Article 182115

Themes in Science & Technology Education, 10(2), 85-119, 2017
A systematic review of Virtual Reality in education
Sam Kavanagh, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Burkhard Wuensche, Beryl Plimmer

[email protected], {andrew, burkhard, beryl}@cs.auckland.ac.nz
Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Abstract. Virtual reality has existed in the realm of education for over half a century.
However, its widespread adoption is still yet to occur. This is a result of a myriad of
limitations to both the technologies themselves, and the costs and logistics required to
deploy them. In order to gain a better understanding of what these issues are, and what
it is that educators hope to gain by using these technologies in the first place, we have
performed both a systematic review of the use of virtual reality in education, as well as
two distinct thematic analyses. The first analysis investigated the applications and
reported motivations provided by educators in academic literature for developing
virtual reality educational systems, while the second investigated the reported problems
associated with doing so. These analyses indicate that the majority of researchers use
virtual reality to increase the intrinsic motivation of students, and refer to a narrow range
of factors such as constructivist pedagogy, collaboration, and gamification in the design
of their experiences. Similarly, a small number of educational areas account for the vast
majority of educational virtual reality implementations identified in our analyses. Next,
we introduced and compared a multitude of recent virtual reality technologies,
discussing their potential to overcome several of the problems identified in our analyses,
including cost, user experience and interactivity. However, these technologies are not
without their own issues, thus we conclude this paper by providing several novel
techniques to potentially address them, as well as potential directions for future
researchers wishing to apply these emerging technologies to education.
Keywords: virtual reality, education, human-computer interaction
Introduction
Virtual reality (VR) is not a recent technology, nor is its application to education. The first
recorded implementation of a digital VR system appeared in the 1966, in the form of a flight
simulator designed for training purposes for the United States air force (Page, 2000).
Applications remained primarily limited to the public sector for several decades, until in
1991 a series of specialized arcade games were released by the company Virtuality Group
(Kushner, 2014; West, 1995). However, these proved to be unpopular and were discontinued
two years later (West, 1995). In 1993 SEGA designed a virtual reality head-mounted display
(HMD) and several game studios designed software for it, however it was never released
(Horowitz, 2004). In July 1995 Nintendo released their own VR based game system, the
Virtual Boy (Kushner, 2014). Shipping with both a controller and a monochromatic HMD,
this too proved to be a commercial flop; and was discontinued less than 6 months after its
initial release date (Kushner, 2014). In short, the history of commercial VR systems has thus
far largely been one of failure.
Although commercially unsuccessful, numerous studies of VRs use in education yielded
positive findings, ranging from increased time-on-task (Huang, Rauch & Liaw, 2010;
Johnson et al., 1998), to enjoyment (Apostolellis & Bowman, 2014; Ferracani, Pezzatini & Del
Bimbo, 2014), motivation (Cheung et al., 2013; Jacobson et al., 2005; Sharma, Agada & Ruffin,
2013), deeper learning and long-term retention (Huang et al., 2010; Rizzo et al., 2006).
86 S. Kavanagh, A. Luxton-Reilly, B. Wuensche, B. Plimmer
Despite these positive results, VR systems have also failed to gain widespread adoption in
education.
In this paper, we attempt to gain a better understanding of the issues faced by educators
who are attempting to use VR. However, before we can understand what problems exist
with VR in education, it is first useful to understand why educators choose to use it in the
first place. To this end, over the course of this paper we perform two separate thematic
analyses. The first investigates the applications and motivations provided by authors in
scientific literature who have designed and implemented educational VR systems.
Furthermore, the ways in which VR was applied by these authors was simultaneously
analyzed. In a second analysis we investigate the issues and limitations reported by the
authors of these systems. However, only papers that contained evaluations considering
usability factors were included for this analysis. This paper is structured according to the
results of the analyses performed; whereby its respective sections directly correspond to the
themes and characteristics identified in the thematic analyses.
The final section of this paper introduces a range of new and upcoming VR-related
peripherals, many of which have been the focus of recent mainstream media attention both
for the fact that they are almost all crowd-funded, and that they aim to bring VR to the
masses (Avila & Bailey, 2014; Control-VR, 2014; Cybreth, 2013; Oculus, 2012; Omni, 2014;
PrioVR, 2014). We do so in order to discuss the potential this latest iteration of technologies
have to overcome the various problems identified in our analyses. To aid in this process a
Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix has been tabulated, displaying the modalities,
functionalities and specifications of many of these emergent technologies in a simple format.
Special attention is paid to the resurgence in VR head-mounted displays (HMDs), and the
unique interaction difficulties and requirements they possess (especially in terms of
educational applications).
To conclude the paper, we discuss how these emergent technologies possess limitations of
their own, and provide examples of future directions for educational researchers looking to
overcome them.
Methodology
Before reviewing VR educational systems, we must first clarify both what we mean by a
virtual reality as well as the scope of educational systems included in this paper. While exact
definition of what constitutes virtual reality vary, most definitions describe (minimally) a
digital representation of a three dimensional object and/or environment. In order to capture
as many relevant papers as possible, we too have adopted this broad definition, and
included VR systems using any form of input/output peripheral. Resultantly, our analyses
focus on literature containing over 20 different types of input and output peripherals
(including traditional PC interaction).
In this paper, we also introduce a range of new and developing VR technologies, the
functionalities and specifications of which are contrasted with those identified in our
analyses. Thus, given the rapid rate in which changes are seen (and specifications improve)
in this area, for comparisons sake we focused our review on recent research.
Mikropoulos & Natsis (2011) performed a similar review of the use of VR in education
between 1999 and 2009. This research, combined with the aforementioned rapidly changing
nature of this area, motivated our decision to finalize our search period to include all papers
published from 2010-present (June 2017 at the time of writing).
A systematic review of Virtual Reality in education 87
We conducted a systematic review following the process outlined by Kitchenham (2004),

and searching the academic databases ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore, Web of Science,
ERIC, and Scopus. From this, 379 candidate papers were identified for further analysis (see
Table 1).
For our initial thematic analysis (into the applications and motivations of VR in education)
our inclusion criteria specified that a paper would only be included for further analysis if it
had implemented a VR based solution in an educational context. Moreover, the authors
must have clearly expressed their motivations behind and/or justifications for utilizing VR
for the system.
To be included in the second analysis (investigating the problems with such systems) our
inclusion criteria specified that the paper must have similarly designed and implemented a
VR educational system, as well as performed an evaluation of it; with at least some
consideration given to usability factors.
Papers that failed to express their motivations could however potentially be included in the
second analysis, while those that did not perform an evaluation could be included in the
first. A larger number of papers expressed the motivations behind their system than those
that included an evaluation considering usability factors (90 vs. 35). 26 papers included their
motivations and an evaluation, and were thus included in both of the thematic analyses
performed (corresponding to ‘Reoccurring Papers’ in Figure 1).
Table 1. Systematic Review Sources: Search databases, strings, and number of results
Database Search String Results
ACM Digital acmdlTitle:("virtual reality" VR) AND acmdlTitle:(classroom

15
Library school education)
(("Document Title":"virtual reality") OR ("Document Title":VR))

IEEE Xplore AND (("Document Title":education) OR ("Document 39
Title":classroom) OR ("Document Title":school))
Title:("Virtual reality" OR "VR") and Title:"(education OR

Web of Science 128
school OR classroom)
TITLE ("virtual
Scopus reality" OR vr) AND TITLE (education OR school OR classroo 179
m) AND PUBYEAR > 2009
((title:"virtual reality") OR (title:"VR")) AND ((title:"education")

