Search Results (2,687)

Design education places strong emphasis on fostering students’ creativity, and the rapid development of embodied immersive technologies presents new opportunities in this regard. This exploratory study recruits 34 university students with different levels of expertise (17 novices and 17 experienced learners). Each participant completes a 3D conceptual design task using three design platforms with varying levels of embodiment: desktop, Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR). Data on self-reported sense of embodiment, design creativity, and behavioral patterns are collected and analyzed. The results suggest that the VR platform, which provides the highest level of embodiment, is associated with significantly higher overall creativity as well as six creativity dimensions: fluency, flexibility, elaboration, originality, aesthetics, and requirement fulfillment. In addition, students using the VR platform exhibit more frequent and interconnected transitions between design behaviors, suggesting more exploratory and flexible design processes. No significant interaction is observed between design platform and expertise level in the present sample, suggesting that the effects of platform embodiment are broadly similar for novice and experienced learners. Based on these findings, this study proposes action-based metaphor and contextual consistency as potential explanatory factors that may contribute to creativity enhancement in highly embodied design platforms. Practical implications are discussed from the perspectives of platform design, learner differences, and pedagogical strategies. Overall, this exploratory study provides preliminary empirical evidence for understanding how embodied design platforms may support creativity in immersive design education and offers a foundation for future research. Full article

Long-term functional impairments, including deficits in upper limb mobility, cancer-related fatigue, and reduced physical performance, are often reported by breast cancer survivors, underlining the need for sustainable and easily accessible rehabilitation techniques. Telemonitoring technologies have shown promising results in extending rehabilitation outside of clinical settings. However, the increasing number of technological solutions make it difficult to outline the optimal approach in the comprehensive management of breast cancer patients. Therefore, this narrative review aimed to provide an overview of contemporary digital and sensor-based telemonitoring solutions for breast cancer rehabilitation. To find pertinent research published in recent years, major scientific databases were searched, with emphasis on clinical applications and technology advancements in oncology rehabilitation. The results identified different digital solutions, including wearable sensors, surface electromyography systems, computer vision techniques, virtual reality environments, three-dimensional motion analysis, and mobile health platforms. These technologies have shown promising results in remote delivery of rehabilitation programs, enhancing patient involvement and adherence, and providing objective and ongoing evaluation of functional performance. However, a lack of standardization and a lack of clinical validation in cancer populations are major limitations. Altogether, telemonitoring is a potential strategy for improving rehabilitation pathways in breast cancer survivors, but further studies are required to develop solid standards and enable widespread adoption in cancer rehabilitation clinical practice. Full article

Background/Objectives: Opportunities for pre-service midwifery students to manage postpartum hemorrhage (PPH), a high-risk, infrequent emergency, are limited. Virtual reality (VR) can provide contextual decision-making practice, whereas mannequin training provides tactile psychomotor practice. Evidence on combining these modalities and their instructional sequence remains limited. This exploratory pilot study examined implementation and preliminary outcomes of a blended lecture–VR–mannequin program. Methods: Ten final-year midwifery students were allocated by drawing lots to lecture–VR–mannequin (L–VR–M; n = 5) or lecture–mannequin–VR (L–M–VR; n = 5). Performance was assessed using an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) before and after the program; motivation was assessed using the Course Interest Survey after the program. Analyses were exploratory, with effect sizes and Hodges–Lehmann confidence intervals reported alongside p values. Results: No statistically significant between-sequence differences were found. Across all participants, the median OSCE score increased from 34.5 (IQR, 31.0–35.0) to 44.0 (IQR, 41.0–45.0); the paired median difference was 10.5 points (95% CI, 9.0–15.5; p = 0.005; r = 0.89). This change cannot be attributed solely to the program because there was no no-intervention control and the same scenario was repeated. Uterine fundal massage showed a relatively large exploratory effect favoring L–VR–M (r = 0.54), but the confidence interval included no difference. Conclusions: The program was deliverable within one approximately 4 h session and was associated with higher post-program OSCE scores in this small cohort. The design does not establish effectiveness or an optimal sequence because of the very small sample, baseline imbalance, non-blinded assessors, and possible testing and practice effects. A larger controlled study using alternate OSCE scenarios, blinded assessors, and delayed follow-up is required. Full article

