Research on the Current Situation and Future Development Trend of Immersive Virtual Reality in the Field of Education

In recent years, emerging technologies such as immersive virtual reality (IVR) and Metaverse are pointing to new directions for the future of education. To summarise the current research status and development trend of immersive virtual reality in the field of education, this paper used the CiteSpace tool to search the SSCI literature included in the Web of Science under the theme of “Immersive virtual reality” or “Educational technology”. The results show a total of 1293 SSCI publications between 1996 and 2022, with the number of studies in this area increasing year on year. Current research hot spots focus on the application of IVR technology, evaluation and effectiveness research, and curriculum design and teaching. Analysis of node network diagrams and knowledge graphs suggest that future trends in the field will be to deepen immersive experiences, increase interactivity, and continue to explore more pedagogical value and application scenarios. In addition, there are increasingly close partnerships between research institutions and large-scale collaborative research is taking place internationally. In future research, researchers can explore scenarios for the application of Metaverse and the design of assessment systems that can facilitate the development of immersive education.