ERIC 18
OR (title:"school") OR (title:"classroom"))
Total 379
Figure 1. Paper distribution per thematic analysis. Analysis 1 (applications and motivations of)
and Analysis 2 (problems with) virtual reality in education
These thematic analyses coded papers according to their common features (i.e. reported
issues and motivations). As commonalities and trends became increasingly evident in the
data these characteristics or ‘codes’ were in turn categorized into overarching themes. These
themes resultantly form the basis for the structure of the sections that follow.
The classification data (i.e. themes and codes) from our thematic analyses were then
extracted and tabulated in Figures 5 & 8; the contents of which were then discussed in
further detail (with examples from the papers) in the corresponding subsections that follow.
Full versions of the tabulated data obtained from both analyses have been included in the
Appendix (see Figurew 9, 10 and 11).
Results
Application domains
Before performing our initial analysis into what it is that educators hope to gain by using VR
in education, we first investigated the areas to which VR was being applied - and by whom.
Thus, in this section we report on the distribution of both the application domains of the
papers analyzed, as well as the institutions for which they were created.
A total of 99 papers implementing educational VR software have been analyzed over the
course of two thematic analyses in this paper. The implementations analyzed in these papers
have been applied to 40 application domains (see Figure 4). Papers could potentially belong
to multiple domains, for example, a paper could be both intended to teach Safety practices
while being designed for the Construction industry. Thus, in total the 99 papers were
applied to the 40 application domains 125 times. Several application domains were notably
more prevalent. These include applications relating to health, engineering, science and those
created to act as general-purpose educational tools (see Figure 2).
Of the 99 papers analyzed, 35 were applied to health related domains. Of these applications,
17 related to general medical topics (Falah et al., 2014; Moro et al., 2016; Schwaab et al.,
2011), 10 to surgical education (Huang, Liaw & Lai, 2016; Wiecha, et al., 2010; Yoshida et al.,
2014) and 3 to physical education (Song et al., 2012; Staurset & Prasolova-Førland, 2016;
Zhang & Liu, 2012).
Figure 2. Application domains of the 99 papers analyzed over the course of two thematic analyses.
Note that a paper could potentially belong to multiple application domains
Applications in engineering were also common, occurring in 19 of the 99 papers. These

primarily included applications to aviation (Rupasinghe et al., 2011; Sharma & Otunba, 2012;
Wei, Dongsheng & Chun, 2013), architecture (Zita Sampaio & Viana, 2013), robotics (Buiu &
Gansari, 2014; Galambos, Baranyi & Rudas, 2014; Hurtado, Valerio & Sanchez, 2010), as well
as several other niche areas of engineering.
Interestingly, 3 of the papers created systems designed purely for potential use in museums
(Angeloni et al., 2012; Apostolellis & Bowman, 2014; Hsieh, Wub & Mac, 2010). Apostolellis
& Bowman (2014) justify their VR system by stating that groups visiting museums typically
do not get enough time with its content, and often simply receive information passively
from museum docents. As an alternative approach, they developed a VR based collaborative
and interactive environment to foster greater engagement with the museum content.
Figure 3. Educational institutions and areas of VR applications in the 99 papers analyzed

Figure 4. Application Domain Breakdown. The individual application domains of 99 papers

implementing virtual reality in education
A total of 28 of the implementations described in the literature were not designed for any
specific application domain, but were instead general tools that could be applied to various
levels and areas of application (Ewert, Schuster, Johansson, Schilberg, & Jeschke, 2013;
Hsiaoa, Lia, & Lanb, 2010; Kiss, 2012). Hsiaoa et al. (2010) for example designed a virtual
campus using Second Life. This campus could be used by any educators wishing to teach
online lessons in any area.
The use of VR in art-related subjects (i.e. literacy, visual art, music etc.) was less frequent
than its use in STEM-related areas. Only 7 papers were designed to be applied to areas
relating to the arts. These included implementations intended for application to music
(Gomes et al., 2012), English (Chung, 2012), history (Chien et al., 2012; Fabola & Miller, 2016;
Perez-Valle & Sagasti, 2012), and interior design (Meggs, Greer & Collins, 2012).
The applications and motivations of virtual reality in education

This section describes a thematic analysis of 90 papers which describe the use of VR in
education. We identify the common motivations for using VR, and the applications to which
VR has been applied. The themes identified in the analysis are discussed in further detail in
the corresponding subsections that follow.
Thematic analysis results

Our initial thematic analysis of the applications and motivations of VR in education
identified 13 common characteristics/codes across the papers, which could be divided
between three themes and fell into one of two primary categories (see Figure 5).
The motivation-related codes identified in the literature can primarily be categorized as
being either Pedagogical or Intrinsic factors. Motivations are classified as Pedagogical
Factors if it was stated by the authors that their work was supported by, or designed around
facilitating the beliefs of a pre-existing pedagogy. The Intrinsic Factors theme encompasses
all motivations rooted in the belief that the system would result in a more positive internal
or personal learning experience for the user than what is traditionally available (Huang et
al., 2010).
Some papers fall into multiple categories. For example, VR implementations that allow
distance learning are an area of application; however, the desire to facilitate deeper learning
is an intrinsic motivational factor. The remainder of this section discusses and elaborates on
the codes and themes identified in this analysis.
Applications
This section outlines the applications of the VR implementations described in the literature
analyzed. By applications, we refer not to the application domain of the implementations
(which are discussed above), but to its actual purpose or use (e.g. to facilitate distance
learning).
Figure 5. Reported applications and motivations (obtained via thematic analysis) of 90 papers
applying VR to education
Simulation. VR provides the possibility for participating in lifelike simulations/virtual

