Virtual Worlds

Driven by competition, innovation, and shifting market demands, the automotive industry has evolved from mass production to high-mix, low-volume manufacturing, increasing operator flexibility and cognitive load. Virtual Reality (VR) can support training if aligned with user needs. This study presents a VR assembly training prototype with varying support levels and evaluates its effects on performance, physiological responses, and user experience in eleven operators, categorized by VR experience (novices vs. experts). User experience was positive, though improvements are needed in perceived bodily ownership. Novices completed tasks slower than experts (Welch’s t-test, t(16.84) = −2.50, p = 0.023, d = −1.14), while no differences in hint usage were observed (χ²(1) = 1.02, p = 0.313). Mixed repeated-measures ANCOVAs revealed significant effects of support level and VR experience (p = 0.032; p = 0.046) on heart rate, but not on breathing rate or galvanic skin response (GSR). Mixed repeated-measures ANOVAs showed significant effects of task buzzer and support level on heart rate and breathing rate (p = 0.018; p = 0.005), with no effects for GSR. Although results warrant caution due to the small sample size, findings highlight the importance of support design and provide insights for future research on VR-based assembly training. Full article

Augmented reality (AR) provides a new format for retailers to connect with consumers. However, different consumer subgroups may have varying perceptions of AR as an integral technology within the retail experience. Since Millennials currently have an increasing disposable income, this study explores Millennials’ diverse perceptions of AR via Q methodology. Q methodology is a research approach that studies subjective viewpoints by having participants rank statements within a defined grid, which reveals shared patterns of perspective. To measure perceptions, participants were given a survey consisting of a Q sort with 14 statements that needed to be ranked from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” and open-ended questions about why they ranked the statements in a specific order. In response, five unique factors emerged from the Q analysis. Factor 1 demonstrated a gamified view of AR, Factor 2 focused on the utilitarian benefit of AR, Factor 3 highlighted the innovation and effectiveness of AR, Factor 4 shared how AR can be enjoyable and realistic, and Factor 5 found AR to be immersive but not interactive. Full article

Virtual reality (VR) provides a flexible platform for investigating human perception of augmented bodily abilities. While motion scaling of virtual limbs has been explored in previous studies, psychophysical detection thresholds and embodiment have rarely been examined together, and direct comparisons between motion enlargement and reduction remain limited. In this study, we systematically manipulated the motion gain of a virtual hand in an immersive VR environment and evaluated both detection thresholds for deviations from unity gain and embodiment, including the sense of ownership and agency. Fifteen participants took part in the experiment. The results showed that the 50% detection thresholds for motion gain were 1.18 for motion expansion and 0.86 for motion shrinkage. These detection thresholds were approximately symmetric about the unity gain. In contrast, embodiment ratings showed an asymmetric decline, with ownership and agency decreasing more steeply for motion shrinkage than for motion expansion. Perceptual detection and subjective embodiment therefore exhibited both consistency and divergence: the onset of significant degradation in ownership and agency occurred near the perceptual detection range, whereas beyond these thresholds, embodiment declined asymmetrically. These findings provide quantitative guidance for designing motion-scaled body augmentation in VR, highlighting the importance of considering not only detectability but also the direction-dependent robustness of embodiment. Full article

This paper presents a workflow-driven VR simulation system for esports event production, designed to enable interaction with core production subsystems, including lighting control, audio management, and broadcast monitoring, within a task-based virtual environment that integrates spatial fidelity, workflow structure, and real-time feedback. A controlled pretest–posttest experiment with 80 undergraduate participants was conducted to evaluate the system in comparison with lecture-based instruction. The results indicate that while both approaches produced comparable gains in conceptual knowledge, the VR-based simulation led to significantly greater improvements in applied operational understanding and higher levels of user engagement. Interaction analytics further show that increased task complexity is associated with higher interaction frequency and lower completion rates, reflecting a trade-off between interaction fidelity and usability. These findings suggest that the effectiveness of VR-based simulation lies in its capacity to support scenario-based operational reasoning rather than conceptual learning alone, contributing to the design of virtual environments for complex workflow-based training. Full article

