Virtual reality has been used effectively to promote relaxation and reduce stress. It is possible to find two main approaches to achieve such aims across the literature. The first one is focused on ...generic environments filled with relaxing "narratives" to induce control over one's own body and physiological response, while the second one engages the user in virtual reality-mediated activities to empower his/her own abilities to regulate emotion. The scope of the present contribution is to extend the discourse on VR use to promote relaxation, by proposing a third approach. This would be based on VR with personalized content, based on user research to identify important life events. As a second step, distinctive features of such events may be rendered with symbols, activities or other virtual environments contents. According to literature, it is possible that such an approach would obtain more sophisticated and long-lasting relaxation in users. The present contribution explores this innovative theoretical proposal and its potential applications within future research and interventions.
•The importance of virtual reality (VR) is growing rapidly in tourism-related areas.•This study develops a model incorporating innovation and gratification theories.•Innovation and gratification ...theories explain why consumers participate in VR.•Authentic experience and well-being mediate consumer behavior on VR tourism.•Technology readiness moderates the relationship between well-being and intention.
Despite the increasing amount of attention paid to virtual reality (VR) tourism and the rising importance of VR tourism, a theoretically integrated model of behavior has not been developed. To fill this void, we build and test a framework based on both innovation diffusion and uses and gratifications theories to explain why people participate in VR tourism. The moderating role of VR tourists’ technology readiness (optimism and innovativeness) between subjective well-being and behavioral intention is also examined. Results demonstrate that authentic experience and subjective well-being are affected by simplicity, benefit, compatibility (attributes of innovation diffusion), informativeness, social interactivity, and playfulness (uses and gratifications attributes). Behavioral intention is more positively influenced by subjective well-being than by authentic experience. The moderating role of technology readiness between subjective well-being and behavioral intention is stronger in individuals with high optimism and innovativeness than their counterparts with low optimism and innovativeness.
Recent research suggests that virtual reality (VR) games can engage players in physical activity with high levels of enjoyment. Understanding users' motivation to engage and enjoy immersive VR ...exercise platforms is thus important to designers. We designed a VR exercise platform and conducted an experiment with two conditions, one with a static user interface (UI) and the other with an open world environment. Across participants there was significantly (p = 0.03*) greater enjoyment reported in an open world compared to static UI. Enjoyment in both static UI and open world conditions was positively correlated wih user's psychological needs and experience; autonomy and immersion. Participants' future play intention was also predicted by autonomy and immersion, but only within the open world condition. Our findings also suggest players can be classified into entertainment-focused and exercise-focused with different expectations and therefore different engagement behaviors with each VR exercise environment. The study highlights the value of informing VR design with measures of psychological need satisfaction.
Background: Nutrition counseling and education provided by registered dietitians (RD) is an efficacious service for improved health outcomes. Limitations of in person education in clinical settings ...include RD access, time constraints, and lack of hands-on education tools. Immersive virtual reality (iVR) technology may be able to improve the patient experience by providing meaningful educational experiences. Methods: Participants (n=44,29 female, BMI=25.31 ± 5.7, Age=27.6 ± 13.9) were randomized to receive iVR or an in-person nutrition education experience both of which focused on the nutritional principles of portion size and calorie density. Both educational materials were developed by an RD and similar scripts were used for consistency between the two versions. However, the virtual reality program allowed for interactive experiences with food items. This included activities such as selecting and cutting foods to adjusting portion sizes. The portion control self-efficacy survey was administered preand post-experience. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to determine the effect of education on portion size self-efficacy and knowledge. Results: Portion size self-efficacy improved across time points in both in-person (n=26) and VR (n=18) education conditions (p=0.006). No main effect of condition or interaction between condition and time was shown to be significant, indicating both interventions improved scores similarly. Conclusions: iVR nutrition education shows promise to be similarly effective to an in-person RD experience. This technology is best applied in conjunction with RD medical nutrition counseling and can serve a wide range of educational topics. Future research is needed to validate this tool in clinical settings and among at-risk populations that may have lower baseline portion size-self efficacy.
Although virtual reality (VR) is an emerging technology in tourism, little research has been conducted on what factors make consumers visit destinations presented by VR. To address this gap in the ...literature, this study developed a theoretical framework including authentic experience, cognitive and affective responses, attachment, and visit intention with VR tourism using a stimulus-organism-response (SOR) theory. The results revealed significant impacts of authentic experience on cognitive and affective responses, indicating that authentic experience is an important factor in VR tourism. The study identified cognitive and affective responses as significant mediators in predicting attachment and visit intention. The results demonstrated that the intention to visit places shown in VR tourism was influenced by attachment to VR. Cognitive response had a stronger influence than affective response on the intention to visit a destination in VR. This study sheds light on why potential tourists visit destinations shown in VR.
Objective: Since the mid-1990s, a significant scientific literature has evolved regarding the outcomes from the use of what we now refer to as clinical virtual reality (VR). This use of VR simulation ...technology has produced encouraging results when applied to address cognitive, psychological, motor, and functional impairments across a wide range of clinical health conditions. This article addresses the question, "Is clinical VR ready for primetime?" Method: After a brief description of the various forms of VR technology, we discuss the trajectory of clinical VR over the last 20 years and summarize the basic assets that VR offers for creating clinical applications. The discussion then addresses the question of readiness in terms of the theoretical basis for clinical VR assets, the research to date, the pragmatic factors regarding availability, usability, and costs of clinical VR content/systems, and the ethical issues for the safe use of VR with clinical populations. Results: Our review of the theoretical underpinnings and research findings to date leads to the prediction that clinical VR will have a significant impact on future research and practice. Pragmatic issues that can influence adoption across many areas of psychology also appear favorable, but professional guidelines will be needed to promote its safe and ethical use. Conclusions: Although there is still much research needed to advance the science in this area, we strongly believe that clinical VR applications will become indispensable tools in the toolbox of psychological researchers and practitioners and will only grow in relevance and popularity in the future.
General Scientific Summary
Virtual reality (VR) technology offers new opportunities for clinical research, assessment, and intervention. Advances in the underlying VR-enabling technologies and methods can now support the creation of low-cost, yet sophisticated, immersive and interactive VR systems, capable of running on consumer-level computing devices. It is predicted that the clinical use of VR will have a significant impact on mental health care in areas where the research demonstrates added value.
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