Global Publication Trends in Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Learning: The Last Twenty-One Years

Abstract

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) provide new experiences in the digital and simulation worlds. While they are intended to stimulate users’ perception and senses in general, the two differ significantly. This study aimed to seek and analyze international publications on the trends, similarities, differences, advantages, and disadvantages of AR and VR for learning over the period 2001–2021. In this study, bibliometric analysis using VOSViewer with the help of MS Excel was utilized to visualize metadata obtained from Scopus. Publish or Perish software supported the data collection of this study, which included retrieving and analyzing academic citations. The findings show that the AR/VR has trend continued to rise over the years. The results showed that Denmark and India (based on country bibliographic pairs), Journal of Physics Conference Series (based on journal bibliographic pairs), Y. Zhou publications (2018) (based on bibliographic pairs of publications), and Archana M. (India) with Lars K. (Denmark) (based on author bibliographic pairs) have become the most influential in the field of augmented reality and virtual reality for learning. AR and VR are two technologies changing how people use screens, thus creating new and exciting interactive experiences. In the future, it is expected that further research related to AR/VR and even Mixed Reality (MR) will continue to develop along with technological advancement. However, pedagogical competence remains an essential key to learning.