Fibromyalgia (FM) is associated with altered pain modulation and heterogeneous responses to exercise. Exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), typically observed in healthy individuals, appears inconsistent in FM. Immersive virtual reality-based exercise (VRBE) may influence pain through cognitive and attentional mechanisms, but its relationship with EIH remains unclear. This study aimed to identify exploratory response patterns based on changes in pressure pain thresholds (ΔPPT) following a single VRBE session and to explore associations with clinical and cognitive variables. A secondary pre–post analysis was conducted in 35 women with FM who completed a standardized VRBE protocol. PPTs were assessed at the trapezius, lumbar region, and knee before and after the intervention. K-means clustering was applied to ΔPPT values, and repeated measures ANOVA evaluated time × cluster interactions. No significant group-level changes in PPT were observed (p ≥ 0.432). Three response patterns were identified: positive responders (17%), negative responders (23%), and non-responders (60%), with significant time × cluster interactions across all sites (p < 0.001). Cognitive function and educational level were associated with ΔPPT but did not predict cluster membership. These findings indicate interindividual variability in EIH responses following VRBE in FM, highlighting the potential relevance of individualized monitoring during VR-based exercise interventions and the need for further investigation of underlying mechanisms. Full article

This article reports an exploratory, small-cohort mixed-methods case study of how an e-learning platform and a virtual reality (VR) workshop simulator can be integrated into a traditional craft apprenticeship without displacing workshop-based learning. Drawing on the Craeft glassblowing Pilot 1 at the European Centre for Research and Training in Glassmaking (CERFAV), it reports a two-phase mixed-methods study contrasting a Traditional Augmented (TA) group, which used a Craeft e-learning platform and a VR glassblowing simulator, with a Traditional (T) control group following the standard Certificate of Professional Competence (CPC) program. Quantitative data from formative assessments and CPC examination results are combined with qualitative feedback, satisfaction surveys, self-assessment questionnaires, and interviews with apprentices and trainers. In Phase 1, where digital tools were deployed in a separate mode alongside existing instruction, the e-learning platform was perceived as pedagogically valuable, but descriptive differences in assessment outcomes were limited and uneven, with greater score dispersion in the TA group. In Phase 2, redesigned hybrid usage scenarios assigned distinct and complementary roles to the e-learning platform, VR, and workshop practice within an iterative learning cycle, and the descriptive results suggest more consistent patterns of higher scores for the TA group in cross-cutting theoretical subjects, with less variance in their scores. Qualitative analyses show that apprentices adopt a pragmatic stance towards digital tools, using the e-learning platform primarily for revision and exam preparation and VR for workshop discovery and tool recognition, while maintaining a strong attachment to material practice. The study suggests that, in small, high-stakes craft VET program, the perceived value of virtual learning environments depends less on their intrinsic properties than on their orchestration within coherent hybrid designs and on trainers’ capacity to align them with authentic tasks and assessment regimes. All findings should be interpreted as exploratory given the small sample size (n < 20), non-random group assignment, and potential self-selection biases. Full article

Over the past decade, serious games and virtual reality have gained increasing relevance in upper-limb rehabilitation, yet desktop virtual reality solutions often suffer from reduced spatial correspondence and limited sensory feedback. This work presents the design and preliminary evaluation of a desktop virtual reality-based serious game that combines Leap Motion Controller hand tracking with a custom wireless vibrotactile wearable device to support upper-limb rehabilitation training. Three training scenarios were implemented to target pronation/supination, pinch grip, ulnar/radial deviation, and wrist, elbow, and finger flexion/extension. Usability (System Usability Scale, SUS), user experience (short AttrakDiff), and perceived workload (Raw NASA-TLX), together with functionality and perception questionnaires, were collected from healthy participants randomly assigned to two groups (Group 1: $n=13$, LMC only; Group 2: $n=9$, LMC plus wearable). Across all instruments, the configuration including the wearable device tended to obtain higher usability ratings, more desirable pragmatic and hedonic quality scores, and lower overall workload means than the LMC-only configuration, with moderate effect sizes but limited statistical power due to the small samples. Participants in the wearable condition also reported clearer feedback, a perceived improvement in movement precision, and a stronger perceived alignment between real and virtual actions. These findings suggest that the proposed system may serve as a promising user-centered prototype for desktop VR-based upper-limb rehabilitation and provide preliminary design evidence to support future clinical and kinematic validation studies with larger cohorts. Full article