explorations that would otherwise be infeasible or too dangerous to undertake in reality
(Abdul Rahim et al., 2012; Sun, Lin, & Wang, 2010; Wei et al., 2013). Public schools providing
ancient history courses are unlikely to consider frequent international travel for their
students a viable option; however, through VR these same students could explore the
architectural brilliance of the Pantheon or even purely imaginary structures without ever
leaving their classroom. Gaitatzes et al. (2011) demonstrate an example of VRs ability to
simulate activities that while possible, are infeasible; their system was developed in order to
simulate and allow the virtual exploration of locations of Greek cultural heritage. Using a
joystick-like interaction device, users can freely explore virtual areas and buildings; even
examining and interacting with their contents. While visiting the sites contained within the
simulation is technically possible, it is likely infeasible for classrooms on a budget and/or
located elsewhere in the world.
Demonstrating a simulation which would otherwise be impossible, Perez-Valle & Sagasti
(2012) developed a virtual system allowing students to virtually 16th century Spain. Users of
the system are able to explore (in much the same way as the above example) locations that
no longer exist, including ancient temples as they were hundreds of years ago.
As well as being able to simulate explorations in virtual environments, it is possible to
simulate infeasible interactions (Perez-Valle & Sagasti, 2012; Sharma & Otunba, 2012).
Sharma and Otunba (2012) for example developed a system for flight attendants to simulate
aircraft fire drills. They state that while it is impossible to create fire drills whereby actual
hazards are present (and thus passengers react realistically) due to the potential for injury,
such a simulation is possible using VR.
Training. Papers were classified as providing training in our analysis if they were intended
to facilitate the transfer of practical skills. For example, an application designed to allow
students to virtually explore the universe would not be classified as training (as its
immediate practical value is limited), while a flight simulator designed for pilots would be.
Ambiguities can potentially arise from this definition, but as a guideline papers were
classified as training if they were concerned with the transfer of skills, rather than purely
knowledge. A close interrelationship also exists between training and simulation
applications (as discussed in the section above), however it is not a one-to-one relationship;
the 16th century virtual recreation of Spain created by Perez-Valle & Sagasti discussed above
for example is clearly a simulation, however it is not used for any training purposes.
The use of VR to facilitate training however is a common form of simulation (58% of
simulations identified were designed for training purposes). The training activities
simulated in the papers analyzed are diverse, ranging from flight simulations (Wei et al.,
2013), to chemical engineering (Abdul Rahim et al., 2012), and construction (Zita Sampaio &
Viana, 2013).
Particularly common is the use of VR to simulate medical activities. Though this generally
involved the application of VR to surgical activities (Falah et al., 2014; Ferracani et al., 2014;
Gutierrez-Maldonado & Ferrer-Garcia, 2013; von Zadow, Buron, Sostmann, & Dachselt,
2013), it can also be used to simulate other medical activities such as rehabilitation. Nolin et
al. (2016) for example created a virtual classroom to facilitate the rehabilitation of children
with attention deficit disorders, while work by Chang et al. (2014) investigated the potential
VR holds to motivate patients suffering from Cerebral Palsy.
The ability to simulate these and other dangerous activities is a common application of VR.
Another common example of this is the use of VR to facilitate pilot training. Flight
simulations allow virtual flights to be carried out in much the same way as the highly
computerized piloting that is done today, and was one of the earliest applications of VR
(Page, 2000). Such simulations can be done without the danger to both trainee pilots, and
others involved training process (Page, 2000; Wei et al., 2013). Similarly in surgical
education, ‘In a computer-generated virtual model, there is no patient who might suffer' (Haluck,
2000).
Access limited resources. While VR can be used to simulate infeasible activities, it can also be
used to simulate the access of limited resources. This was a characteristic of 37 of the papers
analyzed. The term ‘resource’ in this case is used to describe any thing which is in high
demand and/or limited supply. In VR, where the objects we can include are relatively
limitless; these limited resources can include not just resources in the traditional sense, but
scientific equipment and even the labs containing them. Examples of the simulation of such
labs and equipment are provided below.
Rahim et al. (2012) simulated a commercial milk powder processing plant. The authors
designed this system for students of chemical and process engineering, stating that such
plants were becoming increasingly difficult to visit due to availability and safety regulations.
A virtual wind farm to facilitate wind energy education was designed by Abichandani et al.
(2014), Users could modify the parameters of the wind farms and the wind turbines they
contained, these modifications would result in immediate changes to both the appearance of
the environment and the underlying data/visualizations produced. As Ewert et al. (2013)
point out, such systems allow students to experience settings that would otherwise
potentially require excursions or internships.
Hristov et al. (2013) took a different approach, instead allowing students to directly interact
with real (physical) laboratory equipment through the use of a virtual environment. While
not increasing the supply of resources available; this allows them to potentially be accessed
for longer periods of time, and from remote locations.
VR can also be used to simulate the access of non-scientific resources. Angeloni et al. (2012)
for example ‘brought together’ rare and geographically separated pieces of art in a virtual
museum for students to explore.
Finally, as mentioned above a popular application of VR is in surgical education. As well as
being able to simulate interactions with living patients, in work by both Liu et al. (2014) and
Falah et al. (2014) the potential VR has to overcome the limited number of cadavers available
to students was discussed.
Distance Learning. Though only mentioned in 8 of the papers analyzed, VR (as with most
digital solutions) has the potential to be used for distance learning (Hristov et al., 2013; Pena-
Rios et al., 2012). As many of the implementations analyzed were designed to simulate real
world learning experiences, the user’s physical location is largely irrelevant. Distance
learning can allow students to access the learning materials and resources of leading
universities worldwide, and some studies have found that students consider it preferable
(Hristov et al., 2013; Kiss, 2012; Pena-Rios et al., 2012).
As mentioned above for example, in work by Hristov et al. (2013) students were able to
operate real tools located on university grounds through a virtual environment. VR itself is
simply a medium to provide distance learning, and can thus facilitate any of its numerous
advantages. Students using distance learning desire comparable learning experiences to
those provided otherwise. Thus, several of the papers analyzed attempted to provide a
distance learning experience using virtual reality that would more realistically map what
would be provided in person (Chang et al., 2014; Kiss, 2012; Schwaab et al., 2011).
Chang et al. (2014) for example designed a system to teach users with cerebral palsy how to
independently perform rehabilitation exercises. Video tutorials serving the same purpose
were previously available; however, there was no way to ensure a person was performing
the exercises correctly. To this end the authors developed a VR system using the Kinect
motion-sensing device. The system provides real-time feedback to users regarding the
validity of their exercise-form based on the angles of their joints, as detected by the Kinect.
Schwaab et al. (2011) were interested in simulating the mock oral emergency medicine
examinations provided to students. The authors designed a virtual examination room
accessible over the Internet (through the software Second Life) whereby students would
assume the role of the doctor, and the examiner would control the patient avatar. 70.3% of
the 27 medical students participating in this experiment deemed it to be a more realistic
setting than the traditional examination.
Motivations
This section outlines the motivations provided by the authors of the educational VR
implementations described in the literature analyzed. These motivations are categorized into
two primary themes; Pedagogical or Intrinsic motivations. These are explained in further
detail in the subsections that follow.
Pedagogical Motivations. Existing research has shown that VR solutions are effective at
multiple level of education, and that students tend to look favorably on them (Auld &
Pantelidis, 1994; Huang et al., 2010; Kiss, 2012). VR implementations frequently require some
form of input/interaction from the user. Interaction with educational VR systems
encourages active engagement; this is preferable to learning through simple passivities
(Panteldis, 2009). The use of VR in education is at the core of what has been termed Virtual
Reality Learning Environments or VRLEs (Huang et al., 2010). A VRLE is one that simply
provides an immersive 3D environment that students are capable of interacting with.
Though existing studies have demonstrated positive student perception of VR in education,
Huang et al. (2010) point out that ‘...all worthwhile educational innovation must begin with
a strong pedagogy’. The distribution of pedagogical motivation factors identified in our
analysis is displayed Σφάλμα! Το αρχείο προέλευσης της αναφοράς δεν βρέθηκε.Σφάλμα!
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Figure 6. Distribution of the pedagogical motivation factors identified in our first thematic
analysis
Constructivism. Constructivism is a learning paradigm that argues that humans generate

meaning through an active, constructive process. It further posits that learners actively and
continually create their own subjective representation of reality based on the interaction
between their ideas and experiences (Dewey, 1985; Huang et al., 2010).
The use of VR in education has obvious ties to constructivism (Anopas & Wongsawat, 2014;
Huang et al., 2010; Panteldis, 2009). John Dewey believed that the environment has a strong
effect on the learner, and that education should be experimental and experiential (Dewey,
1985; Huang et al., 2010). These are qualities that can obviously be facilitated through the use
of VR in education.
Collaboration. The collaborative potential of VR solutions similarly aligns closely with social
constructivism as well as several other of Vygotsky's ideas (Huang et al., 2010). For example,
the ability for students to explore these virtual environments either alone or with the aid of
other students or teachers lends itself well to Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development or
ZPD (Huang et al., 2010). The collaborative potential for VR solutions is a common
motivator among the papers analyzed, being mentioned in 20 of texts, and accounting for
30.3% of the total pedagogical motivations provided. Several of the papers analyzed in this
review employed collaborative aspects to their implementations.
The aircraft fire drill software described above for example was designed to be multi-user,
allowing multiple flight attendants to attempt to control and direct the passengers
simultaneously (Sharma & Otunba, 2012).
Several implementations were actually designed with communication and collaboration as
their primary goal; work by Aylett et al. (2014) for example investigated the potential VR held
to break down barriers, reduce prejudice and improve communication between children.
Gamification and Game-based Learning. Gamification is the application of game-mechanics,
and/or other game-like elements to non-gaming situations, usually (in the case of education)
to increase student motivation, engagement and enjoyment of the learning experience.
Despite VR often being associated with games, only 13 papers used game-based learning or
gamification in their implementations.
Afonseca et al. (2013) developed a marine life game designed for children with down
syndrome. Students could watch virtual marine life move about in its ‘natural’ habitat.
Students were also asked to participate in simple identification exercises and quizzes, such
as ranking animals in the food chain. The software was designed to appear informal, fun
and inviting to users.
The virtual art museum mentioned above and designed by Angeloni et al. (2012) also
incorporated game-aspects. As well as simply being able to explore the virtual environment
undirected, the system contained several ‘mini-games’ such as crosswords and treasure
hunts. These mini-games encourage users to further explore the museum, and to do so in a
directed, goal-oriented fashion.
Aylett et al. (2014) took a different approach, instead creating a virtual implementation of
Werewolves, a game traditionally played in person. This allowed the authors to design a
system such that several students are able to work together to attempt to beat several non-
player characters (NPCs). The system both encouraged collaboration and reduced the
number of students required to play the game.
Perez-Valle et al. (2012) created a detailed VR game designed to facilitate education
regarding 16th century Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain. The authors have attempted to design a
system closely resembling modern role-playing games (RPGs). In it, players must fight their
way through the city, working their way through levels of increasing difficulty designed to
keep students engaged. The game is designed to route students through notable locations,
whereby they frequently encounter NPCs who provide further information regarding the
city.
Other Pedagogical Approaches. Several papers referenced previous work they had done in
the area which they found effective, and had thus replicated their approaches in the study
analyzed. Little mention was given to pedagogies not rooted in constructivism. As
mentioned above; even when pedagogical beliefs were not directly attributed to
constructivism, one could argue they were very closely aligned; Rupasinghe et al. (2011) for
example were motivated by ‘the importance of play’ as an intellectual activity, as well as the
ability VR systems have to allow students to ‘explore’ the educational environment.
Chandramouli et al (2014) alternatively emphasized the importance of Active, Project, and
Scenario-based learning for providing education into practical ‘real-world’ skills. The
authors believed that VRs ability to simulate practical hands-on education could help
facilitate these learning approaches.
Angeloni et al. (2012) cited work by Prensky regarding ‘digital natives’ (i.e. modern
generations frequently exposed to new digital technologies). The authors believed that
educational software needs to be designed with consideration to these users. While
potentially exciting to older generations, the authors argue that more effort is required to
ensure educational software remains appealing to digital natives (who are less likely to be
won over by the novelty of educational technologies).
Intrinsic Factors. A desirable characteristic of VR in education is its potential to immerse, or
engage users. Unlike motivation (which is discussed more in the section below) which refers
to ones desire to undertake a task, immersion refers to ones tendency to stay on it (Cecil,
Ramanathan & Mwavita, 2013). The increased immersion facilitated by VR was mentioned
as a motivational factor in 46 of the papers analyzed (making it the most commonly
mentioned factor).
Immersion in a digital environment while not important on its own, can lend itself to many
other motivations and applications; time-on-task, exploratory learning, simulation,
constructivism, and deeper learning for example.
In their discussion of immersion, Ewert et al. (2013) provide an analogous example of the
desired effect: ‘In gaming circles, the term [immersion] is used by gamers in order to explain
to what extent a game can draw them in and allows them to “lose” themselves in the world
of the game’.
Jacobson et al. (2005) describe this effect slightly differently. Instead of stating that
immersion causes users ‘lose’ themselves, they state that the sense of immersion provided
by VR provides a sense of presence, and that ‘this can be used to focus a students’ attention
on the subject matter’.
In the description of their aircraft evacuation training software, Sharma et al. (2012) stated
that the sense of ‘being there’ facilitated by VR allowed them to more realistically conduct
experiments into how people would behave in such a situation.
Pena-Rios et al. (2012) stated that one of the motivations for designing their mixed reality
laboratory to be operated within a VR environment was to ‘increase the sense of presence
felt by users’.
HMDs can potentially further increase the immersion facilitated VR, literally immersing
users; enveloping their vision and lessoning the possibility for visual distractions (Rizzo et
al., 2000).
Increased Motivation. As mentioned above, we define motivation in our analysis as the

