What Is the Relationship between the Sense of Presence and Learning in Virtual Reality? A 24-Year Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Abstract The sense of presence is an important aspect of experiences in Virtual Reality (VR), an emerging technology in education, leading this construct to be increasingly researched in parallel to learning purposes. However, there is not a consensus in the literature on the outcomes of this association. Aiming to outline a panorama in this regard, a systematic literature review was conducted, with a comprehensive analysis of 140 primary studies recovered from five worldwide databases. The analysis shows an overview of 24 years of areas, factors, and methodological approaches that seem to be more inclined to benefit from the sense of presence toward learning purposes. We contribute to the advancement of state of the art by providing an understanding of the relationship among these variables, identifying potential ways to benefit from the sense of presence to further leverage the use of VR for learning purposes.