This systematic review critically analysed the differences, intersections, and trends toward convergence between Human Resource Management (HRM) and People Management (PM), highlighting the evolution of these approaches in organizational contexts marked by digital transformation. Conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, the study utilized the Web of Science and SCOPUS databases. Fifty-eight studies were selected and analysed narratively, prioritizing evidence with a lower risk of bias. The results confirm that, although HRM and PM have distinct rationales, a progressive convergence between the two is observed, driven by technological, organizational, and sociocultural changes. In this process, immersive technologies play a central role as socio-technical mediators, shaping organisational practices through configurations that reflect institutional logics and generate paradoxes between efficiency and experience. The analysed literature demonstrates that these technologies enable the integration of practices traditionally oriented toward efficiency, measurement, and standardization—characteristics of HRM—with experiential, relational, and subjective dimensions, which are specific to PM. It is concluded that the strategic adoption of immersive technologies enhances hybrid management models, capable of articulating strategic alignment, personalization of practices, engagement, and well-being at work. Thus, rather than merely serving as support tools, immersive technologies are emerging as foundational elements of modern people management, challenging traditional models, and paving the way for more integrated, sustainable, and people-centred practices. Full article

Urban planning increasingly depends on methods capable of capturing citizen perspectives in forms that are both inclusive and analytically useful for decision-making. Conventional participation mechanisms, such as public meetings, paper questionnaires, and online platforms, often suffer from low reach, strong self-selection effects, and weak suitability for structured comparative analysis. This paper presents XRCity, a decision support system that combines extended reality, conversational artificial intelligence, and a planner-side backend to support participatory urban planning in public spaces. The system is centered on Olivia, a life-sized virtual assistant deployed on outdoor interactive screens, and on a backend environment that enables planners to prepare knowledge resources, configure interaction scripts, validate conversational behavior, process transcripts, and analyze elicited opinions. The contribution of the paper is not just the presentation of an XR interface, but the description and validation of a complete decision-support pipeline that connects campaign design, citizen interaction, opinion structuring, and planner-side analytics. The system was validated through real-world deployment in Torres Vedras, Portugal. Across more than 250 interactions and over 740 min of conversation, 191 usable sessions were analyzed, showing an average of 6.7 messages per user and 2.8 min per interaction. Of these sessions, 14.7% produced at least one structured response to an urban planning question, exceeding the project target of 10%. These results indicate the operational feasibility of using public-space conversational XR to elicit analyzable planning input, while a formal validation of the opinion-matching step remains future work. Full article

Despite the increasing adoption of metaverse technologies, particularly in educational contexts, the cognitive impacts of students designing their own immersive experiences remain underexplored. This study addresses that gap by providing empirical baseline data on the cognitive load of students designing virtual worlds. All 100 participants were second-year undergraduate computer science students, aged 20 to 22, who completed a five-week virtual world development project using the Spatial.io platform. Cognitive load was assessed using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), which is a measure of six dimensions: Mental Demand, Physical Demand, Temporal Demand, Performance, Effort, and Frustration. The total weighted NASA-TLX showed moderate cognitive load (M = 48.42, SD = 12.18, 95% CI [45.99, 50.85]), with a percentage of 9% of respondents indicating high cognitive load (scores > 60). Temporal Demand was the highest-rated dimension (M = 14.32, SD = 3.84), followed by Mental Demand (M = 13.68, SD = 3.52), while Physical Demand was the lowest (M = 5.23, SD = 2.94). The Spearman correlation analysis indicated that there were strong correlations between Temporal Demand and Effort (ρ = 0.62, p < 0.001) and Temporal Demand and Mental Demand (ρ = 0.58, p < 0.001) with Frustration demonstrating moderate correlations with most cognitive dimensions. In this sample, the NASA-TLX showed a good internal consistency (0.82). No statistically significant difference was found in the overall workload scores or in individual subscales (p > 0.05), indicating that the cognitive load experienced by male and female participants in the development of a virtual world was similar, but the small sub-sample of female participants (n = 25) reduces the statistical power of the comparison. These results provide a descriptive baseline for cognitive workload in virtual world creation led by students and provide evidence-based guidance into how educators can develop immersive development programs. Full article

