Fostering Embodied and Attitudinal Change Through Immersive Storytelling: A Hybrid Evaluation Approach for Sustainability Education

Immersive technologies are increasingly acknowledged as powerful tools in sustainability education, capable of fostering deeper engagement and emotional resonance. This study investigates the potential of 360° VR storytelling to enhance learning through embodied knowledge, attitudinal change, and emotional awareness. Conducted within the EMOTIONAL project, the research explores a first-person narrative told from the perspective of a ceramic object rooted in Italian cultural heritage, designed to facilitate meaningful, affective learning. A hybrid assessment framework was developed and validated, combining subjective self-report tools (including attitudinal scales, semantic differential analysis, and engagement metrics) with objective physiological measures, specifically Electrodermal Activity (EDA). Sixty participants, including students and entrepreneurs, experienced the immersive narrative, and a subset underwent biometric tracking to evaluate the effectiveness of the experience. Findings show that immersive storytelling can effectively enhance emotional and cognitive engagement, producing shifts in semantic interpretation, self-perceived knowledge, and attitudes toward material culture. A convergence of high emotional engagement, embodied learning, and technology acceptance was observed, although individual differences emerged based on prior experience and disciplinary background. EDA data offered complementary insights, identifying specific moments of heightened arousal during the narrative. The study demonstrates that emotionally driven immersive narratives (supported by integrated assessment methods) can make abstract sustainability values more tangible and personally resonant, thereby fostering more reflective and relational approaches to sustainable consumption and production.