Advertisement

Virtual Nature: A Psychologically Beneficial Experience

  • Laura M. HermanEmail author
  • Jamie Sherman
Conference paper
First Online:
  • 1.4k Downloads
Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNCS, volume 11574)

Abstract

This study sought to determine which, if any, of the benefits conferred by experiences in nature are conferred by an equivalent Virtual Reality (VR) experience. To this end, previous VR users were immersed in a virtual forest environment. Post-immersion, participants were measured on a variety of metrics including stress level, relaxation level, and directed attention abilities – metrics that have been shown to be significantly modulated by exposure to physical nature. Our results indicate that experiences in virtual nature afford much the same psychological benefits of exposure to physical nature, but they did not show the same kinds of attentional benefits. Experiencing nature in VR significantly decreased self-reported anxiety levels.

Keywords

Virtual Reality Nature Directed attention Stress reduction Immersive environments Attentional fatigue 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Atchley, R.A., Strayer, D.L., Atchley, P.: Creativity in the wild: improving creative reasoning through immersion in natural settings. PLoS ONE 7(12), e51474 (2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Berman, M.G., Jonides, J., Kaplan, S.: The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychol. Sci. 19(12), 1207–1212 (2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Berman, M.G., et al.: Interacting with nature improves cognition and affect for individuals with depression. J. Affect. Disord. 140(3), 300–305 (2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Bohil, C.J., Alicea, B., Biocca, F.A.: Virtual reality in neuroscience research and therapy. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 12(12), 752–762 (2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Bratman, G.N., Hamilton, J.P., Hahn, K.S., Daily, G.C., Gross, J.J.: Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 112(28), 8567–8572 (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Brown, D.K., Barton, J.L., Gladwell, V.F.: Viewing nature scenes positively affects recovery of autonomic function following acute-mental stress. Environ. Sci. Technol. 47(11), 5562–5569 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Cimprich, B.: Attentional fatigue following breast cancer surgery. Res. Nurs. Health 15(3), 199–207 (1992)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Cimprich, B.: Development of an intervention to restore attention in cancer patients. Cancer Nurs. 16(2), 83–92 (1993)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  9. Faber Taylor, A., Kuo, F.E.: Children with attention deficits concentrate better after walk in the park. J. Atten. Disord. 12(5), 402–409 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  10. Hartig, T., Mang, M., Evans, G.W.: Restorative effects of natural environment experiences. Environ. Behav. 23(1), 3–26 (1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  11. Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., De Vries, S., Frumkin, H.: Nature and health. Annu. Rev. Public Health 35, 207–228 (2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  12. Herzog, T.R., Black, A.M., Fountaine, K.A., Knotts, D.J.: Reflection and attentional recovery as distinctive benefits of restorative environments. J. Environ. Psychol. 17(2), 165–170 (1997)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Kaplan, S.: The restorative environment: nature and human experience. In: Role of Horticulture in Human Well-Being and Social Development: A National Symposium, pp. 134–142. Timber Press, Arlington (1992)Google Scholar
  14. Kaplan, R.: The nature of the view from home: psychological benefits. Environ. Behav. 33(4), 507–542 (2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Keniger, L.E., Gaston, K.J., Irvine, K.N., Fuller, R.A.: What are the benefits of interacting with nature? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 10(3), 913–935 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Lugrin, J.L., Polyschev, I., Roth, D., Latoschik, M.E.: Avatar anthropomorphism and acrophobia. In: Proceedings of the 22nd ACM Conference on Virtual Reality Software and Technology, pp. 315–316. ACM, November 2016Google Scholar
  17. Maister, L., Sebanz, N., Knoblich, G., Tsakiris, M.: Experiencing ownership over a dark-skinned body reduces implicit racial bias. Cognition 128(2), 170–178 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Maister, L., Slater, M., Sanchez-Vives, M.V., Tsakiris, M.: Changing bodies changes minds: owning another body affects social cognition. Trends Cogn. Sci. 19(1), 6–12 (2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Peck, T.C., Seinfeld, S., Aglioti, S.M., Slater, M.: Putting yourself in the skin of a black avatar reduces implicit racial bias. Conscious. Cogn. 22(3), 779–787 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Serino, S., et al.: A novel virtual reality-based training protocol for the enhancement of the “Mental Frame Syncing” in individuals with alzheimer’s disease: a development-of-concept trial. Front. Aging Neurosci. 9, 240 (2017)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Tennessen, C.M., Cimprich, B.: Views to nature: effects on attention. J. Environ. Psychol. 15(1), 77–85 (1995)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Tettegah, S., Taylor, K., Whang, E.W., Meistninkas, S., Chamot, R.: Can virtual reality simulations be used as a research tool to study empathy, problems solving and perspective taking of educators?: Theory, method and application. In: ACM SIGGRAPH 2006 Educators Program, p. 35. ACM, July 2006Google Scholar
  23. Tsirlin, I., Dupierrix, E., Chokron, S., Coquillart, S., Ohlmann, T.: Uses of virtual reality for diagnosis, rehabilitation and study of unilateral spatial neglect: review and analysis. Cyberpsychol. Behav. 12(2), 175–181 (2009)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Ulrich, R.S., Simons, R.F., Losito, B.D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M.A., Zelson, M.: Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. J. Environ. Psychol. 11(3), 201–230 (1991)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. White, M.P., Alcock, I., Wheeler, B.W., Depledge, M.H.: Would you be happier living in a greener urban area? A fixed-effects analysis of panel data. Psychol. Sci. 24(6), 920–928 (2013)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Department of PsychologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonUSA
  2. 2.AdobeSan JoseUSA
  3. 3.Intel CorporationSanta ClaraUSA

Personalised recommendations

Cite paper

Buy options