The effects of visual and auditory presentation styles on learning outcomes and emotional responses in virtual cultural heritage experiences

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used to present and teach cultural heritage. However, systematic guidance for designing combinations of visual and auditory elements remains limited, and potential interactions between these modalities across different dimensions of user experience have often been overlooked. To address this gap, we conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 within-subjects experiment examining visual style (Realistic 3D vs. Stylized 3D), voice type (Standard Voice vs. Emotional Voice), and ambient background soundscape (Absent vs. Present). Seventy-two university students experienced narrated VR presentations of Sanxingdui bronze artifacts through a head-mounted display. User engagement, perceived presence, emotional responses, and immediate cultural knowledge acquisition were assessed. The results revealed outcome-specific differences across audiovisual presentation factors. Realistic 3D was associated with higher perceived presence and Dominance, whereas Stylized 3D was associated with higher Valence and immediate learning scores. Emotional Voice was associated with higher perceived presence, Valence, and Arousal. Background Soundscape was associated with higher engagement, perceived presence, and Arousal but lower immediate learning scores. No significant interactions were observed for engagement, whereas perceived presence, emotional responses, and learning outcomes exhibited significant two-way interactions. A significant three-way interaction was also observed for immediate learning. Under Stylized 3D, Emotional Voice was associated with higher immediate learning scores than Standard Voice in both soundscape conditions. Under Realistic 3D, the voice-type difference was not significant without Background Soundscape, whereas Standard Voice was associated with higher scores when Background Soundscape was present. These findings highlight the outcome-specific relationships among audiovisual presentation factors and provide preliminary guidance for configuring sensory elements according to the experiential and educational objectives of VR cultural heritage applications.