New realities: a systematic literature review on virtual reality and augmented reality in tourism research

Abstract

Despite the growing interest and discussions on Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) in tourism, we do not yet know systematically, the knowledge that has been built from academic papers on VR and AR in tourism; if and how VR and AR research intersect, the methodologies used to research VR and AR in tourism, and the emerging contexts in which VR and AR have surfaced in tourism research. By conducting a systematic literature review on VR/AR research in tourism, this work seeks to answer five main research questions: (1) Which tourism sectors and contexts have VR and AR research emerged in?; (2) Which forms of VR and AR have garnered the most attention in tourism research?; (3 & 4) What methodologies/theories are being utilised to research VR and AR in tourism?; and (5) What are the research gaps in VR and AR tourism research? From a synthesis of 46 manuscripts, marketing and tourism education emerged as the most common contexts. However, issues with heterogeneity appeared in terminology usage alongside a lack of theory-based research in VR and AR. Also, gaps were identified where challenges identified revolved around awareness of the technology, usability, and time commitment.

Exploring Consumer Behavior in Virtual Reality Tourism Using an Extended Stimulus-Organism-Response Model

“…Specifically, the finding of the highly significant effect of authentic experience on cognitive response contributes to the literature, extending previous studies on the relation between authenticity and cognition (e.g., Yung and Khoo-Lattimore 2017). Additionally, the strong relationship between authentic experience and affective response in this study theoretically demonstrates that VR tourism content is closely related to the emotional immersive experience and substantially extends the findings of previous studies (e.g., Dueholm and Smed 2014;Muñoz Morcillo et al 2017;Mura, Tavakoli, and Sharif 2017).…”

“…Mura, Tavakoli, and Sharif (2017) find that VR tourism environments are not perceived as completely unrealistic, and participants perceive physical and sensorial involvements as an important component of experiencing authenticity in virtual tourism. Yung and Khoo-Lattimore (2017) suggest that a high level of perceived authenticity of VR content provides valuable insights into the trajectory of virtual tourism. Further, studies in virtual environments have documented the influence of immersion on authentic experience in terms of improving learners' engagement (Loup et al 2016), in the comparison of a headband, 3D glasses, and a head-mounted display (Kronqvist, Jokinen, and Rousi 2016), and in tourism technology engagement (Schaffer 2017).…”

Design of a Mobile Augmented Reality Platform with Game-Based Learning Purposes

“…This leads to the increasing use of MAR in several areas. For example, several authors developed research related to marketing [14], tourism [15], industry [16], navigation [17], or medical training [18], among others.…”

Augmented and Virtual Reality Evolution and Future Tendency

“…With this definition, there is no need to talk about specific hardware but we can specify techniques and applications and focus on technology development [6]. Although the technologies of AR and VR have been under development for a long time [7], we can say that it has recently begun to leave the laboratories, thanks in large part to the improvement of the computing capacity and the lowering of the devices [8]. Nowadays, augmented reality and virtual reality can be used in a mid-range smartphone [9].…”