In recent years, Virtual Reality (VR) has found its way into different fields besides pure entertainment. One of the topics that can benefit from the immersive experience of VR is education. Furthermore, using game-based approaches in education can increase user motivation and engagement. Accordingly, in this paper, we designed and developed an immersive escape room game in VR to teach building energy simulation topics. In the game, players must solve puzzles like, for instance, assembling walls using different materials. We use a player guidance system that combines educational content, puzzles, and different types of hints to educate the players about parameters that influence energy efficiency, structural resistance, and costs. To improve user onboarding, we implemented a tutorial level to teach players general interactions and locomotion. To assess the user experience, we evaluate both the tutorial and the game with an expert study with gaming and VR experts $(n=11)$. The participants were asked to play both the tutorial level and the escape room level and complete two sets of post-questionnaires, one after the tutorial and one after the puzzle level. The one after the tutorial level consisted of NASA-TLX and SUS questionnaires, while after the escape room level we asked users to complete the NASA-TLX, UESSF, and PXI questionnaires. The results indicate that the onboarding level successfully provided good usability while maintaining a low task load. On the other hand, the escape room level can provide an engaging, visually appealing, and usable learning environment by arousing players’ curiosity through the gameplay. This environment can be extended in future development stages with different educational contents from various fields.

In this demonstration paper, we present our interactive virtual reality (VR) experience, which has been designed to facilitate interaction with energy-related information. This experience consists of two main modes: the world in miniature for large-scale and first-person for real-world scale visualizations. Additionally, we presented our approach to potential target groups in interviews. The results of these interviews can help developers for future implementation considering the requirements of each group.

In this paper, we present a systematic review of the applications of (1) Extended Reality (XR), (2) Augmented Reality (AR), and (3) Virtual Reality (VR) technologies to enhance emotion recognition and emotion expression in people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). ASD can affect various abilities, and poses challenges to the recognition of emotions in others, which is often referred to as “social blindness”. Treating this condition typically requires intensive one-on-one or small-group therapy sessions, which can be costly and limited in terms of availability. With the growing number of diagnoses of ASD, concerns have risen regarding a potential “lost generation” that may face difficulties in fulfilling its potential. Through this comprehensive review, we aim to provide an overview of innovative approaches that use XR technologies to improve the learning experience of individuals with ASD.

There are several non-pharmaceutical treatment approaches, from simple to more complex, for the care of dementia patients, such as the use of immersive technology with virtual reality (VR). However, there are some difficulties in using wired and controller-based VR devices for dementia patients. This work-in-progress paper describes our steps to implement a wireless VR experience with a hand-tracking interaction system. Before testing the environment with patients, we first evaluate the usability of the VR experience by conducting a user study with ten participants. The results indicate above-average usability and low task load. Future developments in this area may improve the application of VR in memory training.

Virtual Reality (VR) environments are computer-generated mediums that try to provide the user a sense of presence. The use of VR term in science has a long history, but an increasing number of commercial cost-effective VR devices are creating new possibilities and applications for it. Regardless of entertainment, as the most widespread market for VR, the application of VR in medicine is attracting great attention in the scientific field. VR can be used as a tool for public healthcare, as a teaching environment for medical students or to improve the skills of experts, together with a well-accepted method for physical rehabilitation and mental therapies. The focus of this review paper is on the use of VR for psychiatric and anxiety disorders. Several empirical studies show the effectiveness of VR in improving the conditions of patients in a manner comparable to traditional methods and with long-lasting effects in their daily lives. However, a small number of case studies or the lack of a detailed comparison between VR and conventional methods is the shortcoming of current studies. In this paper, we review different VR applications focusing on the identification of the technologies used, the evaluation methods applied, and the results of the studies.

Researchers study the user experience in Virtual Reality (VR) typically by collecting either sensory data or using questionnaires. While traditional questionnaire formats present it through web-based survey tools (out-VR), recent studies investigate the effects of presenting questionnaires directly in the virtual environment (in-VR). The in-VR questionnaire can be defined as an implemented user-interface object that allows interaction with questionnaires in VR that do not break the immersion. Integrating questionnaires directly into the virtual environment, however, also challenges design decisions.

Presence in VR is a perceptual sense that leads to an automatic reaction of the brain-body system. An expected interaction in VR can lead to a higher sense of presence. In this work in progress paper we present a conceptual framework for innovative user interface (UI) design in VR with a focus on realistic interactions with the environment. We investigate several successful VR games by focusing on their user interactions and the UI system. The first part of this framework is implemented in a tutorial room where we designed some common UI elements such as the menu, inventory system, and quest manager.

Virtual reality (VR) technologies have become more affordable and accessible in recent years. This is opening up new methods and opportunities in the field of digital learning. VR can offer new forms of interactive learning and working, especially for subjects from the STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) area. In this context we investigate the potential and application of VR for computer science education with a systematic review in this paper. We present a formal literature review on the use of VR technologies in computer science education. We focus on the identification of factors such as learning objectives, technologies used, interaction characteristics, and challenges and advantages of using fully immersive VR for computer science education.