# Engineering the Future: Evaluation of Virtual Reality Across Project Lifecycle Stages
## 5 Discussion
For instance, technically educated individuals with hands-on VR experience might be targeted as early adopters and internal champions, while experienced professionals in innovation-supportive organizations could be engaged for strategic input on VR deployment, guiding tailored implementation efforts. Several limitations must be acknowledged. The relatively small and specialized sample (n = 56) may limit generalizability to broader engineering populations; however, as explained in Section 3, the statistical approach applied addresses this issue and provides reliable results. The study's population is also skewed towards the security sector. This factor acts both ways: on the one hand, it also limits the generalization of the results, but on the other hand, the security sector is a 'heavy user' of VR-based tools. Therefore, the population is highly relevant to the research question. Additionally, the study relied on self-reported perceptions rather than observed behaviors, introducing potential biases. The cross-sectional design also precluded tracking changes in perception over time, limiting insights into how attitudes towards VR may evolve in response to technological advances or organizational shifts. Factors such as organizational culture or specific VR tool experience were not systematically measured, even though they likely influenced participant attitudes. Furthermore, this study was explicitly designed as an exploratory, quantitatively oriented investigation, aiming to identify preliminary patterns and stage-specific variations in perceived VR utility within a relatively structured sample. While it offers valuable insights into users' perceptions of VR across the systems engineering lifecycle, the reliance on self-reported data represents a key limitation. Such perceptions may not fully align with actual usage patterns, behavioral engagement, or real-world implementation outcomes. The identified perceptual patterns provide a valuable foundation for guiding organizations in prioritizing VR investments in stages where its practicality is perceived as highest--particularly Training, Proposal, and Design. In addition, fostering openness to adoption and providing hands-on exposure can enhance perceived value and support smoother implementation. The results also highlight the importance of adapting VR strategies to different user profiles, considering factors such as education level and experience. A phased implementation approach, starting with stages where VR is most valued, may optimize both impact and user acceptance. These practical insights are grounded in the study's broader contribution to the literature, which provides a systematic, empirically grounded evaluation of VR's perceived practicality across the full project lifecycle. It introduces a validated measurement tool for assessing how engineers perceive the contribution and practicality of VR across different project stages and demonstrates how key psychological and experiential factors--notably willingness to adopt and familiarity shape these perceptions more strongly than demographic or organizational variables. Although this study offers important contributions to the literature, further empirical work is needed to strengthen the evidence base and refine practical guidance for VR adoption. Integrating complementary empirical data, such as behavioral observations and longitudinal case studies in operational settings, would provide a more comprehensive understanding of VR's real-world effectiveness and adoption dynamics. Additionally, incorporating qualitative methods such as interviews or focus groups could help uncover the underlying factors shaping users' attitudes toward VR. This mixed-methods approach would enrich interpretation and yield a more nuanced understanding of the user experience. Future studies should address these limitations through longitudinal designs that examine how perceptions evolve over time and whether VR integration leads to measurable project benefits.