This study investigates the cognitive characteristics and transition flow of team mental models in virtual reality environments (VRE) compared to Zoom-based collaboration during fashion design problem-solving processes. Using the VRE platform Spatial.io as a case study, the study examines how virtual reality technologies influence the formation of shared mental models among collaborators. The objective is to identify key cognitive features that VREs offer to support problem-solving in multidisciplinary fashion design collaborations. The study employed a comparative experimental design, involving professionals from fashion design, marketing, and production. Participants completed the design concept generation tasks in both VRE and Zoom environments, all interactions were recorded and coded, with the analysis focusing on cognitive transitions, verbal dynamics, and collaborative behavior patterns across both environments. The results reveal that VRE fosters higher frequencies of environmental interaction (EI-EI), cognitive integration (CIM-CI), and planning to execution transitions in team interactions (PP-PIM), forming multidirectional feedback loops. These features enhanced dynamic adaptation to environmental stimuli. In contrast, Zoom-based collaboration relied heavily on linear verbal communication, with fewer cognitive transitions and limited structural feedback loops, thereby reducing efficiency in idea evaluation and execution in team interaction. The study highlights the potential of VREs to transform collaborative practices in fashion design by enabling immersive and multidimensional interactions, contributing to advancing digital collaboration strategies in creative industries, with implications for education and interdisciplinary innovation.

In recent years, with the advancement of virtual reality (VR) technology, research in related fields has gradually increased. As personal head-mounted display devices become more prevalent in the market, this study explores the phenomenon of integrating VR technology with online shopping from the consumer's perspective. The study focuses on consumers' acceptance of VR technology in online shopping and analyzes the types of virtual environments most likely to stimulate consumer purchase intention. Based on the SOR (Stimulus-Organism-Response) and TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) theories, a TAM-SOR integrated model was constructed. Taking into account influencing factors in the current online shopping environment, the model was built and tested using SPSS and AMOS to validate the hypotheses. Structural equation modeling and mediation effect analyses on the collected samples indicate that external stimulus variables in a VR shopping environment—such as flow experience, spatial presence, and entertainment—have a significant positive impact on purchase intention. Additionally, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness serve as chain mediators, enabling external stimulus variables to further influence consumer purchase intention through these mediating variables.

We present the initial results of on-going research for building a novel Mobile Haptic Interface (MHI) that can provide an unlimited haptic workspace in large immersive virtual environments. When a user explores a large virtual environment, the MHI can sense the position and orientation of the user, place itself to an appropriate configuration, and deliver force feedback, thereby enabling a virtually limitless workspace. Our MHI (PoMHI v0.5) features with omnidirectional mobility, a collision-free motion planning algorithm, and force feedback for general environment models. We also provide experimental results that show the fidelity of our mobile haptic interface.