The article highlights the need for enhanced user interaction and personalization in virtual reality (VR) systems for cultural heritage. As cultural sites become accessible through VR, delivering meaningful and tailored user experiences is crucial for effective learning and engagement. Traditional VR systems often fail to address varying levels of user expertise, limiting the accessibility of cultural content. To solve this, the study introduces SculptMate, a fuzzy logic-based VR system that estimates user proficiency in computers and VR, delivering context-sensitive assistive messages. In a study with 64 participants, SculptMate was compared to a standard VR system. Results demonstrated significantly higher engagement and comprehension of cultural artifacts with SculptMate, offering a personalized, immersive experience. The study emphasizes the potential of integrating fuzzy logic into VR to improve educational outcomes and user satisfaction. Future enhancements include dynamic machine learning, multisensory components, and platform optimization for broader accessibility and better user experiences.

Digitalization in education is of great importance, especially in era of COVID-19 pandemic. Augmented Reality can help to this direction, bringing a range of benefits in the field of education. Prior researches reveal that AR enhances the students’ learning outcomes offering significant pedagogical affordance when it is used in the tutoring of different domains, such as astronomy, biology, geometry, physics etc. However, the exploration of the factors associated with the acceptance of the technology of AR in education, is yet limited. This article aims to present valuable information to researchers, tutors and AR application developers concerning the learners’ behavioral intention to use such technology in the learning process. The motivation of this study is the increasing use of AR in education, offering significant room for future research, and its novelty is the analysis of the most significant factors affecting the actual AR system use. This study is based on a modified Technology Acceptance Model, consisting of the four core constructs and extended by two external variables, namely playfulness and quality output, in order to consider both pedagogy and technology. The population that participated in this research includes 220 secondary school students. The results show that the intention to use AR is positively influenced directly by quality output, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, and indirectly by playfulness. The findings help AR developers to understand the factors that maximize the user’s experience prior to the application of AR technology in the digital era of education.