Background: Obesity is a chronic, multifactorial disease that demands personalized and sustainable management approaches. Digital health technologies, such as artificial intelligence, wearable devices, mobile health apps, and virtual reality (VR), may support obesity care by providing enhanced behavioral monitoring, personalized feedback, and patient engagement. Objective: This critical narrative review discusses the current evidence on artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, and VR in the context of precision nutrition and obesity management and their possible clinical applications and limitations. Method: A critical narrative review was conducted using peer-reviewed literature published between 2019 and 2026 and identified through PubMed and Google Scholar. Search terms included combinations of “precision nutrition,” “personalized nutrition,” “obesity,” “weight management,” “metabolic health,” “digital health,” “artificial intelligence,” “machine learning,” “mobile health,” “wearable devices,” and “omics” using Boolean operators. Evidence from randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and key conceptual studies was critically synthesized due to substantial heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes. Result: Wearables and mobile applications can enable continuous self-monitoring of physical activity, dietary intake, sleep, and physiological measures. Artificial intelligence may improve dietary personalization, risk prediction, glycemic control, and adaptive feedback. VR offers an immersive way to tackle behavioral and cognitive mechanisms related to overeating such as cravings, food cue reactivity, and inhibitory control. However, the evidence is heterogeneous, with many studies limited by short follow-up periods, small samples, variable adherence, and insufficient clinical validation. Conclusions: Artificial intelligence, wearable technologies, and VR are promising tools for precision obesity management, but their long-term clinical effectiveness remains uncertain. Future research should prioritize adequately powered trials, longer follow-up, standardized outcomes, transparent algorithms, ethical data governance, and integration with multidisciplinary nutrition and obesity care. Full article

Engaging adolescents in regular physical activity remains a major public health challenge; consequently, increasing attention is being directed toward technologies that make exercise more attractive, task-oriented, and engaging. Active video games and non-immersive virtual reality systems are particularly promising because they combine physical exertion with feedback, gamification, and movement-based interaction. This study examined whether a biathlon exergame performed on an unstable ICAROS Cloud platform using the ICAROS App can elicit favorable physiological and psychological responses in adolescents, and whether these responses depend on body position. Eighty secondary school students, including 41 girls and 39 boys, completed two 10 min Biathlon trials: one in a standing position and one in a quadruped kneeling position, with the trial order counterbalanced. The percentages of maximum heart rate (%HR_max), perceived exertion, enjoyment of physical activity, and flow state were assessed. The standing condition elicited higher exercise intensity than quadrupled kneeling (71.42 ± 9.61 vs. 62.09 ± 9.04%HR_max; p < 0.001), and was also associated with higher perceived exertion, enjoyment, and flow. Similar response patterns were observed in girls and boys. These findings highlight the potential of unstable-platform exergaming as a practical and engaging approach to technology-supported physical activity promotion in developmental ages. Full article

Background: Accurate three-dimensional positioning of dental implants is fundamental for long-term prosthetic success. While static guided surgery and traditional dynamic navigation present intrinsic limitations related to physical bulk or hand–eye coordination (the “look-away” phenomenon), Augmented Reality (AR) via Head-Mounted Displays (HMDs) promises to overcome these barriers by superimposing virtual holograms directly onto the surgical field. Objectives: The aim of this scoping review is to map the existing literature to evaluate the positioning accuracy, workflow efficiency, and ergonomic/technical barriers of HMD-based AR navigation systems in implant dentistry. Methods: A systematic search was conducted across the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases, following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. In vitro, ex vivo, and clinical studies utilizing AR headsets (e.g., HoloLens) for implant guidance, reporting quantitative data on accuracy and/or qualitative data on usability issues, were included. Results: Eleven studies were included (7 in vitro, 1 ex vivo, 3 clinical). Accuracy showed a strong dependence on case complexity: for standard implants, the mean error at the entry point ranged between 0.33 and 1.51 mm, which is comparable to s-CAIS techniques. However, in complex scenarios (zygomatic implants), significant deviations were reported (up to 5.64 mm and 9.60°). The main barriers to routine adoption identified include tracking instability due to line-of-sight interruption, device weight, and the vergence–accommodation conflict. Conclusions: AR dynamic navigation demonstrates promising potential. Nevertheless, current evidence relies predominantly on in vitro studies that fail to fully replicate real-world surgical complexities. Persistent technical and ergonomic barriers, such as tracking instability and hardware limitations, indicate that the technology remains largely in a preclinical phase and is not yet suitable for routine clinical application. Further advancements toward markerless tracking systems, lighter headsets, and rigorous in vivo trials are required. Full article

