Assessment of Virtual Reality and Metaverse Applications in Higher Education

Authors

Keywords:

Virtual Reality, Quality of Experience, Metaverse

Abstract

This paper examines the use and effectiveness of consumer-grade Virtual Reality (VR) technology in traditional university courses. At the School of Economics, Universidad de la República in Uruguay, students were divided into four groups: in-person, standard video conferencing, VR with avatars in a metaverse classroom, and remote participation in the metaverse. The study assessed various Quality of Experience (QoE) factors for students and professors, such as audiovisual quality, comfort, immersion, fatigue, and cognitive load. Findings reveal that VR promotes high student satisfaction, motivation, and interaction, reaching levels similar to in-person classes. However, issues like technical difficulties and discomfort with extended VR use were noted. The paper discusses the broader potential of VR for non-STEM higher education and offers recommendations for future implementation of immersive technologies.

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Author Biographies

Jose Joskowicz, Universidad de la Republica

Jose Joskowicz (M’09, SM’10) was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1969. He received the Ph.D. degree in Telematics Engineering from Universidad de Vigo, Spain, in 2012. He is an Electronics Engineer specialized in Telecommunications from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay since 1995. He is an Associate Professor with the Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de Montevideo and Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay, a member of the National Researchers System, and a Consulting Engineer at Isbel. Throughout his professional career, he has conducted various consultancy projects and has led the design and implementation of various national and international projects in the field of information and communication technologies. His research interests include multimedia applications and quality of experience. Dr. Joskowicz is internationally certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute.

Fabricio Gonzalez, Quantik

Fabricio González Antuña was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. He has more than twenty years of experience in software engineering, product development, and digital transformation across Latin America, the United States, and Europe. He holds a Product Manager certification from the Pragmatic Institute (USA). His work spans multiple verticals, including Generative Artificial Intelligence, electric mobility, virtual reality applications, and the creation of the Quantik Lab R&D unit within Quantik Group. He taught Data Science and Machine Learning at UTEC and currently teaches Artificial Intelligence courses at ORT. He serves as Group Leader at Vesta Software Group in Latin America, overseeing integration and growth of acquired software companies.

Ines Urrestarazú, Universidad de la Republica

Ines Urrestarazu was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1974. She received the M.S. degree in Statistics from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, USA, in 2007. She is currently a master´s student of the M.S. program in University Teaching, Universidad de la República, Uruguay. In 2005 she obtained the Statistics degree, with a specialization in Economics, from the Universidad de la República, Uruguay, and in 2000 she earned the degree in Economics from the same institution. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Quantitative Methods of the School of Economics of the Universidad de la República, Uruguay, where she also leads the Teaching Support Unit. In addition to teaching statistics across several courses, her current research interests focus on education.

Lucia Tafernaberry, Universidad de la Republica

Lucia Tafernaberry was born in Bella Unión, Artigas, Uruguay, in 1984. She received the Mathematics Teacher degree from Centro Regional de Profesores, Salto, Uruguay, in 2006, and the Pedagogy degree within the Secondary Education Teacher track from the Ministry of Education and Culture, Uruguay, in 2024. Also in 2024, she completed the coursework of the M.S. program in University Teaching, Universidad de la República and her thesis is in final revision. She is currently pursuing the M.S. degree in Tourism Administration and Economics having completed all first semester courses. She is an Assistant Professor at the Schools of Economic Sciences and of Dentistry from the Universidad de la República, Uruguay. Her interests include education, statistics, data science, artificial intelligence, technology, and virtual learning environments.

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Published

2026-02-27

How to Cite

Joskowicz, J., Gonzalez, F., Urrestarazú, I., & Tafernaberry, L. (2026). Assessment of Virtual Reality and Metaverse Applications in Higher Education. IEEE Latin America Transactions, 24(3), 269–279. Retrieved from https://latamt.ieeer9.org/index.php/transactions/article/view/10156

Issue

Vol. 24 No. 3 (2026): Ordinary Issue

Section

Computing