Balancing presence and accessibility in museum VR: a mixed-design study comparing tactile and kinesthetic haptic feedback

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) in museums and public exhibition contexts has become increasingly common. However, most related studies have been conducted in controlled laboratory settings, and how haptic design balances presence, user engagement, and accessibility in real exhibition environments remains underexplored. This study compares tactile and kinesthetic haptic feedback in two Cultural Heritage VR experiences adapted from Chinese paintings, The Joy of Angling VR and Khubilai Khan Hunting VR . We conducted a mixed-design experiment using a Research in the Wild approach during a public new media art exhibition, assigning 66 participants to either a tactile or a kinesthetic group. After each scene, participants completed the System Usability Scale (SUS), the User Engagement Scale–Short Form (UES-SF), and an adapted questionnaire based on the Igroup Presence Questionnaire (IPQ), followed by a brief retrospective interview upon completion of both scenes. Results show that both haptic conditions achieved medium-to-high usability overall, with the tactile group outperforming the kinesthetic group in SUS and perceived usability (PU). The kinesthetic group showed slightly higher Focused Attention (FA), Involvement (INV), and Experienced Realism (REAL), while field observations suggested that it attracted greater bystander interest in the exhibition setting. However, it also increased physical load and interaction difficulty. Exploratory age-related analyses further suggested that this burden may have been more pronounced for some older participants, although the number of older participants in the sample was limited. Taken together, the findings suggest that tactile feedback may serve as a practical low-threshold baseline, while adjustable-intensity kinesthetic interactions may be considered as optional enhancements in Museum VR and related cultural exhibition contexts.