In recent years, the application of virtual reality (VR) in rehabilitation medicine has gained increasing attention. VR is generally classified into two types: non-immersive and immersive systems. Non-immersive VR allows patients to interact with virtual environments through screens while maintaining a connection with the real world. Several studies have reported that the combined application of non-immersive VR and adjunctive technologies such as transcranial direct current stimulation and hand exoskeleton devices could facilitate functional recovery of hemiparetic limbs after stroke. In contrast, immersive VR is applied with the use of head-mounted displays to encompass the user’s visual field, providing a high level of immersion and an enhanced sense of presence. This enhanced experience has been shown to promote patients’ attention and motivation, which are important factors in motor learning. Emerging evidence suggests that immersive VR is effective for improving upper limb motor function in post-stroke hemiparetic patients. Furthermore, rehabilitative training performed in immersive virtual environments may facilitate the transfer of acquired motor skills to real activities of daily living. Future research should aim to generate high-quality evidence through large-scale, multicenter randomized controlled trials to better establish the clinical efficacy and optimal implementation of VR-based interventions in stroke rehabilitation. Full article

Driven by Vision 2030, the construction industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has expanded rapidly. This expansion has raised concerns about safety performance and created a need to identify the factors that most strongly influence safety outcomes. This study is an exploratory, perception-based investigation into the perceived importance of factors affecting construction safety performance and into the perceived value of emerging Industry 4.0 technologies in improving it. Data were collected from 68 construction engineering professionals using a structured questionnaire covering 50 safety-related factors across five domains: management, worker, equipment and environmental, organisational and policy, and technology integration. The Importance Index (I) method was used to analyse the responses, and the domain-level results are reported as descriptive prioritisations rather than as statistically validated constructs. The three highest-rated items were lack of management commitment to safety programmes (I = 91.2%), inadequate and infrequent safety training (I = 89.7%), and absence of safety awareness among top management (I = 88.5%), followed closely by weak enforcement of safety regulations (I = 87.4%). At the domain level, management-related factors recorded the highest mean (I = 81.7%), ahead of worker-related factors (I = 79.5%) and technology integration (I = 75.0%). Although respondents identified artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), building information modelling (BIM), and drones as valuable safety enablers, they rated organisational and human factors as more important than the technologies themselves. Extreme heat and adverse weather conditions (I = 81.7%) emerged as a leading environmental risk, underlining the need for climate-specific safety interventions in the KSA context. Heat stress could be considered a notable concern in this context, as construction work in KSA is often performed outdoors during extended periods of high summer temperatures, which can elevate the risk of heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and fatigue-related incidents. This contrasts with the more temperate conditions of many international comparator studies and helps to explain why respondents treat heat as a leading environmental concern. To the authors’ knowledge, this is among the few exploratory studies to bring management, workforce, policy, environmental, and Industry 4.0 technology determinants together within a single KSA-specific framework. The findings contribute to both theory and practice in construction safety by identifying priority areas for intervention and by providing a basis for future large-scale confirmatory studies. Full article

Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) has emerged as a promising instructional technology for STEM education, yet relatively few classroom-based studies have examined student learning experiences through the lens of the Cognitive-Affective Model of Immersive Learning (CAMIL). This study compared undergraduate students’ perceptions of IVR and traditional PowerPoint (PPT)-based instruction across four CAMIL-related constructs: immersion, presence, agency, and intrinsic motivation. A counterbalanced crossover design was implemented with 40 undergraduate STEM students enrolled in a leadership course at a large Midwestern research university. Participants experienced both IVR and PPT instructional modalities across three learning modules. Student perceptions were measured using an adapted questionnaire consisting of validated subscales administered on a six-point Likert scale. Because questionnaire completion varied across instructional sessions, analyses were conducted using 64 complete IVR-PPT paired observations. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze motivation, presence, and immersion, while the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to analyze agency because of non-normality. Results indicated a significant difference in immersion between instructional modalities, whereas motivation and presence did not differ significantly. Agency also differed significantly between conditions based on the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. These findings demonstrate that instructional modality influences selected dimensions of the student learning experience while suggesting that the relationships proposed by the CAMIL framework may depend on implementation context and instructional design. Rather than validating the CAMIL model, this study illustrates its usefulness as an interpretive framework for examining learner perceptions in authentic undergraduate STEM instruction. Limitations include the modest sample size, incomplete questionnaire responses across sessions, the absence of formal testing for sequence effects, and the use of paired observations rather than participant-level analyses. Full article

