The growing attention towards immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR), and the metaverse are revolutionizing cultural heritage education and tourism. Such technologies offer immersive and interactive experiences that transform the user’s exploration of museums, cultural heritage sites, educational content, and historical landmarks. This article presents a structured framework that addresses the advancement and application of these technologies in cultural heritage education to improve user experience, learning, emotional connection, and motivation. To further explore recent trends, issues, and opportunities, the article offers a comprehensive overview of the impact of state-of-the-art immersive technology on user experience within heritage education environments . The study also outlined standard questionnaires and effective methodologies for user experience evaluations. Furthermore, the article addresses the influence of standards and guidelines recommended by standardized bodies and organizations on XR and metaverse applications. It discussed how these standards and recommendations can play a role in setting protocols that shape the development of immersive heritage education environments. Finally, we introduce an architecture model for XR and metaverse applications that can assess developers, researchers, and stakeholders to enable immersive and interactive educational experiences, bridging geographical and physical barriers. This research is intended to help academic and industry stakeholders understand the integration of digital heritage preservation tools and user experience standards critical to advancing educational engagement in cultural heritage.

The evolution of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) has blurred the distinction between drivers and passengers, resulting in increased demand for in-car entertainment. Simultaneously, social networking platforms are evolving to adopt AR (Augmented Reality)/VR (Virtual Reality)-centric metaverses. Self-driving cars will free up the drivers and passengers to engage in leisure activities such as watching VR videos and playing games while travelling. Before driverless cars can become a “third living space”, open challenges confront the provision of immersive content (e.g., VR videos and gaming) with a high level of Quality of Experience (QoE). Current autonomous vehicular network technologies focus on navigation and safety and rely on ubiquitous high-speed 5G/6G network connectivity to provide a seamless streaming experience in AVs. The compounded risks of cyber- and motion-sickness are identified as barriers to the enjoyment of in-car VR entertainment technologies. The influence of AV car networks in different traffic conditions is identified as a key factor to minimise a person’s risk of sickness and increase overall QoE. However, assessing the QoE of immersive media consumption in AV to its full potential is a difficult task that requires proper standard guidelines and directions. Existing surveys focus only on a specific metaverse or transportation system. These surveys lack a comprehensive view of the entire immersive media consumption process, QoE factors and aspects, and QoE standards for assessing immersive content in vehicular networks. To address these issues, we present an overview of the research landscape in the context of QoE and network standards that highlights the need for experimental studies to inform and consolidate the methodologies and recommendations for standardization of immersive content QoE assessment in AVs. Research and user studies have not yet yielded standards or recommendations describing assessment methodologies to evaluate immersive systems, such as exist for traditional video and images. A framework is outlined to provide a comprehensive understanding of the QoE influencing factors and aspects that will assist in adapting, augmenting, and producing standards for immersive entertainment in autonomous vehicles.