Feasibility, effectiveness and patient experience of virtual reality technology in intensive care units patients: A mixed-methods systematic review.

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Virtual reality (VR) technology provides a high sense of immersion and presence to users and can enhance the engagement and performance of learning. However, the VR learning environment introduces more complex audio–visual stimuli than the traditional multimedia learning environment. These excessive stimuli cause negative effects such as distraction and cognitive overload. To minimize these negative impacts and improve the learning environment, we must evaluate learners’ cognitive states under the VR environment. Cognitive states can be evaluated subjectively (e.g., through questionnaires) or objectively (e.g., using biometric signals). Subjective and objective methods must be used simultaneously, and correlations between them must be analyzed for quantifying objective measures. The accurate detection of cognitive states is challenging for traditional statistical analysis methods, necessitating the exploration of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques that can classify cognitive states. This study develops a VR learning experience evaluation system based on eye-tracking data. Cognitive states during VR learning are classified as cognitive overload, immersion, and distraction. Correlations between each cognitive state and eye-tracking metrics are evaluated, and the possibility of cognitive-state quantification is discussed. An LSTM-based model developed in this study classified cognitive states from eye-tracking data with moderate accuracy (75.60%) under a subject-independent validation setting.

Exploring the future of travel: Unveiling tourist behavior and perceptions of metaverse travel through hybrid PLS-SEM and ANN analysis.

Exploring the impacts of interactivity, virtual embodiment and virtual crowd on virtual reality experiences and impulsive buying behavior

Human-Food Interaction (HFI) research increasingly relies on precise sensory measurement. However, traditional methods often make it difficult to disentangle visual influences from multisensory integration and to reproduce context-rich eating-related conditions under controlled settings. With the emergence of Digital Sensory Science (DSS), Virtual Reality (VR) and Eye Tracking (ET) are increasingly used to study sensory and behavioural responses. Rather than functioning as a substitute for eating, VR can be treated as a perceptual-cognitive simulation tool that allows visual and contextual cues to be manipulated in order to test hypotheses related to attention, expectation, decision-making, and appetite-related processes. This review introduces a theoretical framework grounded in Neurogastronomy and Multisensory Integration. Within this perspective, virtual dining experiences are understood as perceptual simulations that engage cognitive processes relevant to flavour construction. Neurogastronomy proposes that flavour is a "neural image" constructed from multimodal inputs. VR can therefore be used to isolate visual components within this process, helping to examine how "visual flavour" shapes expectation and desire even in the absence of chemical taste. Integrating VR and ET offers a structured methodological approach for investigating visual attention and contextual modulation in food-related research, including questions that are difficult to address using traditional testing alone. Future directions include carefully validated clinical applications, such as cue-exposure paradigms for eating disorders, and the use of VR combined with ET for behavioural theory testing. Although challenges related to standardisation, multisensory limitations, and cybersickness remain, these technologies offer a promising direction for future work on the cognitive reality of eating.

‘Cost’-playing: paid vs. free non-functional virtual goods experiences

A novel projective device, the AR Magic Lantern (ARML), has allowed Spatial Augmented Reality (SAR) to be deployed as a portable AR experience comparable to those on other technologies such as smartphones and headsets. In this study we compare user experience in a real virtual heritage application between two technologies that are growing in feasibility and popularity: SAR (using the ARML) and passthrough headset-AR (using the Meta Quest 3). Given that managers and curators of heritage sites want their visitors to attain a good awareness of the physical site, AR should provide a good blend between the physical and the augmented, without technology getting in the way. The results obtained seem to indicate that SAR provides higher awareness of the physical site than headset-AR. Moreover, the SAR seems to spontaneously spark experience exchange between the user and other visitors, while headset-AR tends to isolate users. Finally, headset-AR seems to put users in a task-oriented mindset while SAR seems to better contextualize the experience and its content within the physical site.

Synchronous technology-mediated service experience: conceptualization, scale development, and validation

The extensive development of AI- and virtual reality-based technologies in recent years has opened new perspectives on educational tools, making them more immersive and accessible. Bearing in mind that students spend a significant amount of time each day engaging in online and virtual activities (e.g., social networks, computer games, etc.), it is critically important to leverage this and get them interested in science through these kinds of interactive media. This especially refers to fields of science that are traditionally considered demanding to engage in. This paper presents current progress on the development of iMechLab, an interactive virtual laboratory for fundamental mechanics. Our virtual laboratory contains five simulation modules aim at covering different aspects of fundamental problems in mechanics: (1) motion of a rectangular block on a horizontal surface under an external force and friction, (2) motion of a rectangular block down an inclined plane under an external force and friction, (3) a pendulum with adjustable length, mass, and initial angle, (4) a vertically oscillating spring-mass system with damping, and (5) projectile motion under gravity and friction. To realistically emulate system behavior, we developed our own mathematical models based on the laws of mechanics. Users can interactively set the initial parameters for each simulation and observe how the system responds. By combining user input, real-time animations and visualization, and graphical feedback (diagrams that illustrate key aspects of dynamics for selected simulations), iMechLab aims to help future users gain a deeper understanding of mechanical phenomena through an immersive virtual experience.

ABSTRACT Video games are deeply immersive virtual experiences, yet they stimulate players to travel in the real world. The psychological mechanisms behind this virtual-to-real shift remain understudied. Drawing on narrative transportation theory and grounded theory analysis, this study examines how game narratives activate tourism intention through emotional experiences and makes three main contributions: (1) proposing a three-stage, dual-pathway model of game-induced tourism – narrative comprehension, narrative transportation, and transportation outcomes – differentiating hedonic-driven and meaning-driven pathways; (2) identifying perceived destination attractiveness, virtual attachment, and self-expansion as key mediating mechanisms linking virtual gameplay experience to real-world travel intentions; and (3) revealing the moderating role of need for affect in this psychological translation process.