Gamification, defined as the application of game elements in non-gaming contexts, has emerged as a promising tool for enhancing student engagement in content-heavy curriculums such as anatomy and physiology. This preliminary study describes the development of a virtual reality (VR) cardiac anatomy escape room and provides initial data on student engagement and confidence with learning objectives. Participants were recruited from Colorado State University following completion of a cadaveric anatomy course. The heart-themed escape room was developed using Unity 6000.1.7f1 and deployed on Meta Quest 3 headsets, featuring seven puzzle stations that generated cardiac structures upon successful completion. Players then assembled a complete heart model within a set time. Results showed high engagement and accomplishment, with students reporting improved understanding of visualizing cardiac structures and enjoyment in testing anatomical knowledge. All participants reported that they felt confident with the content following completion of the escape room. While VR has been successfully incorporated into curricula, VR escape rooms have the potential to serve as an engaging and fun supplementary learning tool for students. These findings suggest that virtual reality implementation can enhance anatomy education through immersive gamified learning environments. Full article

In recent years, the generation and animation of avatars in virtual reality (VR) have undergone a definitive paradigm shift, transitioning from pre-rendered, manually rigged meshes to autonomous, AI-driven digital entities. While individual algorithms have been extensively studied, there is a critical lack of comprehensive synthesis regarding how these generative models impact the broader sociotechnical ecosystem of Spatial Computing. To address this gap, this systematic literature review, conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, analyzed 48 primary studies to evaluate the intersection of Generative AI, hardware architecture, human psychology, and digital ethics. The synthesis reveals a deeply interdependent ecosystem. While advanced neural rendering and diffusion models (RQ1) successfully bypass traditional 3D authoring bottlenecks, their pursuit of absolute visual fidelity severely antagonizes the thermal and latency constraints of standalone mobile hardware (RQ2). The literature demonstrates that failing to mitigate these bottlenecks through hardware–software co-design (e.g., specialized ASICs, gaze-contingent foveation) inevitably shatters the user’s sensorimotor loop, collapsing the sense of agency and triggering the Kinematic Uncanny Valley (RQ3). Furthermore, as these hyper-realistic avatars achieve kinematic autonomy, they introduce unprecedented sociotechnical vulnerabilities regarding spatial privacy, dataset bias, and post-mortem digital identity (RQ4). Ultimately, this review concludes that realizing a compelling and inclusive AI-driven Metaverse is no longer an isolated computer graphics challenge; it demands a rigorous, interdisciplinary paradigm shift where algorithms, silicon architectures, and cognitive psychology are inextricably co-designed under a foundational framework of digital ethics. Full article

