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The field of immersive virtual reality (VR) has rapidly evolved, driven by advancements in 3D graphics and accessible high-performance hardware. It is a multimodal technology based on multisensory integration. While much of the existing VR research has focused on audiovisual cues, humans perceive the world through a variety of senses, including touch, smell, taste, and less commonly considered senses like equilibrioception. Despite their importance, these additional sensory modalities have often been overlooked in VR development. This intentionally broad Research Topic aims to address that gap. It covers novel or underutilized sensory stimulation techniques and their applications in VR. To that end, we sought to collect manuscripts that push the boundaries of traditional VR by incorporating these diverse sensory inputs to enhance the immersive experience.
The present editorial summarizes the ten selected papers on multimodal VR applications that cover themes including navigation and spatial orientation, haptic feedback and touch, gustatory and olfactory stimuli, and therapeutic applications. We highlight significant technological advancements, methodological insights, and practical applications. Collectively, they underscore the significance and potential of multisensory integration in VR. In addition, these developments demonstrate the transformative potential to create more engaging, realistic, and effective experiences. Consequently, they pave the way for enhanced VR applications across education, entertainment, and healthcare.
These studies emphasize the importance of combining physical movements and sensory inputs to enhance spatial orientation and user experience.
These studies highlight the role of touch in enhancing presence, embodiment, and performance in VR.
These studies demonstrate how smells and tastes can alter perceptions, reduce stress, and enhance therapeutic outcomes. They showcase the potential of cross-modal correspondences.
The selected studies introduce several novel hardware and software solutions that push the boundaries of multimodal VR. For instance,
The papers also contribute to significant methodological advancements, offering robust experimental designs and comprehensive reviews that enhance our understanding of multisensory integration in VR. For example,
These studies highlight the wide-ranging practical applications of multimodal VR applications, demonstrating the technology’s broad potential in therapeutic, educational, and entertainment contexts. For instance,
Papers in this Research Topic consistently show that multisensory VR leads to a stronger sense of presence, embodiment, and emotional engagement, which enhances the overall quality of VR experiences. For example,
This Research Topic has brought together diverse studies that collectively advance our understanding of the multimodal applications of VR to provide multisensory interventions. The findings underscore the importance of considering the full spectrum of human senses when designing immersive VR experiences. They provide valuable insights into making VR more engaging, realistic, and impactful. Importantly, the contributions made by the selected papers offer a solid foundation for continued exploration and innovation in the field. In summary, they promise a future where VR can more effectively replicate and augment real-world experiences across various applications.
JS: Conceptualization, Validation, Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. OG: Conceptualization, Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. DB: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. MM-G: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. GP: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing. SS: Writing–original draft, Writing–review and editing.
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. JŚ is supported by XR-PAIN Grant Agreement No. 101070533 and META-TOO Grant Agreement No. 101160266. OG’s contribution was supported from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101017746, Touchless.
Author OG was employed by Ultraleap Ltd.
The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
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