Sense-giving and sense-making of embodied meaning in immersive virtual reality training: a post-phenomenological analysis

This study examines how immersive virtual reality (IVR) mediates the formation of embodied meaning in conflict management training. Drawing on post-phenomenology, particularly Don Ihde’s concept of embodied technics, this study analyzes how processes of sense-giving and sense-making unfold in IVR-mediated training situations. The empirical material is based on a three-year design research project conducted with Sweden’s largest train operator (SJ), involving workshops, observations, and focus group discussions with train personnel using an IVR training system for conflict scenarios. Through a post-phenomenological analysis, four interrelated themes of embodied meaning were identified: mediated attunement, mediated agency, mediated affective co-presence, and mediated transformative re-embodiment. These themes illustrate how IVR environments shape participants’ bodily orientation, intentional action, emotional engagement, and reflective interpretation of training situations. The findings from our analysis suggest that the IVR-mediated training examined in this study can be understood not merely as a tool for procedural training but as a mediating environment in which embodied meaning emerges through dynamic interactions between users, technology, and simulated social contexts.