BRAVE NEW WORLD OF DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES: EFFECTS OF LEARNING IN VIRTUAL REALITY
Lauren Kramer, E.V. ETSLOVA, Valentina Pashkevich, Anastasia G. Peshkovskaya, K.S. Golokhvast · Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta · 2024
While the use of virtual reality (VR) in education has been gaining traction, the gap in understanding the efficacy and possible limitations of this technology increased. Numerous studies reported certain physiological and psychological reactions during VR sessions, commonly known as VR-sickness, or cybersickness. Symptoms of cybersickness involve fatigue, nausea, stomach discomfort, oculomotor distress, and disorientation. These uncomfortable conditions raise a severe problem for the usage and safety of virtual reality technology. The aim of our study was to investigate individual differences and factors of virtual reality side effects during twenty-minute educational VR sessions. For that, participants’ data on cybersickness symptoms severity, past experience in virtual reality, as well as psychological and demographic characteristics were collected and then analyzed. The study sample consisted of 31 people aged 18 to 36, including 16 men and 15 women. The following methods were used to study psychological characteristics: the Spielberger-Hanin Anxiety Inventory (STAI), which consists of 20 statements related to anxiety as a state (reactive or situational anxiety) and 20 statements to determine anxiety as a disposition, a personality trait (anxiety property). We found no sex differences in cybersickness severity. In addition, past experience in virtual reality did not influence the symptoms of cybersickness. Positive correlations between both state anxiety and trait anxiety and disorientation symptoms after a VR session were found. Our results contribute to a better understanding of individual differences in virtual reality effects and may help overcome the barriers for a safe use of VR technology in education. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.