Differences Between Experiencing a Virtual Laboratory With a Virtual Reality Headset or a Laptop

Different technical implementations have been proposed for virtual laboratories, some of which include the use immersive virtual reality (VR) environments experienced through head-mounted displays. The benefits and challenges of VR headsets have been previously studied in other contexts, but no research has been done in the context of virtual laboratories. In this explorative study, we compared the user experiences between completing a virtual laboratory experience with a VR headset or with a laptop screen to see if the VR headset has any negative or positive effects for virtual laboratory education. It was found that users experienced increased immersion, feeling of being in the laboratory, and spent more time in the virtual laboratory training when using a VR headset. Users also reported that they preferred a VR headset over a laptop experience, although they affirmed that the long-term use of a VR headset is exhausting. The VR headset was not found to affect already high learning motivation, feeling of how gamified the experience felt, or the perceived challenges of the learning tasks. Despite the increased immersion and other positive findings for VR headsets, the current findings are not yet sufficient to conclude that these factors necessarily affect the learning results in virtual laboratories. Further research about the topic is required for more conclusive effects on increased learning outcomes.