It is the teaching and the learning, not the technology that is the important part of the process. It should form part of a broader learning experience in this context for the students just as it would in any other realm. Of course, it is important to recognize that virtual reality is, like any other technology or indeed more traditional teaching approaches that rely on imagery, simply a tool. Test results before students were offered the VR experience were commonly around 50 percent but rose to almost 80 percent in some cases after training with the VR system. Indeed, the researchers have evaluated their new VR tool with student evaluation of their learning undertaken with the system and found it to provide a positive experience in terms of test scores.

Even though the display in the VR headset is physically very close to your eyes, the lenses (placed between the display and your eyes) bend the light in a way that the actual focal point is approximately 2 meters (6.5 feet). 'This learning innovation is not only an effective learning tool but also suitable for new generations as a new medium to pass on the faith of Buddhism,' the team writes. In reality, seniors who require glasses in real life, might not need them with VR at all. They add that by purposefully creating an appropriate virtual world it might be possible to imbue a better understanding of the core philosophy of the given artworks. Moreover, it allows the user to 'experience' an environment in safety allowing them to 'know' events indirectly but with greater authenticity than is possible with conventional photographs or movies. The team explains that the experience within a virtual reality environment can encourage better memory in students. They suggest that this approach to teaching enables a multi-level learning experience for students. Gomesh Karnchanapayap and Atithep Chaetnalao explain how they have developed what they refer to as a ground-breaking tool by bringing together artworks and virtual reality. Writing in the International Journal of Arts and Technology, a team from Silpakorn University, Thailand discuss how virtual reality might be a useful and innovative tool in Buddhist teaching.

Zen bound virtual reality