Currently submitted to: JMIR Serious Games
Date Submitted: Mar 27, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 27, 2026 - May 22, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Dynamic Adoption Trajectories in Immersive Tai Chi: A Mixed-Methods Comparison of Virtual and Mixed Reality Among Older Adults
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
Immersive exercise technologies are increasingly proposed to support healthy aging, yet sustained adoption among older adults remains inconsistent. Prior work often treats acceptance as a static decision and frequently aggregates virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), potentially obscuring modality-specific adoption mechanisms.
Objective:
Objective:
This study aimed to examine how older adults’ adoption of immersive Tai Chi exercise evolves over time and whether VR and MR support sustained engagement through different mechanisms. Specifically, we investigated phase-specific barriers and facilitators across entry, adaptation, and adoption negotiation, as well as differences in trust development and continued use between VR and MR conditions.
Methods:
Methods:
Guided by the Dynamic Barrier Framework (DBF), we conducted a qualitative-dominant mixed-methods longitudinal study of older adults completing repeated immersive Tai Chi training. Participants completed one initial session and six repeat sessions. Semi-structured interviews captured evolving barriers and facilitators across DBF phases (entry, adaptation, and adoption negotiation). Quantitative measures of subjective experience and cybersickness, together with session-level performance logs, were integrated for descriptive triangulation.
Results:
Results:
Thirty-five participants were enrolled (VR: n = 16; MR: n = 19); 34 provided complete quantitative data (VR: n = 16; MR: n = 18). Across modalities, adoption unfolded through three sequential phases with systematic shifts in barriers and facilitators. Early resistance was driven more by uncertainty and perceived control than by physiological discomfort alone. VR engagement was more closely linked to immersive and affective value, whereas MR engagement emphasized skill adaptation and the emergence of trust over time. Performance logs indicated learning across repeated sessions, aligning with self-reported experience.
Conclusions:
Conclusions:
Older adults’ immersive exercise adoption is dynamic and phase-sensitive. VR and MR may foster sustained engagement through differentiated mechanisms, suggesting the need for phase-tailored support strategies in community deployment. Clinical Trial: Trial Registration: Not applicable.
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