How is it going? - Virtual Reality used in student counselling - practices and experiences from using VR for personal conversations

Virtual Reality (VR) has been utilized for years to create immersive learning experiences by simulating real-world scenarios. Social VR, a branch of VR, has recently gained traction for professional meetings, using avatars to represent participants and fostering a sense of ''being together'' compared with traditional video conferencing.This paper explores the potential of Social VR for student counselling, a unique learning situation typically involving only a counsellor and a student. We investigate how VR, using avatars in a simulated office space, can support the personal conversations characteristic of student counselling. The study is based on qualitative methods using interviews and questionnaires with both students and counsellors to gather insights on their experiences with VR counselling.Key findings include the enhanced feeling of ''being together'' and the use of personalized avatars, which provided a more distanced representation of oneself compared to video conferences, increasing comfort for some students. Counsellors reported meeting students with fewer preconceptions compared to face-to-face interactions and appreciated not having to focus on their appearance. However, counsellors missed eye contact with the students, and challenges included technical difficulties with VR and students' difficulties adapting to the technology.These results suggest that while Social VR holds promise for enhancing student counselling, addressing technical barriers and improving user adaptation are crucial for its successful implementation.