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Introduction
Immersive technologies—such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Mixed Reality (MR)—are reshaping how businesses engage customers, deliver services, and create value. As these technologies mature and become more accessible through mobile applications, organizations across industries—including retail, tourism, entertainment, healthcare, and education—are exploring their service applications and strategic potential. Immersive technologies not only enhance user experience but also enable new business models, operational efficiencies, and competitive differentiation.
Scholarly and industry interest in immersive technologies has grown rapidly in recent years. The global immersive technology market was valued at approximately US$41 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 28% through 2030. Given the ubiquity of mobile devices, immersive mobile applications are critical to the integration of these technologies in everyday life. Research trends mirror this momentum: a Web of Science topic search for "immersive technolog*", "augmented reality", "virtual reality", and "mixed reality" yields over 100,000 records, with annual publications rising from 2,282 items in 2014 to 14,201 in 2024. Immersive technologies are also gaining prominence in leading IS conferences, such as ICIS, AMCIS, ECIS, and PACIS, in recent years. While research on immersive technologies is gaining momentum, limited systematic attention has been paid to their integration with mobile platforms and the resulting implications for user experience, value creation, and business innovation. These developments underscore the timeliness, scholarly relevance, and practical importance of a dedicated special issue on this emerging area.
This special issue aims to present leading research that informs how immersive technologies are driving innovation in mobile business environments. It seeks to:
- Serve as a central platform for sharing insights on adoption strategies, user engagement, and value creation;
- Support scholars and practitioners in navigating integration challenges and identifying opportunities;
- Elevate Industrial Management & Data Systems as a leading venue for timely and impactful research in digital transformation.
This special issue will make an original and timely contribution by focusing on the convergence of immersive technologies and mobile applications within today’s evolving business landscape. It will bring together interdisciplinary perspectives and advances research in this critical emerging field. Alongside theoretical contributions, the special issue will foster practical insights and guidance to support industrial development of usable and useful immersive mobile applications, creating enormous commercial and societal values.
List of Topic Areas
- User engagement and behaviour in immersive mobile applications
- Adoption and diffusion of immersive technologies in organizations
- Design principles for mobile immersive applications
- Business innovations enabled by immersive technologies across industries
- Ethical dimensions, accessibility challenges, and long-term societal impacts immersive mobile applications
Submission Information
Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here:
Author guidelines must be strictly followed. Please see:
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.
Key Dates
Opening date for manuscript submissions: 1 February 2026
Closing date for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026
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