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Physiological and Psychological Restoration in Matched Real and Virtual Natural Environments

Published: 25 April 2020 Publication History

Abstract

We present a study comparing physiological and psychological restoration in matched real and virtual natural environments. Participants (n=24) experienced a real forest, or one of two audiovisual virtual forests wearing a head-mounted display: A 3D forest or a 360-degree video. The results showed that some of the benefits of the real forest could also be obtained using virtual equivalents. Furthermore, we found the 3D forest to be emotionally more restorative than the 360-degree video forest. The findings can be used in creating restorative virtual environments for people who are unable to visit real natural environments.

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  • (2024)Urban Green Spaces and Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Studies Comparing Virtual Reality versus Real NatureFuture Internet10.3390/fi1606018216:6(182)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
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  1. Physiological and Psychological Restoration in Matched Real and Virtual Natural Environments

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      cover image ACM Conferences
      CHI EA '20: Extended Abstracts of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
      April 2020
      4474 pages
      ISBN:9781450368193
      DOI:10.1145/3334480
      Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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      Publication History

      Published: 25 April 2020

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      Author Tags

      1. head-mounted display
      2. restoration
      3. virtual natural environment
      4. virtual reality

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      Cited By

      View all
      • (2025)High-fidelity immersive virtual reality environments for gait rehabilitation exergamesFrontiers in Virtual Reality10.3389/frvir.2024.15028025Online publication date: 6-Jan-2025
      • (2025)Designing a Smartphone-Based Virtual Reality App for Relaxation: Qualitative Crossover StudyJMIR Formative Research10.2196/626639(e62663)Online publication date: 13-Feb-2025
      • (2024)Urban Green Spaces and Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Review of Studies Comparing Virtual Reality versus Real NatureFuture Internet10.3390/fi1606018216:6(182)Online publication date: 21-May-2024
      • (2024)Exploring Influence of Social Anxiety on Embodied Face Perception during Affective Social Interactions in VRProceedings of the 24th ACM International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents10.1145/3652988.3673952(1-5)Online publication date: 16-Sep-2024
      • (2024)Affective Computing and the Road to an Emotionally Intelligent MetaverseIEEE Open Journal of the Computer Society10.1109/OJCS.2024.33894625(195-214)Online publication date: 2024
      • (2024)Comparison between three different delivery technologies of virtual nature on psychological state related to general stress recovery: An experimental studyJournal of Environmental Psychology10.1016/j.jenvp.2024.102452100(102452)Online publication date: Dec-2024
      • (2024)Exposure to simulated nature promotes positive body image irrespective of the presentation modality: A comparison of images, 2-dimensional film, and 360° immersive filmBody Image10.1016/j.bodyim.2024.10180351(101803)Online publication date: Dec-2024
      • (2023)PhysioKit: An Open-Source, Low-Cost Physiological Computing Toolkit for Single- and Multi-User StudiesSensors10.3390/s2319824423:19(8244)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
      • (2023)Complementarity with Real Forests: A Conceptual Framework and Narrative Review of Multidimensional Effects in Virtual ForestsForests10.3390/f1501008315:1(83)Online publication date: 30-Dec-2023
      • (2023)Brief repeated virtual nature contact for three weeks boosts university students' nature connectedness and psychological and physiological health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A pilot studyFrontiers in Public Health10.3389/fpubh.2022.105702010Online publication date: 12-Jan-2023
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