Historical Time Machines Revisited

Virtual reality (VR) is increasingly used in history education to enable immersive engagement with the past. Although these applications may stimulate interest and emotional involvement, concerns have been raised about their potential to hinder critical reflection and foster uncritical acceptance of story-consistent beliefs. Drawing on the transportation-imagery model, the present study (N = 106) investigates the correlations between transportation (i.e., narrative immersion) in the history-related VR application Anne Frank House VR and users’ emotional responses, knowledge, and story-consistent political beliefs. Special attention is paid to the role of users’ political orientation. The results indicate that transportation is positively correlated with emotional responses and story-consistent beliefs (e.g., support for refugees) but not with factual or perceived knowledge. These findings point to the persuasive potential and educational opportunities offered by VR for history education. Although VR may not convey knowledge, it may foster engagement with socially and politically relevant topics.