desire, or incentive held by a student to participate in a learning activity. Our thematic
analysis revealed that this was the second most frequently mentioned motivational factor,
occurring in 32 of the papers. VR possesses several characteristics that can make it appealing
to educators wishing to improve student motivation.
The simple novelty of interactive technologies themselves, including VR is mentioned
several times as a factor which can improve student motivation (Ewert et al., 2013; Huang et
al., 2010; Zavalani & Spahiu, 2012).
These technologies make it possible to develop interesting software and activities that can
better motivate students than traditional methods (Gieser, Becker & Makedon, 2013).
Huang et al. (2010) cite several sources of existing research into motivation and VR, amongst
which state that:
 Better motivated students have a tendency to learn better (Sutcliffe, 2003).
 Students are typically more motivated by 3D graphical applications than 2D (Limniou,
Roberts & Papadopoulos, 2008).
 The continual use of interactive VR can both improve student motivation and
retention (Burdea & Coiffet, 2003).
As mentioned above, patients suffering from cerebral palsy are often prescribed sets of
rehabilitation exercises. Chang et al. (2014) however state that patients frequently fail to
bother completing them. In an attempt to utilize the motivation facilitated by VR, the
authors developed a Kinect-based system capable of guiding patients through the
rehabilitation exercises.
Gamification, as mentioned above (and discussed in Increased Enjoyment below) is also a
potential means of increasing motivation. Sharma et al. (2012) in their aircraft evacuation
system designed it to include gamification aspects to increase motivation; the system
contained a series of game-like objectives as well as a point-based scoring system.
Increased Enjoyment. Closely related to Increased Motivation, a many papers (20) were
motivated by the belief that simply using VR would increase student enjoyment.
Of the 20 papers that reported this as a motivational factor, 13 employed either gamification
or game-based learning. Thus, all 13 papers that utilized gamification or game-based
learning reported increased enjoyment as a motivational factor.
The remaining 7 papers described either novelty, or the increased interactivity typically
provided by educational VR systems as explanation for why their system would result in
increased student enjoyment (Fabola & Miller, 2016; Piovesan, Passerino & Pereira, 2012;
Tsaramirsis et al., 2016).
Personalized Learning. A motivation commonly cited by authors in the literature was the
potential VR holds to facilitate personalized learning experiences, i.e. lessons tailored to the
needs of individual students. This was mentioned in 15 of the papers.
Educational virtual reality software potentially allows students to explore and learn at their
own pace. This is appealing to both students and educators attempting to teach students of
different abilities (Angeloni et al., 2012; Chang et al., 2014; Chung, 2012; Gieser et al., 2013;
Perez-Valle & Sagasti, 2012) .
Afonseca et al. (2013) for example was concerned with the development of educational
software for children with Down syndrome. The authors expressed their desire to provide
learning experiences that would scale according to the unique abilities of the students.
Another potential means for providing a self-paced learning experience; using VR students
can potentially repeat lessons (without the need for an instructor) as many times as they
want (Tredinnick et al., 2014).
Besides learning-related abilities, VR also provides potential to create lessons that change
according to other needs held by the student. For example, as mentioned above Chang et al.
(2014) created a system to motivate and educate patients suffering from cerebral palsy as to
how to go about performing rehabilitation exercises. The lessons provided by this software
would change according to the personal requirements (in terms of exercises required) of the
user.
While many of the papers identified during this systematic review were motivated by this
factor, the idea of using VR to facilitate personalized learning is not a new one; in 1998 for
example Johnson et al. discussed the relationship between personalized learning and
constructivism. They pointed out that constructivist ideals revolve around the idea of self-
directed learning, and that this is something one could facilitate through the creation of
personalized virtual learning environments (Johnson et al., 1998).
Deeper Learning. Similar to the pedagogical motivations mentioned above (especially
regarding constructivism), VR solutions were commonly motivated by the authors’ belief
that they would facilitate deeper learning experiences than what is provided by traditional
teaching methods. This was mentioned in 29 of the papers analyzed.
While few of the papers motivated by this factor explicitly mentioned constructivism, many
appeared to have their beliefs rooted in constructivist ideals. The message frequently
portrayed by authors is that VR will stimulate deeper learning as students are able to
explore, immerse, and infer their own meaning from their experiences within the virtual
reality (Chung, 2012; Falah et al., 2014).
It is also stated that the experiential learning process facilitated by VR is more realistic and
potentially valuable to students embarking in practical fields than traditional teaching
methods (Chandramouli et al., 2014; Falah et al., 2014). Moreover, as Zavalani et al. (2012)
state; students learn best when they are exposed to a variety of teaching techniques and
learning experiences.
In the design of their medical training system for anatomy education for example, Falah et
al. (2014) state that they created it because unlike traditional content delivery; using VR
transfers the learning experience from being one that involves simple memorization to one
that promotes deeper understanding.
Problems with Virtual Reality in Education

Given the fact that VR has not been adopted despite the aforementioned motivations,
advantages, and long history; it is safe to assume there also exists substantial issues and
limitations.
The following section is structured similar to the section The Applications and Motivations of
VR in Education above. We begin by first performing an analysis of the reported issues and
limitations identified in literature utilizing VR in education. We then identify the primary
issues and patterns in the data analyzed, before discussing and elaborating on them in the
subsections that follow.
Thematic analysis results

