<![CDATA[Background. Virtual reality is increasingly deployed by educational tourism destinations to enrich the pre visit experience, yet evidence on how immersive attributes convert into visitor intention in Indonesian science parks remains limited. Objective. This study extends the Technology Acceptance Model by positioning telepresence as an experiential mediator, and examines the effect of perceived ease of use on telepresence and perceived usefulness, and the effect of telepresence and perceived usefulness on behavioral intention. Method. A quantitative survey was administered after a standardized virtual reality exposure in the Popular Technology Zone of Taman Pintar Yogyakarta. One hundred visitors were drawn through proportionate stratified random sampling by gender and age, responses were captured on a seven-point Likert scale, and the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and path analysis in SPSS. Results. Perceived ease of use significantly influenced telepresence and perceived usefulness. Telepresence significantly influenced perceived usefulness and behavioral intention, and perceived usefulness significantly influenced behavioral intention. The three models explained 30.8, 50.1, and 28.5 percent of the variance respectively. Conclusion. Telepresence operates as an experiential mechanism that complements the cognitive route of the Technology Acceptance Model, so effortless interaction shapes intention both through judged benefit and through the felt sense of being inside the mediated environment. Managers of Taman Pintar should prioritize interface simplicity, headset comfort, guided onboarding, and immersive local content, while virtual reality developers should treat telepresence quality as an explicit design target rather than a byproduct of hardware specification.]]>