Extended reality (XR), encompassing augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR), is a key enabling technology for virtual worlds, and XR-related patents continue to grow rapidly. However, patent-based XR technology analysis faces a fundamental challenge: document–keyword matrix (DKM) built from patent titles and abstracts are typically high dimensional, sparse, and often exhibit excess zeros, which can distort inference when conventional text mining pipelines are applied without a generative count perspective. In this study, we propose a statistically grounded XR technology analysis framework that combines likelihood-based count modeling with interpretable structure mining to map XR sub-technologies from a patent DKM. Using an XR patent–keyword matrix, we fit Poisson regression (PR), negative binomial regression (NBR), and zero-inflated negative binomial regression (ZINBR) models via maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), controlling for document-length effects. Model selection by Akaike information criterion (AIC) consistently favored NBR for both target keywords, indicating substantial overdispersion in XR patent counts. We interpret exponentiated coefficients as incidence rate ratios (IRRs) and construct a technology relatedness network from significant IRR edges, revealing a dual-axis XR structure: reality is anchored in an AR or VR experience and content axis such as virtual and augment, whereas extend is embedded in a structure and integration axis for example, surface, edge, layer, and connectivity-related terms. To show how the proposed method can be applied to real domains, we searched the XR patent documents, and analyzed them for XR technology analysis. Full article

Extended Reality (XR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are increasingly converging within cyber–physical infrastructures, including digital twins, the Spatial Web, and smart-city systems. These environments require new frameworks for understanding how human performance emerges through sustained interaction with immersive interfaces and adaptive computational agents. This paper introduces the TAXI–XI-CAP framework, a two-layer model that links psychobiological mechanisms of XR–AI interaction to higher-level, experimentally testable capability constructs. The TAXI layer defines 42 mechanisms spanning perception, cognition, physiology, sensorimotor control, and social coordination, while XI-CAP organizes these into capability patterns such as remote dexterity, distributed cognition, and adaptive workload regulation. Derived through a theory-guided synthesis across XR, neuroscience, and human–automation interaction, the framework models performance as emerging from interacting mechanisms under real-world constraints. A validation-oriented research agenda is proposed, emphasizing mechanism-level measurement, capability-level evaluation, and longitudinal testing. The TAXI–XI-CAP framework provides a structured basis for hypothesis generation, comparative analysis, and empirical validation of XR–AI systems, supporting the development of reliable, scalable, and human-centered Extended Intelligence infrastructures. Full article

Distance learners in higher education are often assumed to face limited peer interaction, potentially weakening their sense of belonging. This study examines peer relationships and belonging among students in distance and blended university programs, with attention to the role of virtual reality (VR) within digitally mediated learning environments. Immersive VR teaching is included in the curriculum for distance learning students in the studied programs. Using a mixed-methods design, survey data and open-ended responses were collected from 17 students in Information Studies and Information Service Design. An adapted Classroom Community Scale was supplemented with items addressing the perceived contribution of different communication technologies. Contrary to expectations, fully distance learners did not report weaker agreement with statements reflecting belonging than blended students; on several items, they expressed stronger agreement, particularly regarding perceived peer support and learning opportunities. Results indicate that conventional 2D communication tools, particularly chats and video calls, are central to sustaining peer relationships. VR was not perceived as essential but described by some students as an added value supporting shared experience and group cohesion. Overall, belonging emerges as a socio-technical achievement shaped by communication practices rather than physical proximity. Full article

Immersive virtual environments are increasingly investigated as tools capable of modulating conscious experience, yet the specific contribution of graded immersion to altered states of consciousness (ASC), time perception, and cognition remains unclear. The present study examined how different levels of immersion during videogame play influence subjective experience and post-experience cognitive performance. Seventy-two participants played an identical 35 min segment of the videogame Half-Life: Alyx under one of three conditions: desktop PC (low immersion), head-mounted virtual reality (VR; medium immersion), or VR combined with full-body locomotion via an omnidirectional treadmill (high immersion). Following gameplay, participants completed validated measures of presence (IPQ), immersion (IEQ), ASC (5D-ASC), retrospective time estimation, and cognitive flexibility (Stroop task and Alternative Uses Test). Presence was selectively enhanced in VR relative to desktop play, whereas immersion was highest in the VR plus treadmill condition. Specific ASC dimensions related to embodiment and self-experience were selectively elevated in immersive conditions, with the most robust effects observed for disembodiment and positive depersonalization. Retrospective time-estimation accuracy was reduced in the highest immersion condition, indicating increased temporal distortion. Immersive gameplay did not produce widespread changes in executive function. Overall, the findings indicate that immersive virtual reality gameplay selectively alters embodiment-related aspects of conscious experience and retrospective time perception, without broadly changing executive function. Full article