Our second thematic analysis into the problems with VR in education identified 11 common
characteristics/codes in the papers analysed, which in turn could be categorized into 4 main
themes; Overhead, Input Problems, Output Problems and Usefulness (see Σφάλμα! Το αρχείο
προέλευσης της αναφοράς δεν βρέθηκε.7).
Overhead refers to issues associated with the costs (both monetary and otherwise)
associated with designing, or employing VR software in education. This encompasses the
codes Training and Cost, which account for 6 (8.2%) and 9 (12.3%) of the 73 (not including No
Reported Issues) total issues recorded respectively.
Input Problems refer to all issues involving providing input to the VR system. This
encompasses the codes Input Hardware Usability, Recognition Inaccuracies, and Lack of Feedback.
Recognition Inaccuracies was the most frequently mentioned issue in this category,
accounting for 7 (9.5%) of the total issues reported.
Output problems similarly refer to all issues involving the output provided by the VR
system. This encompasses the codes Insufficient Realism, Software Usability and Motion
Sickness. Software usability was by far the most frequently mentioned issue both in this
category, and in the whole analysis; accounting for 17 (23.3%) of the total issues reported.
Our final theme Usefulness refers to the effectiveness of the system in its educational
context, i.e. whether it is fit for purpose. This encompasses the codes Ineffective and Lack of
Engagement, which account for 6 (8.2%) and 11 (15.1%) of the total issues respectively. Thus,
a lack of engagement was the second most commonly reported issue identified in our
analysis (after software usability). Though not an issue in itself, papers that expressed No
Reported Issues were also displayed here in Σφάλμα! Το αρχείο προέλευσης της αναφοράς
δεν βρέθηκε.7.Σφάλμα! Το αρχείο προέλευσης της αναφοράς δεν βρέθηκε.
Figure 7. The Issues and Limitations of Virtual Reality in Education. Reported issues and
limitations (obtained via thematic analysis) of 35 papers applying VR to education
Though we have attempted to minimize overlap between these categories, it is still possible;
this is particularly difficult to avoid between the themes of input and output problems. A
typical VR HMD for example is both simultaneously an input and output device.
The remainder of this section explains and elaborates on the issues identified above,
providing examples from the relevant literature where necessary.
Overhead. Utilizing VR solutions in the classroom can incur substantial overhead, in terms
of both the setup time, the software and hardware costs, as well as training of both students
and educators. These factors were mentioned in 10 (28.6%) of the 35 papers we looked at in
this analysis.
Cost. A commonly cited reason for the lack of adoption of VR in education is the cost
associated with doing so (Budziszewski, 2013; Huang et al., 2010; Kaufmann & Meyer, 2009;
Merchant et al., 2014; Mossel & Kaufmann, 2013; Takala, 2014). Utilizing VR software in the
classroom involves not only the costs associated with the initial purchase of hardware
and/or software, but ongoing costs including maintenance, support, and training (discussed
more in the Section Training below). However, the actual cost of the initial purchase of
educational VR technologies can also be high, and many schools may be unable to justify the
expense.
Given the currently small market for VR educational technologies, on the other side of the
table it may be difficult for manufacturers and developers to justify undertaking such
projects. This will likely further decrease both the adoption rate of VR technologies in
education, and the quality of those that are produced (Deb & Ray, 2016). While it was not
included in this analysis (due to not meeting our inclusion date criteria), several papers cited
the 2007 educational game Arden, the world of Shakespeare which exemplified this issue. The
project was cancelled even after receiving a $250,000 USD grant, with the creator stating that
one of the reasons for its failure was the amount of funding. Users did not enjoy the game,
and while $250,000 may sound like substantial investment, the authors stated that it was a
‘drop in the bucket’ in comparison to the funding that is required to produce the published
games users are probably familiar with (Naone, 2007).
While many of these technologies may not be currently affordable for individual or
classroom use (especially those utilizing technologies such as CAVE-based environments),
such systems can still be utilized in other educational settings, such as a museums (Angeloni
et al., 2012; Apostolellis & Bowman, 2014; Hsieh et al., 2010).
Though Wiecha et al. (2010) admit that using technologies such as SecondLife involves costs
in terms of requiring students to possess (or at least have access to) computers and the
Internet, conversely their students (who potentially already possess the required hardware)
reported that they appreciated the fact that they could save money on transport through the
distance learning the system facilitated.
Training. A similar issue involves the amount of overhead in terms of the training time
required of educators. When a new digital technology is employed in schools, there is often
the need to organize training sessions for educators (Haluck, 2000; Le, Pedro & Park, 2014).
This issue is closely related to the above issue of cost, in that institutions will likely have to
pay the teachers and/or instructors for these training sessions. The issue of training-related
overhead was mentioned in 6 (17.1%) of papers.
As the costs for educational VR technologies can vary, so too can the amount of training that
is required of both staff and students. While educators may be familiar with the use of
desktop PCs, it is less likely they are familiar with the workings of CAVE systems or HMDs;
this too could require additional training (Wang & Lau, 2013; Wiecha et al., 2010).
A long-standing additional problem in the field of computers and education is the fact that
the amount of training required is not predictable; instead educators of differing levels of
technical ability will require more or less time to train (Haluck, 2000).
Finally, these issues are also potentially applicable to the students themselves. Teachers may
have to spend time training students on how to use the educational systems and their
underlying technologies; this in turn could detract from the amount of time available for
teaching (Le et al., 2014).
Input Problems. VR solutions frequently employ specialized hardware, these can be both
more physically demanding, and less accurate than the more popular hardware (Abdul
Rahim et al., 2012). However, the requirements of specialized hardware (such as HMDs) and
other interaction issues can render them nonetheless desirable.
As usability issues and recognition inaccuracies are closely related problems occurring with
a multitude of specialized VR input devices, the corresponding codes of Input Hardware
Usability and Recognition Inaccuracies have been combined below.
Input hardware usability and recognition issues. The unique requirements of many VR
implementations can call for specialized hardware which users may be unfamiliar with. For
example, systems employing a HMD may find a keyboard-and-mouse interaction paradigm
unsuitable; as this would potentially require users to possess the ability to touch type. The
resultant multitude of specialized input devices that can be applied to VR systems can in
turn each potentially possess their own set of unique usability issues, these can vary further
based on the requirements of the system and the abilities of the users (Afonseca & Badia,
2013). While for example a new touch screen device may present usability challenges to
some (Abdul Rahim et al., 2012), a simple digital pen may be all it takes for others (Afonseca
& Badia, 2013).
Input Hardware Usability issues occurred in 6 (17.1%) of the papers analyzed, while
recognition inaccuracies that arose in implementations utilizing specialized hardware
occurred in 7 (20%) of papers.
Gesture recognition systems are one approach to providing input to VR systems. Being able
to perform freehand gestures can potentially be more natural (in that it is closer to how we
interact in the ‘real world’) than the mouse and keyboard (Gieser et al., 2013). Naturalness of
interaction is a desirable quality for VR systems attempting to simulate reality (Gieser et al.,
2013; Takala, 2014). However, gesture recognition systems are currently imperfect; suffering
from a multitude of problems ranging from usability issues such ‘gorilla arm syndrome’
(Carmody, 2010), to recognition problems including occlusion, gestural ambiguities and
simple recognition inaccuracy (Gieser et al., 2013).
Soe et al. (2013) for example designed a system to promote and facilitate STEM education.
The authors however found that interactions with their solution (which used the Kinect
motion sensing device) were often counter-intuitive, inaccurate, and could have actually
detracted from the overall experience.
Even highly accurate gesture recognition systems still suffer from a plethora of limitations.
Gietzer et al. (2013) for example wished to employ the advanced VICON marker-based
tracking system in their implementation. As well as being highly expensive the authors
noted that this required users to wear a full tracking suit for recognition purposes. This was
both time-consuming and provided for an unacceptable level of usability.
Output Problems. As with input devices, there exist numerous technologies which can be
used to display output to the users. These range from immersive head-mounted displays, to
CAVE environments, to the standard digital screen. These devices have their own
advantages and limitations, facilitating differing degrees of realism.
The usability of the software outputted to these devices is also an important factor in any VR
implementation, as it represents the ease with one is able to interact with the virtual
environment designed.
Insufficient Realism. Depending on the context, there may exist a need to provide a virtual
experience which closely maps the real (physical) one. 7 (20%) of the papers analyzed
reported issues relating to the fact that their system provided an insufficiently realistic
experience. This accounted for 26.9% of the total output problems reported.
Several papers reported that the users of the systems found their implementations to be
insufficiently realistic, and authors worried that this may detract from the learning
experience (Huang et al., 2010; Le et al., 2014).
Certain situations require a more realistic experience than others. Failing to provide a
realistic experience in the surgical simulations mentioned above for example could not only
provide for a weakened learning experience, but actually negatively impact the students.
Schwaab et al. (2011) for example designed a VR system to simulate mock medical
emergency oral examinations. While the majority of the students reported that they
preferred the VR system to the traditional approach; several also claimed that it did not
realistically reflect their practical experience, and would therefore provide limited benefit to
their learning.
As well as limitations to the realism provided by the virtual environments, there can also
exist limitations to the devices providing them (low pixel density, image latency etc.;
Cuccurullo et al., 2010; Hsiaoa et al., 2010). The potential for newer devices to overcome
these limitations is discussed in further detail in the section Potential New Approaches below.
Software usability. Software usability issues were by far the most commonly identified
problem reported, occurring in 17 (48.6%) of the 35 papers analyzed.
The nature of these usability issues varied substantially depending on the nature of the
software, and encompassed problems ranging from interface design, to interaction quality,
to readability (Hsiaoa et al., 2010; Hsieh et al., 2010).
While some of these issues can be attributed to unfamiliarity with the technologies, others
arguably arose simply as a result of issues with the software design (Falah et al., 2014; Rus-
Casas et al., 2014; Wang & Lau, 2013). Users of the VR medical training system for anatomy
education designed by Falah et al. (2014) for example reported that their usability issues
resulted simply from problems understanding and navigating the systems interface.
Similarly, Huang et al. (2010) reported that it was common for students to get lost while
exploring badly designed virtual environments. These issues can be avoided through more
careful software design. For example, Angeloni et al. (2012) in the design of their virtual art
museum included a virtual map and compass accessible to users at all times to avoid this
same issue.
Usefulness. The following section outlines issues identified pertaining to the usefulness of
the systems described in the papers analyzed. By usefulness, we refer simply to whether the
system created was fit for purpose; i.e. whether it provided an effective learning experience.
Usefulness-related issues accounted for 17 (23.3%) of the total issues identified in this
analysis.
Lack of engagement. Of the 35 papers analyzed, 11 (31.4%) reported a lack of student

