A study of how immersion and interactivity in MoCap mediate psychological affordances and drive conceptual learning in computer animation courses

Introduction Process-level mechanisms remain underexplored in computer animation education. This study reports an initial empirical test and refinement of the Cognitive Affective Model of MoCap Training (CAMMT), which proposes that immersion and action-contingent interactivity shape training through psychological affordances and related cognitive-affective processes. Methods Immersion and interactivity were isolated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects experiment ( N = 117) during a virtual lesson on character motion design. Two-way ANOVAs tested the effects of immersion and interactivity on CAMMT variables and conceptual knowledge gain, and structural equation modeling (SEM) evaluated selected CAMMT pathways. Results Action-contingent interactivity robustly increased presence, agency, and multiple training-process variables, and was associated with greater pre-post conceptual knowledge gains. Immersion reliably increased presence and improved training-process experiences but did not yield a consistent advantage for conceptual knowledge gain. Interaction patterns suggested diminishing returns when both features were high, and immersion enhanced agency mainly when MoCap-based interaction was available. Discussion The findings provide partial support for CAMMT, clarify how MoCap-based interactivity may shape conceptual learning in a short animation-training lesson, and identify refinements needed for future studies of immersive and interactive technologies in educational psychology and computer animation education.