Human Factors and Design in Immersive and Generative Media Technologies

Immersive and generative media technologies—comprising virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (XR), digital twin systems, and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)—are witnessing accelerated integration across domains such as education, healthcare, industry, and the creative economy. These technologies offer novel modalities for interacting with digital content, environments, and systems, leveraging simulation, personalization, and real-time content generation. Despite their technological sophistication, the efficacy and sustainability of these systems remain contingent upon human factors, including usability, trust, cognitive engagement, socio-emotional responses, and adoption intention. Notably, user-centered design principles and methodologies serve as critical enablers in aligning system capabilities with users’ needs, expectations, and values. As such, this Research Topic seeks to foreground the intersection of human factors and design in examining the effects and implications of immersive and generative media technologies, with an emphasis on their empirical conceptualization, development, and evaluation across a range of real-world applications.

While immersive and generative media technologies have made significant strides in enhancing interactivity, simulation, and content personalization, their design and deployment often prioritize technological novelty over human-centered efficacy. A critical gap persists in understanding how individuals perceive, engage with, and ultimately adopt these systems across varied contexts. This Research Topic aims to advance discourse on human-centered factors and design by examining how immersive and generative systems can be more effectively designed and integrated into real-world use cases. Specifically, it invites contributions that explore human factors such as media psychology, cognitive load, trust, socio-emotional aspects, technology acceptance, and ethical considerations in the deployment of emerging media systems. Equally, it seeks empirically grounded frameworks, models, and design strategies that support inclusive, accessible, and adaptive experiences. By converging perspectives from HCI, UX design, AI interaction, and media studies, this Research Topic endeavors to build a coherent body of knowledge that informs the development of responsible and human-aligned immersive and generative technologies.

This Research Topic invites high-quality contributions that examine human-centered factors and design principles in the development, implementation, and evaluation of immersive and generative media technologies. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- user experience design,
- media psychology,
- cognitive and affective responses,
- trust and technology acceptance,
- ethics and responsible design,
- applications in education,
- participatory approaches, accessibility, and inclusivity in applications involving XR, GenAI, and digital twin systems.

Submissions investigating cross-domain implementations—such as those in education, healthcare, creative industries, and professional training—are particularly encouraged. Authors are welcome to contribute empirical studies, theoretical or conceptual papers, methodological frameworks, case analyses, and systematic reviews. Interdisciplinary perspectives that draw from human–computer interaction, human–AI interaction, digital media studies, and communication research are especially valued. The overarching aim is to curate a rigorous and diverse body of scholarship that advances understanding of the design, adoption, and societal impact of next-generation media technologies in real-world contexts.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: human–computer interaction (HCI), immersive media, generative AI, user experience design, technology acceptance

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.