Response inhibition may be a flexible resource that is usually in a dormant state but can be awakened in particular contexts, such as angry expressions. Few existing studies have explored the influence of violent video games on players' response inhibition to angry expressions from the perspective of virtual avatars. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of violent virtual avatar experience on players' response inhibition to angry expressions and its cognitive neural mechanisms. Eighty-four players (42 participants each with high and low violent virtual avatar experience) were selected to complete the emotional Go/No-go task, during which participants' EEG were recorded. Results indicated that facing angry expressions players with high violent virtual avatar experience showed a greater No-go P3 effect than those with low violent virtual avatar experience. These results suggest that facing angry expressions players with high violent virtual avatar experience show superiority in response inhibition, and this superiority exists in the later stage of response inhibition, which is closely related to the actual inhibition of the motor system.

A descriptive phenomenological study of virtual learning experiences enhancing mental health literacy among Vietnamese secondary school students.

This research aims to analyze the development of tourism communication concepts based on immersive storytelling in the preservation of cultural identity in Penglipuran Tourism Village, Bali. The approach used in this research is qualitative, employing a literature review method. Data were collected from various relevant scientific literature, books, and journal articles, then analyzed using content analysis and thematic analysis techniques through a process of theoretical synthesis. The results show that the transformation of tourism communication has shifted from an informative model toward a narrative and experiential communication model grounded in digital technology. AI-based immersive storytelling enables tourists to experience cultural narratives in a more in-depth, interactive, and contextual manner without directly disturbing sacred cultural practices. This technology also has the potential to reduce the pressure of mass tourism through educational virtual experiences. However, risks remain, including cultural simplification, algorithmic bias, and the dominance of market logic, which may erode the authentic meaning of local culture. This study concludes that AI-based immersive storytelling holds significant potential for preserving cultural identity when developed in an ethical and participatory manner, grounded in kearifan lokal (local wisdom). The implications of this study underscore the importance of a digital ethics-based tourism communication model that positions local communities as the primary agents in the production of cultural narratives, in order to sustain cultural continuity and sovereignty in the digital era

ABSTRACT The emergence of the metaverse as a virtual environment enabling interaction with digital spaces and other users has attracted growing attention. In tourism, metaverse-based virtual experiences offer potential for hybrid and immersive destination engagement. This study empirically examines how social interactions within the metaverse influence visitors' experiential and emotional responses, and how these responses shape real-world tourism intentions and decision-making. Using data from a historic museum metaverse operated by a local government, the findings indicate that social interaction and visitor experience positively affect emotional value and loyalty, which in turn encourage visit intention and decision-making behaviour. These results highlight the role of emotional responses in influencing tourist behaviour and provide insights for stakeholders seeking to design and manage effective metaverse-based tourism experiences.

Sharing an interest in arts-based research, this article explores the role of the mountain in shaping the authors’ academic relationship, growing from that between a PhD supervisor and supervisee into South African women exploring a sense of place, self, and becoming in academia. After Venter completed her PhD, they continued their collaboration through artmaking and writing. This article was inspired by the marked presence of mountains recognised in their work and personal lives: for Müller, Formosa Mountain in Tsitsikama and for Venter, Mont-Aux-Sources in the Drakensberg. Drawing on Sarmiento's reports about mountains, they interweave visuals to their text and comment on tangible and intangible experiences shared with these landscapes. The visuals they share are their arts-based responses exploring the actual and virtual presence of the mountain in their past, current and future work. From a post qualitative perspective, they ask: what does the mountain make possible? Müller’s journey involves inquiry into memories and stories, and amid migration and academic mobility, the mountain becomes a metaphor for home. Venter’s artmaking deepened her awareness of aesthetic experience and strengthened her connection to the mountain, questioning traditional education. Curious to think beside Janz and learn alongside Elizabeth St. Pierre, they refuse predetermined methodology and here they delve into a complex interplay and a dynamism that they sense between actual and virtual experiences shared with one another and with mountains.

Virtual Interview Etiquette for Radiology Residency: A National Survey of Program Directors.

• VR and a desktop game were compared for beach safety education with children. • VR was more effective for recognition of signage and aerial-view rip currents. • Both platforms improved safe beach practices and ground-view rip identification. • Teachers found both tools valuable, but VR had more practical constraints. Drowning is a leading cause of injury-related death among children worldwide, prompting calls for effective water safety education. While innovative technologies have shown pedagogical potential in safety education, their application in beach safety remains underexplored. This study compared two digital platforms, an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience and a non-immersive digital game, Swim City (SC), to improve beach safety knowledge among Australian children. The platforms were tested with 101 students aged 8–11 years, assigned to either the VR group ( N = 52) or the SC group ( N = 49). Students completed a pre-test, a learning session, and a post-test one week later. Outcome measures included knowledge of safety preparation, safe beach practices, recognition of signage and flags, rip current identification, and selecting the safest swimming area. Intrinsic motivation (IM) was also assessed. Interviews with eight teachers explored feasibility, usability, and educational value. VR was more effective than SC in improving signage and flag recognition and rip current identification from aerial-view media. Safety preparation knowledge declined in the VR group, but did not change significantly in the SC group. Both platforms were equally effective for improving safe beach practices, rip current identification from ground-level view media, and selecting the safest swimming area. IM did not differ significantly between groups. Teachers found both platforms engaging and educationally valuable, though VR’s feasibility was affected by setup time, equipment, and health concerns. This study highlights specific strengths of VR and SC for beach safety education. Platform choice can be guided by educational goals, resources, and classroom context.

Virtual reality and temporal Myopia: Insights from a multitask experiment in green bond investments.

Unseen support: The needs of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias' secondary family caregivers and a way forward.