Despite the growing sophistication of immersive virtual reality (VR) technologies, olfactory feedback remains underexplored in VR gaming. This study introduces Scent Ninja, a VR fruit-slicing game integrated with a custom head-mounted olfactory virtual reality display, and explores whether event-triggered fruit scents are associated with differences in presence, immersion, user experience, and gameplay performance. A total of 12 participants completed scent evaluation trials and gameplay sessions with and without scent. Results show that detection time, recognition, intensity, and pleasantness varied across stimuli, with Pineapple and Lime producing stronger perceptual responses. During gameplay, scents were associated with significantly higher transportation-related immersion ratings, while no significant differences were observed for presence, other immersion items, user experience, or gameplay performance. A significant order effect in perceived scent intensity suggests that sensitivity to olfactory cues may vary with task context and prior exposure within the gameplay environment. Qualitative feedback highlights the perceived importance of scent timing, odor fidelity, intensity, and alignment with in-game actions. The findings provide exploratory evidence that event-triggered olfactory cues may support the transportation dimension of immersion during active VR gameplay, while emphasizing timing, scent intensity, perceptual clarity, and contextual congruence as important design considerations for olfactory VR design. Full article

The dynamic sociocultural changes occurring in contemporary society necessitate a continuous updating of formation models and programmes for current and future pastoral workers across all Christian Churches. While the origins of artificial intelligence (AI) date back to the 1950s, its pervasive integration into the daily lives of billions globally has accelerated dramatically in the 21st century. Concurrently, digital exclusion is gradually diminishing, and virtual reality significantly impacts the spiritual practices of both individual believers and ecclesiastical communities worldwide. Since the pontificate of John Paul II, the Catholic Church has maintained a dual perspective on digital technologies, viewing them both as a potential threat to faith and as an unprecedented opportunity for evangelization. Pope Francis further intensified this dynamic approach, which continues under Pope Leo XIV, as confirmed by the encyclical ‘Magnifica humanitas’, published on 25 May 2026. This article aims to address the following research question: What constitutes the contemporary model of digital formation for Catholic pastoral workers? A substantive analysis of official 21st-century magisterial documents was conducted to address this issue. The analysis yielded a proposed framework for the required digital formation of Catholic ministers. This study is limited by the absence of empirical verification regarding the practical application of the proposed model, presenting an essential avenue for future social research. Full article

Immersive virtual reality (VR) may support mindfulness and related therapeutic skills, but the contribution of wearable sensors and external hardware to adherence remains un-certain. This systematic review narratively synthesized randomized trials published from 1 January 2020 to 10 November 2025 that evaluated VR-based mindfulness or meditation in therapeutic populations. Four bibliographic or publisher sources were searched. Technology configuration, adherence, engagement, safety, and clinical outcomes were extracted, and methodological quality was appraised with the Joanna Briggs Institute checklist. Fifteen reports were included in the current synthesis. Hardware and software reporting was inconsistent, and no trial directly compared an otherwise-equivalent VR intervention with versus without an added wearable or peripheral. Retention was frequently described as high or attrition as low, but adherence definitions and denominators varied; discomfort, cybersickness, technical barriers, clinical events, and time demands were also reported. Physiological peripherals were used mainly for measurement or biofeedback. Because populations, interventions, comparators, and outcome definitions were hetero-generous, no meta-analysis was undertaken. The evidence supports feasibility in several therapeutic settings but does not establish a causal effect of added hardware on adherence or clinical outcomes. Future trials should preregister hardware-specific hypotheses, report complete technology and safety specifications, and directly compare otherwise-equivalent VR configurations. Full article

As education embraces digital transformation, integrating AI into pedagogy is increasingly important. One promising innovation is AI-generated 3D models, which help visualize complex concepts, enhance spatial reasoning, and foster creativity. Unlike traditional 3D modeling, which requires advanced skills and time, AI tools make content creation more accessible to educators and students. This study develops and validates a structured methodology for using AI-generated 3D models in education. It supports personalized, rapid, and intuitive content development, particularly in STEM. The framework includes guidelines for effective text-to-3D prompts, validation of educational impact, and a roadmap toward immersive technologies like VR, AR, and digital twins, enabling scalable, student-centered learning experiences. Full article

The study examines the acceptance of Virtual Reality (VR) as a university educational resource using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). A quasi-experimental design was applied with 132 students from the Bachelor’s Degree in Education at the University of Seville. A desktop VR learning object developed according to Mayer’s principles was used and evaluated with three instruments: a TAM questionnaire, a SUS usability scale, and an ad hoc scale for technical and educational aspects. The results indicate high reliability (α > 0.9) and high scores for perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, attitude, and intention to use. The most notable correlations were between usability, usefulness, and intention. Usability was related to technical quality, ease of use and educational usefulness. The findings support the use of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for examining the acceptance of desktop VR in higher education. The results also suggest that desktop VR can provide motivating learning experiences. Future research should replicate these findings using random samples and immersive VR environments. Full article