Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study
Abstract BackgroundSledding is a common recreational activity in the Alpine region, practiced by families, friends, and at school, but it is rarely considered to cause serious injuries. Current actions to promote safe sledding are limited to announcements at the start of dedic...
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JMIR Publications
2025-05-01
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| Series: | JMIR Formative Research |
| Online Access: | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63813 |
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| author | Meggy Hayotte Jonas Kreiner Bernhard Hollaus |
| author_facet | Meggy Hayotte Jonas Kreiner Bernhard Hollaus |
| author_sort | Meggy Hayotte |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Abstract
BackgroundSledding is a common recreational activity in the Alpine region, practiced by families, friends, and at school, but it is rarely considered to cause serious injuries. Current actions to promote safe sledding are limited to announcements at the start of dedicated tracks or to didactic sheets presented by teachers in schools. However, these actions are currently limited and do not allow the development of piloting technique skills. Virtual reality has the potential to develop piloting skills, although the development of a virtual reality for sledding safety education needs to be guided by its acceptability.
ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to (1) examine the acceptability of the virtual reality game for sledding safety education from the perspective of different potential user profiles (ie, parents, teachers, and sledders) based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 enriched by the health locus of control (HLC), and (2) understand participants’ preferences and needs in terms of features to be integrated to the technology.
MethodsThree profiles of participants (ie, parents, teachers, or sledders) were recruited through email diffusion from elementary schools, university, and ski resort announcements (Tyrol, Austria). They completed a series of questionnaires measuring: (1) demographic and general information, (2) acceptability of virtual reality sledding game for safety education (named VRodel), (3) perception of HLC, and (4) preferences and needs for VRodel.
ResultsA total of 122 participants (15 teachers, 43 parents or legal guardians, and 64 sledders) completed the survey. Findings reveal that the constructs of hedonic motivation (β=.43, PPP
ConclusionsThe acceptability of a virtual reality game for sledding safety education was quite high, and relationships with HLC were shown in the expected directions. Based on participants’ preferences, developers are advised to promote immersion in the game. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-226a696c8fa14c29a7e363301233d08e |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2561-326X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Formative Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-226a696c8fa14c29a7e363301233d08e2025-08-20T03:05:35ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Formative Research2561-326X2025-05-019e63813e6381310.2196/63813Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional StudyMeggy Hayottehttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-3418-3485Jonas Kreinerhttp://orcid.org/0009-0005-7213-5208Bernhard Hollaushttp://orcid.org/0000-0001-5996-6983 Abstract BackgroundSledding is a common recreational activity in the Alpine region, practiced by families, friends, and at school, but it is rarely considered to cause serious injuries. Current actions to promote safe sledding are limited to announcements at the start of dedicated tracks or to didactic sheets presented by teachers in schools. However, these actions are currently limited and do not allow the development of piloting technique skills. Virtual reality has the potential to develop piloting skills, although the development of a virtual reality for sledding safety education needs to be guided by its acceptability. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to (1) examine the acceptability of the virtual reality game for sledding safety education from the perspective of different potential user profiles (ie, parents, teachers, and sledders) based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 enriched by the health locus of control (HLC), and (2) understand participants’ preferences and needs in terms of features to be integrated to the technology. MethodsThree profiles of participants (ie, parents, teachers, or sledders) were recruited through email diffusion from elementary schools, university, and ski resort announcements (Tyrol, Austria). They completed a series of questionnaires measuring: (1) demographic and general information, (2) acceptability of virtual reality sledding game for safety education (named VRodel), (3) perception of HLC, and (4) preferences and needs for VRodel. ResultsA total of 122 participants (15 teachers, 43 parents or legal guardians, and 64 sledders) completed the survey. Findings reveal that the constructs of hedonic motivation (β=.43, PPP ConclusionsThe acceptability of a virtual reality game for sledding safety education was quite high, and relationships with HLC were shown in the expected directions. Based on participants’ preferences, developers are advised to promote immersion in the game.https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63813 |
| spellingShingle | Meggy Hayotte Jonas Kreiner Bernhard Hollaus Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study JMIR Formative Research |
| title | Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full | Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_fullStr | Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_short | Parents’, Teachers’, and Sledders’ Acceptability of a Virtual Reality Game for Sledding Safety Education: Cross-Sectional Study |
| title_sort | parents teachers and sledders acceptability of a virtual reality game for sledding safety education cross sectional study |
| url | https://formative.jmir.org/2025/1/e63813 |
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