Abstract As desktop virtual reality (VR) technologies become more accessible, universities face the challenge not of adoption, but of achieving meaningful and scalable integration. While prior research has examined the pedagogical affordances of VR, little is known about how these tools can be embedded within institutional structures and practices over time. This qualitative interview study investigates the factors that enable the integration of desktop VR in a European distance-learning university. Drawing on in-depth interviews with teachers, media designers, and institutional managers, the study identifies five interdependent themes: Context , Values , Technology , Pedagogy , and Management , that shape integration processes. Findings indicate that integration is achieved not through isolated initiatives, but through coordinated alignment between the themes. Two key mechanisms are proposed: a three-point audit (hardware, software, staff expertise) to assess organisational readiness, and a value-aligned design workflow that links VR affordances to instructional goals while anticipating risks such as cognitive overload and accessibility gaps. This paper contributes empirical stakeholder evidence on conditions for integrating desktop VR in distance higher education, introduces two actionable mechanisms to operationalise sustainable, value-sensitive integration, and offers practical recommendations to align implementation with pedagogical aims and institutional priorities. The study offers an institutional-level perspective on VR integration within a single distance university and provides context-sensitive insights into how desktop VR can be integrated in pedagogically grounded, ethically informed, and organisationally sustainable ways.
Holubinka et al. (Tue,) studied this question.