Six Weeks Of Collaboration In The Metaverse: Two-Wave Study Examining Perceived Immersion, Enabling Features, And Future Use

Abstract

The potential of the metaverse as a utility for collaborative purposes is gaining increasing attention in information systems (IS) literature and industry. This article examines how the perceptions of users engaging in group collaboration in metaverse environments accessed with a virtual reality (VR) headset change and influence usage intentions over a collaborative project. A two-wave quantitative survey study was conducted, resulting in 115 responses. Data were collected at two points over a 5–6-week period. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and multiple linear regression were utilized in the analysis. Results showed that nausea-related symptoms decreased over the course of extended metaverse use, while perceptions relating to the collaborative features of the metaverse and its compatibility with other task-related software increased. However, perceptions related to immersion did not change. In contrast, regression results showed that the user’s ability to concentrate their attention on their task and the perceived naturalness of communication were positively related to future metaverse use intention, while metaverse system features were only partially associated with future use intention. As the majority of metaverse studies examine first impressions and early use experiences, this study makes several important contributions to IS literature regarding extended use of the metaverse for collaborative purposes.