involved as an active participant to the virtual experience. As a whole, this thesis established a top-to-bottom presence-emotion-intention framework; a platform for future theoretical exploration and practical applications of VR in tourism and marketing. More importantly, the framework and insights from the papers in this thesis provide avenues for future VR research in tourism to focus on comparing differences in VR platforms, instead of against traditional media.

This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of virtual reality (VR) research in education from 2009 to 2024, with data sourced from the Scopus database. Out of 1,749 initial publications, a refined selection of 735 articles was analyzed using Bibliometrix software. Results reveal significant growth in VR research, particularly in K-12 and higher education, with peak citations observed in 2014. The United States and China emerged as leading contributors, producing the most impactful studies. Central research themes focus on VR’s role in enhancing instructional design through games, simulations, and immersive environments. The analysis identifies influential authors and institutions, with Hwang G.J. as the top author and National Taiwan Normal University leading in institutional contributions. The most cited articles highlight VR’s efficacy in improving student engagement, comprehension of abstract concepts, and overall learning outcomes. A notable finding is the application of VR in collaborative and experiential learning, as well as its potential to address educational needs for diverse learners, including those with disabilities. Key bibliometric indicators underscore a 20.68% annual growth rate in publications, with interdisciplinary collaboration playing a pivotal role. Visualization through citation and co-citation networks elucidates the intellectual structure of VR research, highlighting prominent studies and emerging trends. Keywords like “virtual reality,” “e-learning,” and “students” dominate, reflecting a focus on technology-driven educational methods. This research provides valuable insights into the evolving landscape of VR in education, emphasizing its transformative potential. It informs educators, policymakers, and researchers on the trends, challenges, and opportunities for integrating VR technologies into educational practices to enhance learning experiences and outcomes.

Virtual Reality (VR) technology has the potential to enhance education by providing immersive and engaging learning experiences that can improve teaching and learning outcomes. While there is a growing interest in utilizing VR in education settings, further research is needed to understand its pedagogical effectiveness and address associated considerations and challenges. This bibliometric study comprehensively analyzes 1,157 relevant articles from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EPANDED) to gain insights into the current state of VR integration in education. The analysis revealed variation in VR adoption and research output across countries and institutions, underscoring the importance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing in the field. Key research areas and trends, such as the use of VR for skill development and training, were identified. Additionally, the study highlighted the need for more research on the pedagogical effectiveness of VR. The findings carry practical implications for guiding future research shaping policy decisions and advocating for a concerted effort to harness VR’s capabilities in education. This study serves as a practical roadmap, promoting the implementation and improvement of VR technology and fostering equitable and inclusive educational practices.

Human density in different locations influences time estimation. In this article, we report three experiments investigating whether research in virtual reality (VR) environments would replicate this earlier finding. In our first experiment, 35 participants wore head-mounted VR displays and watched two videos showing a cityscape and a countryside. While watching each video, participants were asked to provide their perceptions of 30 seconds of time passage. Perceived time in the cityscape condition was longer than in the countryside condition. In our second experiment, 43 participants wore head-mounted VR displays and watched two videos showing a crowded and uncrowded Ikebukuro station. While watching these videos, participants were asked to provide their perceptions of 60 seconds of time passage. Perceived time in the crowded condition was longer relative to the uncrowded condition. In our third experiment, 21 participants wore head-mounted displays and watched two videos showing a crowded and uncrowded nature park. While watching the videos, participants were asked to provide their perceptions of 60 seconds of time passage. These repeated findings in VR environments of longer time perception in crowded versus uncrowded conditions were similar to data reported by who examined how location and human density affected subjective time in the real world. We discussed the implications of the VR tool in subjective time research and how people perceive and use VR environments in daily life.

Virtual Reality technologies present exciting opportunities for increasing the understanding of affect and emotion-related phenomena. However, they remain understudied both from the principles of data gathering and for their prospective use as annotation tools. A 2×2 mixed design experiment assessed the influence of presentation of emotion related social interactions in virtual reality and using more traditional database techniques. Participants rated the interactions along four emotion-related dimensions (empathy, rapport, trust and tone), for conversational “floor” dominance and how they made the raters “feel” on a valence dimension. Forty-three participants watched clips of a recorded conversation. Significant differences were found between the rapport, trust, emotional tone, floor dominance and subjective feeling ratings when comparing emotional valence of the materials; however, there was no effect of presentation medium for any measure-presenting in virtual reality made no difference to a raters annotations when compared to more traditional computer monitor style ratings. Implications for using virtual reality for database creation and annotation are discussed and the value is assessed given the current state of these technologies. We conclude that this does not diminish the need for research in Virtual Reality in Affective Computing but call for caution in the interpretation of results.

Taking virtual reality out of the game and into healthcare.

Mixed Reality Interfaces (MRITFs) like the Hololens and low-cost virtual reality (VR) machineries similar to the Oculus Rift, , Sony PlayStation and HTC Vive VR are attracting the attention of users and researchers, suggesting that they may be the next largest technological innovation stepping stone. However, the VR technology's olden times is elongated than it seems: In the late 1980s, the initial marketable VR tools seemed, and the concept of virtual reality was developed in the 1960s.As a result, thousands of scientific papers have been issued over the past two decades as hundreds of researchers investigated the processes, effects, and applications of this technology. What does this significant research produce? Using cutting-edge scientometric methods, this paper will investigate the field's existing research corpus to answer this question. In the Web of Science Core Collection scientific database, we gathered all existing VR-related articles. The resulting dataset contained 21,667 VR and 9,944 AR records. The author, title, abstract, country, and all of the references (which were required for the citation analysis) were all included in the bibliographic record. The literature was analyzed using network and cluster methods, and the results revealed a symbiotic panorama marked by changes and developments over time. Indeed, whereas conference proceedings and journals were the primary forms of VR publication up until five years ago, journals are now the primary means of communication. In a similar vein, although computer science was initially the most prominent area of research, clinical areas and countries participating in VR research have both grown in recent years. The present work focuses on the anticipated future capabilities, enhancements, and difficulties of virtual reality (VR), as well as the evolution and changes that have occurred over time in the main application areas. We conclude by taking into consideration the disruptive impact that VR/AR/MRITF will have not only on scientific fields but also on human communication and interaction—much like the introduction of mobile phones did—by altering social communication and interaction as well as increasing the use of scientific applications (such as in clinical settings).

Virtual reality (VR) provides a potentially powerful tool for researchers seeking to investigate eating and physical activity. Some unique conditions are necessary to ensure that the psychological processes that influence real eating behavior also influence behavior in VR environments. Accounting for these conditions is critical if VR-assisted research is to accurately reflect real-world situations. The current work discusses key considerations VR researchers must take into account to ensure similar psychological functioning in virtual and actual reality and does so by focusing on the process of spontaneous mental simulation. Spontaneous mental simulation is prevalent under real-world conditions but may be absent under VR conditions, potentially leading to differences in judgment and behavior between virtual and actual reality. For simulation to occur, the virtual environment must be perceived as being available for action. A useful chart is supplied as a reference to help researchers to investigate eating and physical activity more effectively.

Designing to support situation awareness across distances: an example from a scientific collaboratory