Immersive VR and XR now allow perceptual science to be conducted under rich, interactive conditions that approximate everyday sensorimotor engagement better than conventional screen-based paradigms. However, virtual worlds are not neutral containers: presence, embodiment, and agency can amplify attentional capture and reshape perceptual judgments, while device optics, latency, locomotion interfaces, and haptic realism can introduce systematic biases. As a result, findings obtained in virtual environments may diverge from classic laboratory outcomes in both magnitude and mechanism. A coherent research agenda is needed to explain when immersion improves ecological validity, when it compromises inference, and which design and measurement practices yield reliable and reproducible perception research in virtual worlds.
This Research Topic aims to consolidate and advance mechanistic understanding of perception as it emerges in virtual worlds. We invite contributions that (i) test core perceptual and attentional theories under controlled manipulations of sensorimotor contingencies; (ii) explain how perceptual illusions related to presence, plausibility, and embodiment reshape experience, decision-making, and performance; and (iii) establish methodological benchmarks for robust inference, including calibration of visual properties, transparent reporting of device parameters, and multimodal validation using behavioral, physiological, and telemetry measures. Real-world perception is also included as a comparative benchmark to determine the compatibility, transfer, and boundary conditions of perceptual mechanisms observed in immersive settings.
Areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
• Sensorimotor contingencies and perceptual calibration (e.g., color fidelity, depth cues)
• Presence, plausibility illusion, and perceived realism
• Embodiment, agency, and body ownership (including avatar design and self-representation)
• Multisensory integration, cue conflict, and sensory substitution
• Haptics and tactile perception
• Spatial, temporal, and action-specific perception in VR/XR
• Locomotion and interaction constraints as confounds; latency and cybersickness
• Responsible XR: when and how perception can be intentionally shaped (e.g., persuasion, digital wellbeing)
This Research Topic welcomes Original Research, Methods, Brief Research Reports, Reviews/Mini-Reviews, and Perspective articles.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Conceptual Analysis
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
