Exploring the Impact of Virtual Reality Immersion on Visitor Experience and Learning in Museums

This study investigates how the immersion level, experienced by users during their interaction with a virtual museum application, affect Visitor Experience and Learning Performance. A between group experimental study, has been conducted in a laboratory setting. A total of 60 participants has been randomly divided in two groups (A and B). Group A used a virtual museum application to interact with two digital replicas of archaeological finds via a low immersive desktop-based interface. Group B interact with the same application using a high immersive HMD-based interface. Immediately after the interaction with the VR application, participants were asked to answer a questionnaire in order to measure their perceived visitor experience (VX), their attitude toward the experience and their learning performance in terms of immediate knowledge retention. The results suggest that the use of HMD-based interface can improve the quality of VX and the attitude toward the experience reported by the participants, but it can negatively affect the resulting learning outcome. These findings emphasize the need for museum curators to find a balance between utilizing technology for attract new visitors and preserving the educational value of the exhibits.