On the interaction features of the virtual reality user interface of an educational game

Computer games are so popular among children and adolescents that they are often used to increase the attractiveness of educational software. In this respect, virtual reality game interfaces can serve the purposes of education very well since they are among the most popular interfaces. However, despite their popularity there are still many children and adolescents that do not play games. On the other hand, education is targeted to all students. Thus, if virtual reality game interfaces are to be included in classrooms they have to be designed very carefully so that all students may benefit from them educationally. In this paper, we address the issue of the design of a virtual reality user interface of a game that is meant to teach students geography. 50 students from schools were asked to interact with the game and their actions were recorded. Then the user protocols were analysed. The results of this analysis revealed three important features of the students' interaction with the virtual reality user interface that have to be considered very carefully so that the educational benefits of the game may be maxi mised.