Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol 56(4), Aug 2025, 275-287; doi:10.1037/pro0000624
Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly being incorporated in mental health interventions, although little is known about users’ experiences with these different types of technology. This study aimed to examine potential differences in user experiences across three different fully immersive VR head-mounted displays (low, medium, and high range) that varied in cost, technical specifications, and quality. A one-session, mindfulness-based VR intervention was utilized. It was predicted that a more positive user experience would be observed for the high-range than low-range condition and that mindfulness and affect would increase postintervention. Participants were 75 university students aged 18 years and older, who were randomly allocated to one of the three VR groups: low-range (i.e., VR Shinecon), medium-range (i.e., BOBOVR Z6), or high-range (i.e., Oculus Quest 2). Each participant completed a 20-min mindfulness-based VR intervention and completed qualitative questions and outcome measures of presence, cybersickness, satisfaction, mindfulness, and affect. A series of mixed factorial, one-way analyses of variances were conducted on quantitative data. Inductive and deductive content analysis was performed on qualitative data. Results revealed that greater presence was reported among participants in the high-range head-mounted display group than the low-range group. Additionally, mindfulness scores improved pre- to postintervention irrespective of the type of head-mounted display used. Mindfulness and participant satisfaction did not significantly differ between conditions. Participants in the high-range condition reported a more positive user experience and had fewer concerns about technological factors. Overall, the study highlights the importance of considering user experiences when selecting VR interventions and technology. This study addresses a gap in the understanding of user experiences across VR technology quality and contributes to translation and adoption efforts for VR interventions when selecting VR technology for practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)