The Effects of Immersion and Interactivity on College Students’ Acceptance of a Novel VR-Supported Educational Technology for Mental Rotation

The current experimental study examined whether different degrees of immersive and interactive experience made a difference in users’ perceptions and intention to adopt a novel VR-based MR training system. In this paper, virtual reality was used as an educational technology that allowed users to virtually rotate 3-D objects and helped to enhance their spatial ability, which would be particularly useful in future careers in STEM. A 2 (display) $\times \,\, 2$ (controller) $\times \,\, 2$ (gender) experimental design was conducted. Researchers used a 2-D monoscopic display and a stereoscopic display to manipulate two different conditions of immersion, while a computer mouse and a hand-held controller were applied to measure the effects from two different levels of interactivity. Gender was examined due to prior research suggesting that males were better at MR tasks than females. The dependent variables were various perceptions and behavioral intentions developed from relevant theories in technology acceptance. The results showed that users’ positive perceptions and intention to use the novel MR system were amplified whenever better immersive and interactive experiences were provided simultaneously, or when the inferior immersive and interactive experiences were offered at the same time. Females under a better immersive environment perceived better feelings of enjoyment, confirmation, satisfaction, and behavioral intention, compared with their male counterparts. Theoretical contributions in perceptions and use intention of educational technology, with a specific focus on VR, were discussed. Practical implications for developers of educational technology and K-12/college educators were provided.