Repeated Immersion in a Virtual Forest
Stability of Benefits Across Multiple Sessions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54337/aau.icdvrat26.29Abstract
Forest environments reliably reduce stress and improve mood, and virtual forests are proposed as an accessible substitute when the real ones are out of reach. Most evidence, however, comes from single sessions, often between-subjects, leaving the durability of the benefit across repeated use untested. In this feasibility study, 11 adults (3 men, 8 women) from a university community completed 5 10-minute immersions in the same photorealistic virtual forest, one per week for 5 consecutive weeks. Restoration (ROS), mood (POMS-SF), heart rate, blood pressure, and cybersickness (VRSQ) were recorded before and after each session. Linear mixed-effects models indicated that psychological benefits remained stable across the five weeks, however the heart-rate benefit was modestly attenuated. Cybersickness did not diminish the psychological benefits. The findings tentatively support that repeated short VR-forest exposure provides a stable well-being intervention.
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