LAUSR

BACKGROUND The participative design of work processes is hampered by as-yet unresolved challenges. A root cause is seen in high information-pass-on-barriers. Virtual Reality (VR) may have a significant potential to overcome these challenges. Yet, there is no systematic understanding of which advantages provided by VR can support the participative design of work processes. OBJECTIVE The present study aims to assess the potential of VR to support the participative design of work processes by conducting an integrative literature review identifying the advantages of VR in general work contexts and mapping them to known challenges of participative design of work processes. METHODS The integrative literature review was conducted based on 268 sources of which 52 were considered for an in-depth analysis of the advantages offered by VR. RESULTS The resulting conceptual framework consisted of 13 characteristic-related advantages (e.g., immersion, interactivity, flexibility) and 10 effect-related advantages (e.g., attractivity, involvement, cost efficiency) which readily address known challenges of the participative design of work processes. CONCLUSION Mapping the advantages of VR to the challenges of participative design of work processes revealed a substantial potential of VR to overcome high information-pass-on-barriers. As such, employing VR in work process design initiatives represents a fruitful avenue for the promotion of prevention and employee health.