Introduction to the Special Issue: Immersive Technology - A New IT Artifact? Implications for IS Research, Pedagogy & Practice

Abstract

Immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), the Metaverse, and IoT systems are reshaping how users interact with digital platforms, shifting them from screen-mediated interaction to embodied experience. This shift raises a fundamental question for the Information Systems discipline: Does immersive technology constitute a new class of IT artifact? This special issue brings together nine papers that address this question from diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives. The contributions are organized around four emergent themes: the conceptual foundations of immersive IT artifacts; individual characteristics and contextual factors that shape adoption; presence, trust, and intrinsic motivation as drivers of user engagement; and the link between immersive IS design and economic value. The papers collectively show that immersive technologies do not make existing IS theories obsolete. However, they do challenge established constructs in ways that demand both theoretical extension and methodological adaptation. This editorial note presents the special issue’s contributions, situates them within the broader IS discourse on IT artifacts, and outlines a future research agenda for this evolving domain.