Exploring Meaningful Extended Reality (XR) Experiences: Psychological, Educational, and Data-Driven Perspectives

Virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR)—collectively known as extended reality (XR)—are transforming people’s experiences in domains well beyond gaming and entertainment, such as learning, work, and social interactions more broadly. Such impacts occur not only during XR use, but also in times after and between XR use. We refer to these impactful XR experiences beyond gaming and XR use itself as Meaningful XR.

Such Meaningful XR experiences offer novel potential research questions and complex behavioral datasets through which researchers can better understand meaningful user interactions.

This Research Topic, developed in conjunction with the Meaningful XR 2025 conference (May 22-23, 2025 at UC Davis), engages with Meaningful XR research from a range of perspectives, including (but not limited to):

1. User-Centered Meaningfulness – Experiences that lead to lasting cognitive, emotional, or behavioral changes, foster skill acquisition, or enhance decision-making and social interactions.
2. Data-Driven Meaningfulness – Computational methods that uncover meaningful insights from large XR datasets, improving theoretical understanding and user experience design.

We aim to collect high-impact research that advances knowledge on various research topics, including:

• Psychological and Behavioral Impact – How do XR experiences shape emotions, cognition, and behavior during and beyond the moment of use?
• Education and Learning Outcomes – What pedagogical strategies enhance XR-based knowledge retention, problem-solving, and skill transfer?
• Workplace Productivity and Collaboration – How can XR improve teamwork, decision-making, and engagement in remote or hybrid work settings?
• Social and Interpersonal Dynamics – How does XR influence communication, trust, and relationships in personal and professional contexts?
• Game Design and Engagement – How can game mechanics optimize meaningful and goal-driven XR experiences?
• Data-Driven XR Research – What tools and methodologies can help researchers analyze large-scale XR behavioral data? How can AI be leveraged to promote meaningful XR experiences?

We encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines and methodological approaches. Top papers presented at the Meaningful XR 2025 conference will be invited to submit expanded versions for this special issue. For more information about the conference, please visit Meaningful XR 2025 conference.