儀式程序與懺文內容繁複，本研究選取「灑淨召請」、「禮拜《梁皇寶懺》」、「過案迴向」、「瑜珈焰口」以及「送聖」五個主要儀式段落作為體驗內容。實驗組透過Meta Quest 3進入虛擬法會場景，依循虛擬法師引導及互動任務參與儀式；控制組則透過個人電腦瀏覽相同的法會解說與影音內容。
本研究採真實驗研究設計，招募49位具佛教信仰或欲了解佛教法會之大專生參與研究，並隨機分派為使用「虛擬實境版虛擬佛教法會」之實驗組27人，以及使用「個人電腦版3D虛擬佛教法會」之控制組22人，以比較兩組參與者在臨場感、宗教正念以及學習成效上的差異。研究工具包括臨場感量表，以及宗教正念量表，以及自編之梁皇寶懺法會知識測驗、，並將有無佛教活動參與經驗納入背景變項，以探討不同佛教活動參與經驗之參與者，在兩種數位呈現方式下的學習成效、臨場感與宗教正念是否具有顯著差異。此外，本研究亦透過半結構式訪談，深入了解參與者對於兩種不同虛擬佛教法會系統之體驗歷程、儀式理解、臨場感受、多人共同參與及系統操作等面向的感受與建議。
研究結果顯示，在臨場感方面，實驗組之整體臨場感與空間臨場感皆顯著高於控制組，且在有、無佛教活動參與經驗者中均呈現相同結果；投入感則於全體受試者及具有佛教活動參與經驗者中達顯著差異，真實感則未達顯著差異。在宗教正念方面，實驗組之整體宗教正念、禮拜專注度、禮拜臨在感與禮拜投入感，在全體受試者及具有佛教活動參與經驗者中皆顯著高於控制組。在學習成效方面，無論全體受試者或依佛教活動參與經驗分組，兩組皆未達顯著差異，可能與兩種系統提供相同的文字、圖片、影音及儀式解說等核心學習內容有關。訪談結果進一步指出，虛擬場景、法師引導、身體禮拜、儀式任務與多人共同參與，有助於受試者形成身處法會情境與共同參與的感受，並協助其理解供養、過案迴向、瑜珈焰口及送聖等較陌生的儀式內容。
綜合而言，虛擬法會可作為年輕族群接觸與理解佛教儀式的補充性參與及宗教教育媒介。相較於個人電腦版3D虛擬佛教法會，虛擬實境版虛擬佛教法會較能支持受試者形成臨場感、維持宗教正念並投入儀式歷程，而兩種媒介皆可透過解說與情境呈現，協助其建立對梁皇寶懺法會流程及宗教意涵的初步理解。本研究結果可作為未來虛擬儀式、佛教宗教教育、文化推廣及沉浸式宗教體驗設計之參考。

Buddhist Dharma assemblies generally require substantial human resources, time, and suitable venues, and some may continue for several consecutive days. Young people, particularly university students, may therefore find it difficult to accommodate the schedule and participate in the entire ritual process. In addition, Buddhist teachings are profound, while ritual procedures and repentance texts are often complex. Participants with limited prior exposure to Buddhist rituals may not fully understand their sequence, purposes, and religious meanings. Since comprehensive explanations are also difficult to provide during an ongoing in-person Dharma assembly, helping university students understand ritual procedures, purposes, and religious meanings within a limited period has become an important issue in the design of virtual Buddhist rituals. In response to these limitations in accessibility and ritual interpretation, this study used virtual reality to construct a Buddhist ritual experience and examined young people’s experiences of a virtual Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual, as well as its potential application as a supplementary medium for religious education.
This study aimed to investigate young people’s experiences of the virtual Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual at Kaohsiung Yiyong Temple and to compare a virtual reality-based virtual Buddhist Dharma assembly with a personal computer-based 3D virtual Buddhist Dharma assembly in terms of presence, mindfulness during worship, and learning performance. Based on the Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual held at Kaohsiung Yiyong Temple, the study developed a virtual reality-based virtual Buddhist Dharma assembly and used a personal computer-based 3D version as the comparison condition. The system content was developed from fieldwork, audiovisual records of the Dharma assembly, relevant literature, and materials provided by the temple, and was reviewed and confirmed through discussions with temple personnel. Because the complete Dharma assembly lasts six days and involves complex ritual procedures and repentance texts, five major ritual sections were selected: ritual purification and invocation, repentance worship during the Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual, ritual procession and transfer of merit, the Yujia Yankou food-offering ritual, and the sending-off of the sacred beings. Participants in the experimental group entered the virtual Dharma assembly environment using a Meta Quest 3 headset and participated in the rituals by following the guidance of a virtual monastic and completing interactive tasks, whereas those in the control group used a personal computer to access the same ritual explanations and audiovisual content.
A true experimental design was adopted. Forty-nine university students who either identified with Buddhism or wished to learn about Buddhist Dharma assemblies were recruited and randomly assigned to an experimental group using the virtual reality-based system (n = 27) or a control group using the personal computer-based 3D system (n = 22). The research instruments included a presence questionnaire, the Mindfulness during Worship Scale (MWS), and a researcher-developed knowledge test on the Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual. Prior experience with Buddhist activities was included as a background variable to examine whether participants with and without such experience differed across the two presentation modes in presence, mindfulness during worship, and learning performance. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted to explore participants’ experiences, ritual understanding, sense of presence, perceptions of co-participation, system operation, and suggestions for improvement.
The results showed that, in terms of presence, the experimental group reported significantly higher overall presence and spatial presence than the control group, and the same pattern was found among participants both with and without prior experience in Buddhist activities. Involvement was also significantly higher in the experimental group among the full sample and among participants with prior Buddhist activity experience, whereas no significant difference was found in experienced realism. Regarding mindfulness during worship, the experimental group scored significantly higher than the control group in overall mindfulness during worship, concentration during worship, presence during worship, and absorption during worship among both the full sample and participants with prior Buddhist activity experience. No significant differences were found between the two groups in learning performance, either for the full sample or when participants were grouped by prior Buddhist activity experience. This may be because both systems provided equivalent core learning content, including the same texts, images, audiovisual materials, and ritual explanations. Interview findings further indicated that the virtual environment, guidance from the virtual monastic, embodied worship, ritual tasks, and multi-user participation helped participants develop a sense of being present in the Dharma assembly and participating together with others. These features also supported their understanding of less familiar ritual content, including ritual offerings, ritual procession and transfer of merit, the Yujia Yankou food-offering ritual, and the sending-off of the sacred beings.
Overall, virtual Buddhist Dharma assemblies may serve as a supplementary form of participation and a religious education medium through which young people can encounter and understand Buddhist rituals. Compared with the personal computer-based 3D virtual Buddhist Dharma assembly, the virtual reality-based virtual Buddhist Dharma assembly provided stronger support for participants’ sense of presence, mindfulness during worship, and engagement in the ritual process. Nevertheless, both media provided explanations and contextual representations that could help participants develop an initial understanding of the procedures and religious meanings of the Emperor Liang Repentance Ritual. The findings may inform future research and design related to virtual rituals, Buddhist religious education, cultural promotion, and immersive religious experiences.

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