Effectiveness of Immersive Videos in Inducing Awe: An Experimental Study

Age-related differences in subjective and physiological emotion evoked by immersion in natural and social virtual environments

Age-related changes in emotional processing are complex, with a bias toward positive information. However, the impact of aging on emotional responses in positive everyday situations remains unclear. Virtual Reality (VR) has emerged as a promising tool for investigating emotional processing, offering a unique balance between ecological validity and experimental control. Yet, limited evidence exists regarding its efficacy to elicit positive emotions in older adults. Our study aimed to explore age-related differences in positive emotional responses to immersion in both social and nonsocial virtual emotional environments. We exposed 34 younger adults and 24 older adults to natural and social 360-degree video content through a low immersive computer screen and a highly immersive Head-Mounted Display, while recording participants' physiological reactions. Participants also provided self-report of their emotions and sense of presence. The findings support VR's efficacy in eliciting positive emotions in both younger and older adults, with age-related differences in emotional responses influenced by the specific video content rather than immersion level. These findings underscore the potential of VR as a valuable tool for examining age-related differences in emotional responses and developing VR applications to enhance emotional wellbeing across diverse user populations.

Immersive Virtual Reality Decreases Work Rate and Manipulates Attentional Focus During Self-Regulated Vigorous Exercise

To determine the effect of immersive virtual reality use on finishing time of a vigorous-intensity self-regulated exercise task, and on relevant psychological variables. Healthy untrained adults (N = 21; 10 men/11 women; age = 22.9 ± 7.2 years; BMI = 24.0 ± 4.5 kg/m2) completed 1500-m exercise bouts on a rowing ergometer in a counterbalanced and randomized order, with and without use of a headset-delivered virtual reality fitness program. Heart rate, rating of perceived exertion, affective valence, and attentional focus were collected every 300 m, in addition to finishing time. Data were analyzed with repeated measures as appropriate. Intensity of both exercise bouts was considered vigorous according to heart rate results (>77% maximal heart rate). Finishing time was faster in the control condition (449.57 ± 82.39 s) than in the virtual reality condition (463.00 ± 91.78 s), p = .007. Compared to the control condition, the virtual reality condition was characterized by a more external attentional focus (52.38 ± 18.22 vs. 38.76 ± 17.81, p < .001). No differences were observed for remaining variables as a result of condition (p > .05 for all). When a headset-delivered VR program was used during a self-regulated vigorous-intensity exercise task, participants were 13.6 seconds (~3%) slower than in a control condition. Attentional focus was manipulated to be more external with VR use, which may have ultimately distracted from the exercise objective. Recommendations for selecting an appropriate virtual reality experience for a given exercise task are discussed.

IAVRS-International Affective Virtual Reality System: Psychometric Assessment of 360° Images by Using Psychophysiological Data

Virtual Reality is an effective technique for eliciting emotions. It provides immersive and ecologically valid emotional experiences while maintaining experimental control. Recently, novel VR forms like 360° videos have been used successfully for emotion elicitation. Some preliminary databases of 360° videos for emotion elicitation have been proposed, but they tapped mainly into an emotional dimensional approach and did not include a concurrent physiological assessment of an emotional profile. This study expands on these databases by combining dimensional and discrete approaches to validate a new set of 360° emotion-inducing images. Twenty-six participants viewed 46 immersive images, and their emotional reactions were measured using self-reporting, psychophysiological signals, and eye tracking. The IAVRS database can successfully elicit a wide range of emotional responses, including both positive and negative valence, as well as different levels of arousal. Results reveal an important correspondence between the discrete and dimensional models of emotions. Furthermore, the images that exhibit convergence between the dimensional and discrete emotional models are particularly impactful regarding arousal and valence values. The IAVRS database provides insights into potential relationships between physiological parameters and emotional responses. This preliminary investigation highlights the complexity of emotional elicitation processes and their physiological correlates, suggesting the need for further research to deepen our understanding.

Culture and Awe: Understanding Awe as a Mixed Emotion

Recent work is establishing awe as an important positive emotion that offers physical and psychological benefits. However, early theorizing suggests that awe's experience is often tinged with fear. How then, do we reconcile emergent positive conceptualizations of awe with its more fearful elements? We suggest that positive conceptualizations of awe may partially reflect modern Western experiences of this emotion, which make up the majority of participant samples when studying awe. To test whether awe contains more fearful qualities outside of Western cultures, we compared participants' experiences of this emotion in China to those in the United States. In a two-week daily diary study (Study 1), Chinese participants reported greater fear than American participants during experiences of awe, but not a comparison positive emotion. In response to a standardized awe induction (Study 2), Chinese participants reported more fear, whereas American participants reported more positive emotions. Physiological changes in autonomic activity differed by culture only for heart rate, but not skin conductance or respiratory sinus arrhythmia. These findings reveal that awe may be experienced as a more fearful, mixed emotion in China than in the United States and suggest that current positive conceptualizations of awe may reflect a disproportionate reliance on modern Western samples.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-024-00243-3.

