Auratic Response to a Virtual Church and Corresponding Physical Church
Frontline Learning Research June 19, 2026 Ulrich Riegel, Mirjam Zimmermann
Comparing virtual church visits via head-mounted displays with physical church visits, an experiment with 52 religious education students found that neither mode produced much mystical experience. Physical visits generated a more pronounced auratic experience than virtual ones. Switching from virtual to physical exploration increased mystical experience, while switching from physical to virtual decreased it. The auratic experience was operationalized as mystical experience and flow, with flow measured through control and concentration. The study addresses a gap in research on affective learning outcomes and discusses limitations.