Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Jun 30, 2024
Date Accepted: Apr 8, 2025
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Parents’, teachers’ and potential users’ perspectives of the acceptance of virtual reality for sledding safety education: cross-sectional study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Sledding is a common recreational activity, but rarely considered to cause serious injuries, although it is dangerous. The need to develop sledding skills, especially among children, has become a major issue and could be achieved through virtual reality. A better understanding of the needs and requirements of teachers, parents, and potential users for accepting a virtual reality game for sledding safety education is required.
Objective:
The purpose of this study was to: (1) characterize the acceptance of the virtual reality game for sledding safety education by parents, teachers, and potential users from the perspective of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology 2 (UTAUT2), (2) examine the relationships between technology acceptance and health locus of control, and (3) understand participants’ preferences and needs for the technology.
Methods:
Participants completed a series of questionnaires measuring: (1) demographic and general information, (2) acceptance of virtual reality sledding game for safety education (named VRodel), (3) perception of health prevention, (4) preferences and needs for VRodel.
Results:
A total of 122 participants (15 teachers, 10 females, Mage=41.7, SD=11.2 years; 43 parents or legal guardians, 23 females, Mage=46.6, SD=12.4 years; and 64 potential users of the technology, 18 females, Mage=28.8, SD=16.6 years) completed the survey. Findings reveal that hedonic motivation, price sensitivity, and habit predicted the behavioral intention to use the virtual reality sledding game for safety education. Furthermore, internal and powerful others health locus of control are positively related to the acceptability of the technology. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Conclusions:
Results demonstrated a good acceptability of the prototype of the device with interesting features to include such as realistic visual details and realistic interactions in the virtual environment.
Citation
