From creative experiments to real-world impact: the role of immersive QA

Immersive technology has come a long way. What started as playful AR filters, quirky VR games, and experimental digital installations is now helping people learn, train, and work in ways that just a few years ago felt impossible. From healthcare training simulations to public engagement tools, these experiences are high-impact and deeply human.

We’ve spent nearly 20 years testing immersive technology across both creative and mission-critical contexts. That breadth of experience has shown us something simple but profound: the challenges of performance, perception, and context don’t go away when the stakes rise - they become more important.

Performance you can feel

Traditional notions of “performance” don’t capture what really matters. Frame rates, latency, and responsiveness are important, sure - but what really defines a successful immersive experience is how the system feels to the user in the moment.

We saw this early in a VR game on Oculus Rift: the system technically worked, but tiny drops in responsiveness were enough to pull players out of the experience. Years later, we see the same principle in VR training simulations: even subtle issues can affect learning outcomes and trust.

People are the ultimate measure

Immersive experiences are embodied. Gesture, movement, spatial awareness, and timing all shape how someone experiences a system. Automated tests can’t capture this nuance - only real human observation can.

For example, an Instagram AR filter taught us that even tiny misalignments or lag can completely change how an experience is perceived. In a VR endoscopy training simulation, we saw how UX friction or unclear feedback would directly affect a trainee’s confidence and ability to learn - high stakes where perception truly matters.

Context shapes everything

Immersive systems don’t exist in a vacuum. Lighting, physical space, background noise, device type and user movement all influence how an experience feels. Lab tests alone can’t reveal the hidden edge cases that define whether an experience succeeds in the real world.

Testing the Universal Everything AR app showed the same system could behave beautifully in one environment and behave slightly differently in another. That same principle applies to healthcare, training, and public services - context is critical, and testing in the real world is non-negotiable.

When they all come together

The most revealing insights emerge where technology, human behaviour, and environment intersect. Small shifts in any one of these – a hardware tweak, a user action, or a change in the environment – can ripple across the system and alter the experience.

The Clockwork Dog project shows this in action. Sensor adjustments subtly changed user interaction, and variations in setup affected overall performance.

From impressive to dependable

As immersive technology moves further into healthcare, training, education and public services, the expectations placed on it are changing. Experiences need to be more than impressive - they must be dependable.

The organisations that succeed won’t just be the ones pushing creative boundaries, but the ones taking quality seriously from the start. Because in immersive environments, how something behaves is inseparable from how it’s felt. And that’s what people remember.

About Zoonou

Zoonou is a digital quality assurance (QA) company. We’re a B Corp and 100% employee owned. We combine hands-on technical delivery with strategic guidance, helping organisations across creative, public, and healthcare sectors build AR, VR, and immersive experiences that are reliable, intuitive, and impactful.