Building and Acceptance of Intelligent Immersive Assistants

Abstract

Emerging technologies continue to evolve. As a result, institutions like Universidad del Azuay (UDA) are expanding support services beyond traditional omnichannel platforms. There is now a need to offer support through extended reality and voice-based environments, enabling immersive, natural user interactions. This study presents the building and evaluation of an Intelligent Immersive Assistant (IIA) that provides accurate information on multiple topics through immersive and voice interaction. The Design thinking methodology was used. A survey helped identify user needs and define the problem. An IIA prototype, UDAbot, was built using Unity 3D, XR Plugin Management, the Meta All-in-One SDK, and the Voice SDK with Wit.ai for voice interaction. Generative AI and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) enhanced response accuracy. Finally, acceptance of the IIA was evaluated via a survey that assessed 21 factors related to technology acceptance, usability, and immersive environments. The study identified 16 key factors influencing user adoption.