Through the convergence and integrated approach, this study investigates participants’ overall experiences with VR applications and examines the existence of virtual aura. Perception of the presence of aura depended on the quality of VR applications...
Through the convergence and integrated approach, this study investigates participants’ overall experiences with VR applications and examines the existence of virtual aura. Perception of the presence of aura depended on the quality of VR applications and their suitability for art appreciation. Participants’ previous viewing experiences, which were correlated with perception of the presence of aura, negatively affected on the degree of satisfaction with VR applications as well as on the evaluation of the suitability for learning. The auras were mitigated in the virtual reproductions for participants with previous viewing experiences. In their stances, pictorial sameness of VR applications did not promise aesthetic sameness of the originals. On the contrary, the aura were appropriately migrated in the reproductions for participants without those experiences. To sum up, VR applications have great potential to introduce participants to the art world. They stimulate intrinsic motivations for learning and offer meaningfulness in the affective process of art appreciation.