Immersion Matters: User Experience in Educational Virtual Tours Based on 360° Images and 3D Models

Virtual tours are increasingly used in education, particularly when access to real environments is limited. This study examined how display mode and representation format affect subjective user experience in an educational virtual tour of a hospital operating room. A within-subject 2 × 2 design compared two representation formats (360° photographs vs. 3D models) and two display modes (desktop PC vs. immersive virtual reality using Meta Quest 2). Eighty-four university students completed the four visualization conditions and evaluated each experience using an adapted version of the QUXiVE questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and internal consistency indices were calculated, and each questionnaire dimension was analyzed using a two-way repeated-measures ANOVA with display mode and representation format as within-subject factors. A significant main effect of display mode was found for presence, engagement, immersion, flow, emotion, judgment, physical consequences, and perceived educational usefulness (all p < 0.001), but not for usability (p = 0.273). A significant main effect of representation format was observed for presence (p = 0.003), emotion (p = 0.018), and perceived educational usefulness (p = 0.015), whereas no significant interaction effects were found. These findings indicate that immersive VR had the strongest and most consistent effect on subjective user experience across both 360° and 3D virtual tours, although it was also associated with higher physical-consequence scores. By contrast, the effect of representation format was more limited. Overall, both approaches appear to be complementary educational resources, depending on pedagogical goals, available infrastructure, and desired levels of interactivity.