engagement with the systems they designed. This was most frequently described in the form
of ‘boredom’ expressed by students (Hsiaoa et al., 2010; Hsieh et al., 2010).
Increased user-motivation was identified as a justification provided in 33.7% of papers in
our first analysis, it is interesting therefore to note that similarly 31.4% reported this to be an
issue in the second. Attempting to pinpoint a single cause for a lack of engagement with the
VR solutions is difficult and likely futile; instead its relatively high occurrence probably
results from a culmination of the issues identified above.
While the novelty of using VR for education arguably reduces the likelihood for boredom,
educators should be careful not to rely on this as their sole means of facilitating student
engagement, as poor educational design (even within VR) can still result in a lack of
engagement (Allison & Hodges, 2000; Apostolellis & Bowman, 2014; Ip, Byrne & Cheng,
2010).
Ineffective. Relatively few (6, 17.1%) papers reported that their implementations were
simply ineffective, and of those that did several based this conclusion solely on user
evaluations (Le et al., 2014; Rus-Casas et al., 2014). Furthermore, the evaluations of these
papers returned results that did not contain unanimously (or indeed primarily) negatively
feedback.
The variance in user perceived effectiveness of these systems could however potentially
demonstrate that people react to VR educational systems differently. For example, in their
recent paper Werewolves, cheats, and cultural sensitivity Aylett et al. (2014) developed a system
to fight prejudice and promote sociability among students; while the system had positive
findings for male participants, girls did not demonstrate any change in behavior as a result
of using the software.
Other factors
There were several additional factors (see Table 2) identified during our analysis, however
they were not included because they were either overly specific to a particular context or to
a particular implementation. Several issues which were mentioned infrequently but could
nonetheless reoccur if the analysis was repeated over a larger sample size are discussed
below.
Firstly, two papers reported that the lack of tactile feedback provided by their input system
had the potential to cause usability issues (Chang et al., 2014; Cheung et al., 2013). While (as
discussed above) gesture recognition can provide a very natural form of input to users, the
lack of tactile feedback provided by such systems can potentially detract from their
immersion, realism and overall user experience.
Strangely, despite being commonly associated with VR (Abdul Rahim et al., 2012; Huang et
al., 2010; Merchant et al., 2014; Rizzo et al., 2006); only 2 of the 35 papers analyzed reported
issues with motion sickness (Abdul Rahim et al., 2012; Nolin et al., 2016); this is despite the
fact that many utilized HMDs.
Table 2. Other issues and limitations mentioned in 22 papers utilizing Virtual Reality in an
educational setting
Other factors
Lack of Feedback Motion Sickness No Reported Issues
2 2 2
Finally, arguably a problem in itself; only 2 of the papers analyzed reported that the systems
functioned as intended without any usability issues.
Potential new approaches

So far we have discussed existing approaches and applications of VR to education. We have
also looked at authors’ motivations and justifications, as well as separately analyzed the
reported limitations and issues with their systems.
We now turn our gaze to the future; in this section a range of new and upcoming
technologies are introduced and compared to those used in the aforementioned analyses. By
analyzing the technologies respective specifications (where available) we then discuss the
potential these technologies have to overcome some of the issues and limitations identified
in the sections above.
Virtual reality resurgence

Recently consumer interest in VR has sparked a wide range of new and often crowdfunded
virtual reality devices (Le et al., 2014; Merchant et al., 2014; Wang & Lau, 2013). While for the
most part these technologies have already existed for a long time in one form or another, this
latest iteration could potentially overcome (or at least lessen) some of the various long-
standing issues plaguing them. These issues range from those identified in the analyses
above, such as accuracy, usability, and price to non-technological issues like consumer
availability.
As mentioned above, these technologies differ from previous iterations in one main regard;
instead of being funded through private/scientific investments, many of them are instead
crowdfunded as a result of consumer interest in the product (Control-VR, 2014; Cybreth,
2013; Oculus, 2012; Omni, 2014; PrioVR, 2014).
It is likely that this shift in investment model will see VR technologies increasingly target a
wider, consumer-based audience. Whether this will in turn constitute decreases in costs
and/or increases in product usability (or improvements to any of the aforementioned
limitations) is discussed below.
Virtual reality peripherals matrix

While it is possible devices of importance have not been included in the following
discussions, we have attempted to include a large number of the recent (popular) input and
output peripherals of interest to VR communities. In order to gain a better understanding of
patterns and/or any discrepancies in the specifications of upcoming devices, we have also
tabulated them (as well as the devices respective functionalities) into the large ‘Virtual
Reality Peripherals’ matrix included in the papers Appendix; see Figure 10 and Figure 11. It
is important to note that data pertaining to the specifications of many of these devices is
currently unavailable. This is primarily because the devices are either still lacking a
consumer version (correspondingly noted in Figure 10 and 3), or have only recently been
released. The metrics contained within the matrix have been taken from the manufacturers
specifications where possible, otherwise from peer-reviewed sources who have
independently tested the technologies.
Overcoming Existing Limitations

Despite these limitations in data availability, the following sections will discuss the potential
the technologies included in the matrix have to overcome some of the more prevalent
limitations and issues currently plaguing VR in education (as identified above).
Usability and training. Once again it is important to reiterate; many of the devices included
in this matrix are part of a new iteration of VR technologies funded by, and/or intended for
use by end users. Moreover, devices that were not crowd-funded are also often backed by
either gaming companies (as is the case for the Nintendo Wii, Razer Hydra) or by popular
producers of consumer electronics and software (Microsoft Kinect, Sony PlayStation VR and
Facebook's Oculus Rift).
What this potentially means is that unlike VR peripherals of the past, which were often
designed in an academic setting solely for research purposes (whereby comfort and usability
were rendered secondary factors); these businesses likely consider the usability of their
devices (and thus enjoyment of their stakeholders) of great importance (Naone, 2007).
A system which is designed with consumer usability in mind will also likely be easier to
train users (and in this case students) in. Future work is however needed to evaluate
whether any potential decrease in training time is sufficient to spur their adoption in
education.
Recognition inaccuracies. Of the usability issues identified in the papers, one of the more
common was that of input hardware recognition inaccuracies. The Microsoft Kinect was the
only gesture recognition platform commonly utilized in the papers analyzed. However,
there now exists a multitude of gestural recognition systems capable of higher degrees of
recognition accuracy, whilst remaining relatively affordable.
Though these technologies have the potential to allow up to sub-millimeter recognition (as is
the case for the Leap Motion, see Figure 1113 for a detailed comparison), occlusion, false-
recognition, gestural ambiguities and a multitude of other long-standing issues still have the
potential to negatively impact the usability of many of these systems.
Until these problems are resolved, this latest iteration in devices may do little to improve
this issue.
Realism. Several of the papers analyzed reported that students found the VR environments
to be insufficiently realistic. Authors worried that this lack of realism may remove from the
immersion desired from a virtual reality, and in turn detracted from the overall learning
experience (Hsieh et al., 2010).
Devices such as the Oculus Rift act as an alternative output peripheral to the traditional
screen, and as such bring nothing new to the realism (in terms of graphical appearance) of
environments. By acting as a simple output medium however (and not performing the
graphics rendering onboard the device), devices like the Oculus Rift will however continue
to be able to facilitate improved realism (as it happens) through the continuing
advancements made in the field of computer graphics.
The Oculus Rift does however contain several additional characteristics which have the
potential to provide improved realism (the most obvious of which is complete visual
immersion in the graphical environment). Though the current consumer version ships with
a resolution of 1080 x 1200 per eye, later versions will likely ship with higher resolutions
(Paterson, 2015). Without a sufficiently detailed display, improvements in computer
graphics would be otherwise be rendered relatively pointless.
Finally, the developers of the Oculus Rift have managed a design facilitating low levels of
latency (around 20ms; see Figure 11 13). This low latency improves the fluidity and
naturalness of interaction, simultaneously decreasing the risk of motion sickness and
improving the perceived realism.
Continual improvements in the usability and recognition accuracy of input peripherals

