Schutte and her team have learned that time spent in virtual reality nature, compared to time spent in virtual reality urban spaces, can lead to better moods. Also, people who experience virtual reality nature believe that they are more refreshed mentally (in other words, that they are more cognitively restored) after spending time there than the people placed in the virtual urban places. The researchers immersed users in 360-degree natural or urban interactive virtual environments and learned that âVirtual reality experience of a natural environment compared to virtual reality experience of an urban environment resulted in higher levels of positive affect [mood] and a greater perception of restorativenessâŠVirtual reality technology may have the potential to enhance wellbeing.â
Schutte and colleaguesâ insights may be particularly useful when virtual reality experiences are being developed to optimize workplace performance, etc.
Nicola Schutte, Navjot Bhullar, Emma Stilinovic, and Katheryn Richardson. 2017. âThe Impact of Virtual Environments on Restorativeness and Affect.â Ecopsychology, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 1-7.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designersâ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before theyâre available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designerâs Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.