{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,27]],"date-time":"2026-01-27T15:03:16Z","timestamp":1769526196089,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]],"date-time":"2018-04-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1523318400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MTI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The use of virtual elements for developing new service prototyping environments and more realistic simulations has been suggested as a way to optimise the service prototyping process. This work examines the application of virtual reality (VR) in prototyping service journeys and it hypothesises that VR can recreate service journeys in a highly immersive, agile, and inexpensive manner, thus allowing users to have a representative service experience and enabling service designers to extract high-quality user feedback. To that end, a new service prototyping method, called VR service walkthrough, is presented and evaluated through an empirical comparative study. A VR service walkthrough is a virtual simulation of a service journey, representing how the service unfolds over space and time. A comparative study between the VR service walkthrough method and an adapted service walkthrough method evaluates the application of both methods using a location-based audio tour guide service as a case study. Two user groups (each with 21 users) were used to evaluate both methods based on two factors: the user experience they offered and the subjective meaningfulness and quality of feedback they produced. Results show that the VR service walkthrough method gave a performance similar to that of the service walkthrough method. It was also able to communicate the service concept in an immersive way and foster constructive feedback.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mti2020014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]],"date-time":"2018-04-10T13:06:08Z","timestamp":1523365568000},"page":"14","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Virtual Reality for Prototyping Service Journeys"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"2","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2741-8127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Costas","family":"Boletsis","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"SINTEF Digital, Forskningsveien 1, 0373 Oslo, Norway"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Blomkvist, J., and Bode, A. (2012, January 22\u201324). Using Service Walkthroughs to Co-Create Whole Service Experiences. 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