Exploring virtual reality for enhancing perceived indoor environmental comfort in educational buildings: A scoping review

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Source of Publication

International Conference on Digital Frontiers in Buildings and Infrastructure (DFBI2025)

Publication Date

8-12-2025

Abstract

This scoping review systematically explores the role of Virtual Reality (VR) in assessing and enhancing perceived indoor environmental comfort within educational buildings. The main objective was to map existing literature addressing VR applications across thermal, visual, acoustic, spatial, general environmental comfort, and indoor air quality dimensions. Given the inconsistent user satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in educational spaces, this study highlights VR's potential as a cost-effective tool for assessing and optimizing occupant comfort post-construction. Employing the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology, structured searches were conducted in the Scopus database, resulting in 1,125 unique records. After rigorous screening based on predefined criteria, 17 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2014 and 2024 were included. Findings demonstrate VR's diverse effectiveness in comfort assessments, educational interventions, and informed design decision-making processes. Visual comfort was the most frequently studied dimension, with VR reliably simulating optimal lighting conditions but showing limitations in dim or high-contrast scenarios. Thermal comfort simulations effectively enhanced students' understanding of complex concepts. Acoustic comfort evaluations highlighted beneficial impacts on cognitive performance, while biophilic VR environments improved general comfort, reducing stress indicators. Notable limitations include small participant samples, technological realism constraints, limited multisensory integration, and reliance on a single database. This review uniquely contributes to architectural practices by providing insights for informed design, educational enhancement, and policy-making, ultimately promoting occupant well-being, sustainable design, and improved educational environment.

ISSN

2979-1677

Publisher

ABC2 Publishing House

Volume

2025

First Page

256

Last Page

265

Disciplines

Architecture

Keywords

Virtual Reality, User Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality, Educational Spaces, Immersive Environments, Occupant Satisfaction, Scoping Review, PRISMA

Indexed in Scopus

no

Open Access

yes

Open Access Type

Bronze: This publication is openly available on the publisher’s website but without an open license

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