additionally have potential to improve the realism of the user’s interaction experience within
such a display.
Cost. Finally, we now discuss the potential that the upcoming wave of VR devices have to
overcome the issues of pricing and other related costs that are traditionally involved in
employing VR systems in education.
It is impossible to state whether any of the devices included in the peripherals matrix are
unequivocally ‘affordable’ or not, given the huge variance in the means and funding that
exists between different schools. Therefore, we instead focus our attention on general trends
and anomalies in the pricing patterns (as per Figure 11 13) of the devices.
What is immediately obvious is that there now exists large differences in the pricing of
relatively similar devices. Furthermore, discrepancies exist in the prices of these devices in
terms of the respective accuracy they provide; in other words, many low-end devices
purport specifications higher than those of their pricier alternatives.
Several of the more advanced gesture recognition systems come in tiered-pricing plans.
While the basic system may appear comparatively affordable, their prices however quickly
grow. For example, the STEM VR systems starts at $220 USD, however if one wants to
improve recognition (through the purchase of further sensors) the price of the device quickly
rises up to $580.
There does exist several VR input peripherals around the $100 USD price mark, namely the
Leap Motion and PlayStation Move controllers. It is important to note however that neither
of these devices are complete systems; but instead require the purchase of potentially (and
indeed likely) more expensive base-hardware.
Nonetheless, compared to other consumer electronics utilized in educational settings (a
projector for example) even pricier devices like the Oculus Rift appear relatively cheap in
comparison.
While we cannot definitively state that these devices will be suitably priced for widespread
educational adoption; one can hypothesize (similar to our hypothesis regarding usability
above) that they will be increasingly developed with affordability in mind.
Approaches to interacting with head-mounted displays

Arguably the device which pre-empted the recent resurgence in consumer interest in VR, the
head-mounted display (HMD) is of prime importance to any discussion into the current
state and direction of VR (Avila & Bailey, 2014). Despite the upcoming range of HMDs
however; there still lacks a fit-for-all, or even widely used output peripheral for interaction
with them.
While the mouse and keyboard work fine for desktop interaction, providing input while
using HMDs poses a range of additional interaction difficulties (the primary of which is that
one is unable to see the device they are interacting with). This problem is potentially
compounded in an educational environment whereby one may desire additional interaction
functionality, such as the ability to take notes.
However, the continual development of novel input interaction technologies gives potential
for new approaches to interacting within such an interaction paradigm. We now provide a
few short examples, demonstrating how both these new and old technologies could
hypothetically be leveraged and combined to overcome these issues and provide for novel
and inventive educational learning paradigms.
Handwritten Notes. Information from external peripherals can potentially be displayed

within virtual environments in real time. Theoretically one could put on a HMD, sit in a
virtual classroom and take handwritten notes on any number of devices capable of digitally
transcribing handwritten notes. The information could then be displayed to students within
the virtual environment in a virtual notebook. The actual devices used to provide input
could range from a tablet PC, to specialized graphics tablets, to devices that transcribe
physical ink-on-paper (such as the LiveScribe digital pen).
Users could however still encounter issues in orienting themselves with the device, i.e.
perceiving the physical borders of the input peripheral device solely by touch. Furthermore,
if there was to exist noticeable delay between the physical action and the notes being
displayed within the virtual environment (the LiveScribe refreshes it's information only
roughly once per second for example) then this would result in unnatural interaction
paradigm and potentially detract from the learning experience (Huang et al., 2010; Le et al.,
2014).
Capacitive keyboard. Similar to the above approach, one could overlay a virtual keyboard
within the virtual environment. Though users would still have to reach out and find their
keyboards, using a capacitive keyboard could solve the issue of blind-typing for users who
are unable to touch type.
Users could simply place their hands on a capacitive keyboard; the keys which are currently
being touched (though not fully pressed) could be sensed by the capacitor pads, and then
highlighted on the virtual keyboard - allowing users to physically orient themselves through
the virtual environment.
360° video lectures. Rather than applying computer graphics to VR in education, one could
utilize the capabilities of HMDs to immerse students in digital recordings of real life events.
Through the use of camera rigs and other tools capable of capturing 360° video and
bidirectional sound, one could record educational environments ranging from significant
archaeological sites, to classrooms, lecture theatres and even one-on-one tutorials. Whether
360° video constitutes a true virtual environment is debatable. Exact definitions of what
constitutes a virtual reality differ in existing literature, though most definitions (minimally)
describe a digital representation of a three dimensional object and/or environment. By this
definition 360° video (especially when viewed on a VR headset) arguably constitutes a
virtual reality.
While the usefulness of such an environment as a teaching tool would need to be evaluated,
if effective it could form the basis for the next generation of a huge range of educational
systems; such as fully immersive lecture recordings or realistic one-on-one intelligent
tutoring systems.
Discussion
In this paper we have analyzed both the applications and reported motivations for using VR
technologies in education, as well as the issues and limitations associated with doing so.
Furthermore, we have introduced, compared and discussed a range of recent and upcoming
VR related technologies; evaluating their potential to overcome the issues identified in our
earlier thematic analyses.
Our initial analysis into the applications and motivations of VR in education provided by
authors in current scientific literature yielded some surprising findings.
The applications of VRs usage in education is currently largely skewed towards those for
simulations and training purposes. Thus, more work is required to evaluate whether the
improved immersion facilitated by tools such as head-mounted displays render them
justifiable as an alternative medium for widespread generalizable (i.e. non-specialized)
applications to digital education.
Particularly prevalent is the use of simulations in the fields of health and medicine,
accounting for 35 of the 95 papers analyzed. The institutions for which the educational
applications were intended were also largely skewed, with 51% of implementations created
for use in higher education.
We also found that despite the fact that much of the literature analyzed was created to
inform educational design, little of the research was grounded in solid pedagogical
reasoning. Discussing such factors would be beneficial to the designers of future systems.
Increased immersion and user-motivation were the most commonly reported motivations
identified in our initial analysis for using VR in education, occurring in 46 and 32 of the
papers respectively. However, the most commonly provided justification for increased user-
motivation was that authors believed simply utilizing these technologies in education would
be enough to motivate students. Though this may be true in the short term, it is important
that authors do not become reliant on this factor for motivation, as simple technological
novelty will likely diminish with continual use.
Another fairly common application of VR to education was in its ability to facilitate distance
learning. Though none of the papers identified in our analysis suffered from this issue; when
designing VR educational systems, it is important to remember that designing them around
the use of any form of specialized hardware will likely detract from its suitability as a
distance learning tool. Designing a VR system intended for use with an HMD for example
would require all participants of the course to also acquire an HMD. Even if the upcoming
iteration of VR HMDs are relatively popular among consumers, such an approach would
still likely end up excluding students.
The number of papers that clearly evaluated their systems (including consideration to
usability factors) was relatively small, leading to a comparatively smaller second analysis
being performed in the Section Σφάλμα! Το αρχείο προέλευσης της αναφοράς δεν βρέθηκε..
The issues of cost and training contributed to many of the problems identified in our
analysis. Over 28.6% of papers analyzed reported issues with the overhead incurred as a
result of using VR technologies in education.
By far the most frequently reported issue identified in our analysis was that of software
usability. Users reported a multitude of issues, including counter-intuitive interfaces,
confusing objectives, and that they would even get lost in the virtual environments (Hsieh et
al., 2010; Huang et al., 2010; Le et al., 2014). Further analysis revealed that several of the
reported usability issues were simply a result of avoidable software design decisions. As
well as software usability issues, several papers reported usability issues arising as a result
of recognition inaccuracies and other limitations with the input hardware. In the Section
Potential New Approaches we introduced a range of recent and upcoming VR related
peripherals. The specifications for these devices displayed in the virtual reality peripherals
matrix (Figure 10 & Figure 11) exhibits their potential to lessen the probability of recognition
inaccuracies. However, despite their improved specifications they are nonetheless still
plagued by a multitude of long-standing interaction limitations (occlusion, gestural
ambiguity etc.).
Although commonly associated with VR (especially head-mounted displays), only 2 papers

