Call for Papers: Unravelling the Power of Virtual Reality for the Future of Workplace Learning and Design. Individual, organisational, and societal considerations

 

Submit your paper here!

 

Key Dates

Abstracts Closing: 4th Sept 2023
Submissions Opening: 4th Sept 2023
Submissions Closing: 18th March 2024
 

Introduction

Virtual Reality (VR) is an interactive computer-generated medium that allows participants to experience immersive simulations of real and unreal situations stimulating different senses. Critically, VR can provide engaging and interactive experiences for its users while simultaneously overcoming various physical, ethical, social, and sustainable barriers. For example, VR training and educational programmes can be accessed remotely by users who are unable to access physical training facilities due to distance, cost, and time constraints, but also due to accessibility issues (such as physical and/or cognitive disabilities/impairments and language barriers). Research and development into VR are to be found in different applications, contexts and places worldwide.  

The recent Covid-19 pandemic has pushed VR applications further, showing an increasing need for virtual solutions not only in the training/educational and entertainment fields, but also to support the design and preliminary evaluation of the impact of new systems.  

This Special Issue seeks to present an overview of the role and application of Virtual Reality (VR) in workplace learning and design, and to outline an agenda for future research in the field. We, therefore, invite submissions of original empirical, theoretical, and review papers from various disciplines and backgrounds (e.g., engineering, transport, psychology, education, healthcare, human factors/ergonomics, etc.) that demonstrate the potential of VR to impact individuals, organisations and society at large.

 

Research topics

Indicative (but not exhaustive) topics may include: 

• User-centred design consideration for effective VR-based workplace learning programmes (e.g., soft skills development, team building, health and safety, etc.). 
• VR to simulate real-world scenarios for the training of human operators (e.g., public transport drivers, healthcare staff, military personnel, etc.) 
• VR-based organisational interventions promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace, and address bias and discrimination issues. 
• Evaluation of the impact of VR on employee engagement, retention, and performance. 
• VR for collaborative workplace designs and ergonomic analysis (e.g., scenarios to simulate new work environments, tools, vehicles, etc.) 
• Ethical, social, and societal considerations (e.g., inclusivity and accessibility, psychological and physiological effects, cultural impacts, sustainability, etc.) 

 

Submissions

Submit your paper here!

Abstracts should be submitted to Dr Tiziana C. Callari.

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see here.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to ““Please select the issue you are submitting to”. Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.