The effect of immersion on sense of presence and affect when experiencing an educational scenario in virtual reality: A randomized controlled study

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been used to learn skills for decades. While no standardized measure exists for learning outcomes in VR training, commonly explored outcomes are immersion, sense of presence and emotions. Methods: = 2.99). These were randomized using a covariate-adaptive randomization procedure based on stratification by gender into two interventions; play out a VR scenario in either desktop (control group) or immersive VR (intervention group). The setting was a university lab. Conclusion: Immersive VR may be beneficial in higher education as it promotes high levels of sense of presence as well as positive emotions. When it comes to changing the immediate emotions of the students, type of VR does not seem to matter. The project was funded by the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.