Impact of Spatial and Communication Environments on Collaborative Music-Making in Virtual Reality: Insights for Music Education

This exploratory study examines the impact of spatial and communication settings on perceived presence, communication quality, and participants’ willingness to adopt Virtual Reality (VR)-based collaborative music-making in educational settings. The participants comprised music student teachers and practicing secondary school music teachers. Spatial configurations ranged from separate rooms to shared spaces, while communication modalities included direct verbal interaction and mediated communication via headphones and microphones, reflecting realistic school scenarios. The findings suggest that direct verbal communication in shared spaces fosters higher levels of communication quality, presence, and engagement, highlighting the potential importance of intuitive interaction in VR environments. In contrast, mediated communication in shared spaces via headphones and microphones posed notable challenges, likely due to subtle audio latency disruptions. Furthermore, higher levels of perceived presence and communication quality were positively associated with an increased willingness among music teachers to integrate these VR-based teaching-learning designs into their educational practice.