reported issues with user motion sickness (Abdul Rahim et al., 2012; Huang et al., 2010;
Merchant et al., 2014; Rizzo & Bowerly, 2006). Whether this is a result of well-designed
implementations, the sample size, or the design of the user evaluations is unknown.
Students in the papers analyzed also frequently reported issues with the lack of realism
provided by the educational VR implementations, and authors in turn felt that this could
potentially detract from the learning experience (Huang et al., 2010; Le et al., 2014). In the
Section Approaches to Interacting with Head-mounted Displays we discussed the advent of the
resurgent head-mounted display (HMD); we hypothesize that its lower latency, higher
resolution and ability to facilitate the continually evolving computer graphics field has the
potential to lessen this issue. However, educators with limited time and resources to spend
on creating these implementations will likely still have problems creating virtual
environments which students find to be sufficiently realistic. To this end educators could
potentially consider design factors such as the Uncanny Valley hypothesis, and focus less on
creating perfectly realistic experiences and more on those that are simply enjoyable and
effective. Alternatively, rather than relying on computer graphics to provide realism,
educators could use these developing technologies in combination, such as the HMD with
spherical immersive video.
Finally, we also discussed the potential these new technologies have to overcome the issues
of usability, cost, and training overhead that have traditionally hindered VRs adoption. It is
however, difficult to draw conclusions on any of these issues yet; both metrics and price
data is still widely unavailable for many of these devices, and because the definition of what
is ‘affordable’ to schools differs greatly. Nonetheless, we hypothesize that given the crowd-
funded investment model and target (consumer) audience of many of these technologies;
one can fairly safely assume that usability and affordability will be of prime consideration.
Conclusion and future work
In this paper we have performed a systematic review as well as thematic analyses into both
the applications and author’s motivations for using VR in education, as well as the reported
issues and limitations associated with doing so.
Our initial analysis demonstrated tendencies amongst educators to frequently apply VR
solutions only in specialized situations requiring realistic simulations or for training
purposes. Future work is needed to investigate the suitability of VR technologies (such as
HMDs) purely as an alternative medium for non-specialized digital education. We also
discovered that little of the work analyzed was actually grounded in solid pedagogical
reasoning. Moreover, much of the research was motivated by intrinsic factors, including the
belief that students would be motivated by the novelty of VR technologies; a factor which
would likely diminish with continual use.
Our analysis into the reported issues and limitations of VR systems also yielded interesting
results, with problems pertaining to cost, training and software and hardware usability
accounting for much of the data. Particularly prevalent was the occurrence of software
usability issues; occurring nearly twice as frequently as most of the other issue reported.
Several authors also reported that students found the implementations to be insufficiently
realistic, and claimed that this was a result of the limited time and resources available to
them. Future research should therefore investigate the application of design hypotheses
such as the Uncanny Valley, or utilize alternatives to computer graphics to provide
increased realism, such as spherical immersive (360°) video.
In the Section Potential New Approaches we introduced a multitude of recent and developing
VR technologies that have arguably been brought about by a resurgence in consumer
interest in VR. The potential these technologies have to overcome some of the limitations
identified our second thematic analysis was discussed with the assistance of the data
contained in our ‘Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix’ (Figure 10 & Figure 11). Unfortunately,
future work (and time) is needed to provide a complete matrix, as metrics for many of the
devices analyzed are still unavailable.
This latest iteration in VR technologies possess their own unique set of interaction
requirements and difficulties, especially if one wishes to apply them to an educational
context. Thus, we have concluded our paper by providing novel techniques to overcome
them, as well as potential directions for future researchers wishing to apply them to
education.
Appendix. Figures representing the results of the thematic analysis in detail
Figure 8a. Applications and motivations of VR in education, papers 1-45

(Full results of the thematic analysis performed on 90 papers
Figure 10. Applications and motivations of VR in education, papers 45-90

(Full results of the thematic analysis performed on 90 papers)
Figure 9. Problems with VR in education

(Full results of the second thematic analysis performed on 35 papers)
Figure 10. The Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix, Part 1

(Functionalities and/or capabilities of input and output hardware peripherals of VR)
Figure 11. Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix, Part 2

(Functionalities and/or capabilities of input and output hardware peripherals of VR)
a. Costs taken from the products official websites unless otherwise stated. Prices and discounts excluded. Prices
recorded on 10/05/2015.
b. Prices refer to the cost of the peripheral, prices of base hardware (such as the Wii or PlayStation console) not
included.
c. Price dependent on number of trackers purchased. 5-tracker system costs $579.99
d. Includes 2 arm and upper body tracking.
e. Price dependent on number of sensors. 17-sensor system costs $429.
f. Metrics obtained from the products websites or developer comments. Otherwise from peer reviewed studies
(referenced accordingly).
h. 3mm-70mm (distance dependent).
i. Degrees of Freedom (DoF).
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To cite this article: Kavanagh, S., Luxton-Reilly, A., Wuensche, B., & Plimmer, B. (2017). A systematic review of Virtual
Reality in education. Themes in Science and Technology Education, 10(2), 85-119.
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Themes in Science & Technology Education, 10(2), 85-119, 2017

A systematic review of Virtual Reality in education

Sam Kavanagh, Andrew Luxton-Reilly, Burkhard Wuensche, Beryl Plimmer

Department of Computer Science, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Keywords: virtual reality, education, human-computer interaction

We conducted a systematic review following the process outlined by Kitchenham (2004),

Database Search String Results

ACM Digital acmdlTitle:("virtual reality" VR) AND acmdlTitle:(classroom

(("Document Title":"virtual reality") OR ("Document Title":VR))

Title:("Virtual reality" OR "VR") and Title:"(education OR

((title:"virtual reality") OR (title:"VR")) AND ((title:"education")

Applications in engineering were also common, occurring in 19 of the 99 papers. These

Figure 3. Educational institutions and areas of VR applications in the 99 papers analyzed

Figure 4. Application Domain Breakdown. The individual application domains of 99 papers

The applications and motivations of virtual reality in education

Thematic analysis results

Simulation. VR provides the possibility for participating in lifelike simulations/virtual

Constructivism. Constructivism is a learning paradigm that argues that humans generate

Increased Motivation. As mentioned above, we define motivation in our analysis as the

Problems with Virtual Reality in Education

Thematic analysis results

Lack of engagement. Of the 35 papers analyzed, 11 (31.4%) reported a lack of student

Potential new approaches

Virtual reality resurgence

Virtual reality peripherals matrix

Overcoming Existing Limitations

Continual improvements in the usability and recognition accuracy of input peripherals

Approaches to interacting with head-mounted displays

Handwritten Notes. Information from external peripherals can potentially be displayed

Although commonly associated with VR (especially head-mounted displays), only 2 papers

Conclusion and future work

Appendix. Figures representing the results of the thematic analysis in detail

Figure 8a. Applications and motivations of VR in education, papers 1-45

Figure 10. Applications and motivations of VR in education, papers 45-90

Figure 9. Problems with VR in education

Figure 10. The Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix, Part 1

Figure 11. Virtual Reality Peripherals Matrix, Part 2

Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 207–212). Retrieved 20 December 2017 from

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