The collection of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) is a key measurement tool for patient-centred care. At the same time, collecting these measures poses obstacles for many patients, leading to these groups being underrepresented in the data. We have therefore developed a multimodal, AI-driven assistance system to support patients in collecting these data. The interface of the system comprised a digital tablet containing the PROM questionnaire items and the assistant in three forms of embodiment: A virtual avatar, a physical avatar, and a voice-only agent. To evaluate the users’ experience and ratings of the system, two separate studies were implemented in two rehabilitation centers with 195 patients. A mixed within–between RCT was conducted at an outpatient clinic, where patients completed PROMs both with and without an assistant, and a between-subject design at an inpatient clinic comparing routine PC-based care with avatar- and robot-assisted PROM administration. Our results suggest a preference for the non-assisted tablet-only condition in Clinic A, whereas, in Clinic B, both agent conditions were preferred over routine care. We have further analyzed aspects such as trust and social presence in this study to gain a more thorough understanding of the users’ experience. Our analysis shows a higher trust rating for the voice-only assistant, whereas the robot, virtual avatar, and the voice-only conditions were perceived as more socially present. The impact of demographic factors and affinity for technology on the user ratings was also thoroughly studied. Our findings shed light on the role of agent embodiment in PROM assistance and contribute to the future design and evaluation of effective, engaging, and trustworthy systems for data collection in healthcare settings. Full article

Augmented reality (AR) offers promising opportunities to support manual assembly, but there is little consensus on how much information AR instructions should contain, reflecting debates between cognitive-load-oriented minimalism and multimedia-learning-based benefits of redundancy. These debates manifest in practice as rich, multimodal overlays or minimal, complexity-adaptive visualizations designed to avoid clutter and ease authoring. This study compares these approaches by contrasting a redundant AR concept combining three-dimensional models, photographs, and videos with a minimal concept that adapts visualization types to assembly step complexity. In a between-subject experiment with 30 participants (mixed-experience; heterogeneous backgrounds) performing a heat-pump assembly task for the first time in a spatially constrained setup, errors, task time, workload, and usability were measured. The redundant concept led to significantly fewer errors and a lower per-step error probability than the minimal concept, without a penalty in assembly time. Workload and usability were comparable across concepts and primarily driven by performance rather than by visualization style. Step complexity strongly predicted completion time but not error rates, suggesting that operators slow down on complex steps while failures are more sensitive to instructional design. These findings suggest that overly minimal AR instructions increase error risk, whereas redundant AR instructions stabilize performance. Full article

As virtual reality technologies evolve toward widespread adoption in education, industry, and social communication, their increasing complexity exposes new and often overlooked security challenges. Immersive environments collect continuous multimodal data, including motion tracking, gaze, voice, and biometric indicators that extend far beyond traditional computing attack surfaces. This paper synthesizes recent research (2023–2025) on cybersecurity, privacy, and behavioral safety in virtual reality (VR) systems, identifies the main vulnerabilities, and proposes a unified defense architecture: the three-layer VR Security Framework (TVR-Sec). Through comparative review and conceptual integration of 31 peer-reviewed studies, three interdependent protection domains emerged: (1) System Integrity, securing hardware, firmware, and network communications against spoofing and malware; (2) User Privacy, ensuring the ethical management of biometric and behavioral data through federated learning and consent-based control; and (3) Socio-Behavioral Safety, addressing harassment, manipulation, and psychological exploitation in shared virtual spaces. The framework situates VR security as a multidimensional adaptive process that combines technical hardening with human-centered defense and ethical design. By aligning cyber–human protections through an AI-driven monitoring and policy engine, TVR-Sec advances a holistic paradigm for securing future immersive ecosystems. Full article