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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Digital Learning Innovations
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1451859
This article is part of the Research Topic Emerging Technologies and Digital Innovations: Recent Research and Practices in Technology-enhanced Learning Environments View all articles

The Influence of Metaverse Environment Design on the Quality of Experience in Virtual Reality Classes: A Comparative Study

Provisionally accepted
Valentina Uribe Valentina Uribe Pablo Figueroa Pablo Figueroa *Vivian Gomez Vivian Gomez
  • University of Los Andes, Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    We are interested in how metaverse technologies can provide an environment for future virtual education beyond traditional videoconferencing technologies. This study investigates learning and the quality of the classroom experience by conducting classes in four metaverse environments: Meta Horizon Workrooms, Spatial, Mozilla Hubs, and Arthur. Through the analysis of questionnaires, we assess the influence of factors such as avatars, spatial arrangement, mobility, and extra functionalities on concentration, usability, presence, and learning. While we did not observe significant differences in learning outcomes, our analysis reveals substantial variations in the quality of the classroom experience. Specifically, higher immersion, concentration, and presence levels were observed in metaverses with limited movement and functionalities. Also, our findings emphasize the positive impact of avatars with realistic facial expressions on enhancing the overall experience. Finally, we present lessons learned and offer recommendations for class configurations in the metaverse based on our questionnaire analysis.

    Keywords: Applied computing, Education, e-learning, human-centered computing, Human-computer interaction (HCI), interaction paradigms, virtual reality

    Received: 19 Jun 2024; Accepted: 17 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Uribe, Figueroa and Gomez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Pablo Figueroa, University of Los Andes, Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.