The Light and Dark Side of VR: A New Hope for Meetings—or Just More Fatigue?

As videoconferencing (VC) has become a pillar of modern collaboration, studies have shown the downsides of engaging in—particularly videoconference fatigue (VCF), a multidimensional construct encompassing general, emotional, motivational, social, and visual exhaustion. Immersive virtual reality (VR) platforms, which promise more natural and socially rich interactions, have been proposed as a possible solution. However, due to the novelty of this quickly evolving technology, the psychological effects of VR meetings remain underexplored. This study investigates how VR and VC meetings differentially affect VCF, and whether cognitive load and positive meeting interactions mediate these effects. We conducted a within-subject experiment (N = 84), where participants completed two 15-minute collaborative meetings—one via Microsoft Teams (VC condition) and one via Meta Quest 2 VR headsets in Horizon Workrooms (VR condition). The meetings involved a problem-solving task requiring information sharing among team members. After each meeting, participants reported levels of five fatigue dimensions, mental and physical load (as proxies for cognitive load), and the quality of positive interactions. Structural equation modeling was used to test direct and indirect effects of meeting condition on fatigue outcomes. Findings revealed a dual effect of VR: while participants reported significantly more general, emotional, and visual fatigue in VR compared to VC, they also experienced more positive social interactions. Surprisingly, mental and physical load did not mediate these effects, contradicting established theories that emphasize cognitive overload as the main driver of VCF. Instead, positive interactions partially mediated reductions in social and motivational fatigue in VR, suggesting immersive features may foster more engaging and socially satisfying communication, even as other fatigue dimensions increase. These results refine our understanding of fatigue in immersive contexts. The data suggest that cognitive load may not be the driver of the negative effects of VR meetings This challenges the dominant cognitive load perspective and highlights the importance of perceptual and affective mechanisms, and moreover points out the question: What are the negative drivers of VCF in VR? The study contributes theoretically by disentangling multiple dimensions of VCF, advancing a dual-path model of immersive meeting outcomes, and providing experimental evidence. Practically, it suggests that VR may enhance interaction quality but simultaneously increase fatigue, posing a trade-off for organizations adopting immersive tools. Careful implementation, user onboarding, ergonomic design, and task alignment will be critical for sustainable use. Future work should examine longer-term adaptation, diverse VR hardware, physiological measures of fatigue, and different task types to determine under what conditions VR meetings can offer net benefits without compromising user well-being.