Unveiling the underlying structure of awe in virtual reality and in autobiographical recall: an exploratory study

Over the last two decades, awe has attracted the attention of an increasing number of researchers. The use of virtual reality has been identified as one of the most effective techniques for eliciting awe, in addition to more personalized methods for inducing emotion, such as autobiographical recall. However, previous measures of awe were unable to uncover the hidden structure of this experience. Awe experience scale (AWE-S) has been validated as a comprehensive measure of contingent awe in English, providing new opportunities for analysis. In this two-phases study, we investigated whether the latent structure of the experience of awe evoked by the autobiographical recall technique (Study 1) overlapped with that induced by exposing participants to a validated virtual reality awe-eliciting training (Study 2). The original English AWE-S structure held both in autobiographical recall induction and virtual reality-based elicitation. Despite evidence of overlap between English and Italian structures, low correlations were found between Italian trait measures used to test the concurrent validity of the AWE-S in the Italian sample and AWE-S state dimensions. This study highlights cultural differences in awe experience, trait, and state variations, and provides new insights into the standardized induction of this emotion through simulated environments.

Observing the earth from space: Does a virtual reality overview effect experience increase pro-environmental behaviour?

Astronauts (and recently businessmen) often express a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment, after observing the overwhelming beauty of Earth from space. Despite recent attention for this "overview effect", it is unclear whether experiencing the effect directly impacts pro-environmental behaviour. Using a virtual reality experience, the current research tests in two experimental studies the direct impact of an immersive overview effect experience on both short-term and longer term subsequent pro-environmental behaviours (donating to an environmental NGO, consuming less diary and meat). Furthermore, it investigates whether the technological immersiveness of the VR experience amplifies the effect, and the mediating role of connectedness to nature. Results show no effects of the short (7 minutes) overview effect VR video on pro-environmental behaviour (Study 1). For the longer video (15 minutes, Study 2), the results showed that the most immersive experience (video featuring meditative music and voice-over) appeared to increase connection with nature and higher donation amounts to an eco-NGO, but not significantly. No effects were found for subsequent meat and dairy consumption behaviours (measured on day 2, 4, and 6). These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the specific features determining the effectiveness of the overview effect experiences on actual pro-environmental behaviour, providing important insights to businesses and educational institutions.

Assessing alexithymia: the proposal of a psychometric tool based on spheric videos

The present perspective introduces a novel psychometric tool designed to enhance the evaluation of alexithymia. Alexithymia, a condition marked by difficulties in recognizing and expressing emotions, along with a propensity to direct attention outside rather than toward one's own interior experiences, is commonly investigated through self-report questionnaires. These instruments assume that individuals have sufficient self-awareness and abstraction capabilities, which restricts the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of emotional recognition in individuals who do not possess these capacities. To address this lack, emerging technologies like virtual reality (VR) and 360° videos facilitate the recreation of immersive contexts, enabling subjects to engage with scenarios even remotely. Our innovative tool employs spherical video technology to recreate social and non-social scenarios that elicit emotions. Psychophysiological measures are collected during video observation; then, questions are asked to investigate how the subject consciously processes the emotions they experienced. This multimodal approach aims to capture both implicit and explicit emotion processing, providing a comprehensive assessment. Overall, the proposed psychometric tool offers the potential for a more nuanced understanding of alexithymic traits and their real-life impact, empowering clinicians to tailor treatment processes to individual needs based on a richer set of information.

An attention-based approach for assessing the effectiveness of emotion-evoking in immersive environment

Visual stimuli within an immersive virtual environment impact human perception and behavior in notably different ways compared to the real world. Previous studies have presented evidence indicating that individuals in various emotional states exhibit an unconscious attentional bias toward either positive or negative stimuli. However, whether these findings can be replicated within an immersive virtual environment remains uncertain. In this study, we devised an attention-based experiment to explore whether the correlation between participants' emotional states and the valence of visual stimuli influences their attentional bias. Participants (n=28) viewed 360-degree videos with varying valence levels (positive and negative) to evoke emotions. Subsequently, we utilized standard emotional human faces as stimuli to assess how the consistency in video valence and emotional faces affects reaction time (RT) in Go tasks and error rates in No-go tasks. We employed the Ex-Gaussian approach to analyze the RT data. The parameters-mu (μ), sigma (σ), and tau (τ)-were computed to denote response speed and attentional lapses, respectively. Our findings revealed a significant increase in tau (τ) when the valence of the video and emotional faces aligned. This suggests that the Go/No-go paradigm is effective in evaluating the impact of emotion-evoking stimuli within an immersive environment.

The impact of virtual reality natural and built environments on affective responses: a systematic review and meta-analysis

This study aims to evaluate the extent to which virtual reality (VR) natural and built settings affect emotional states. Web of Science, SCOPUS, and PubMed were searched for relevant articles prior to February 2022. Of 15 articles identified for systematic review, 6 met the inclusion criteria for meta-analysis (studies with only pre- and post-condition measures of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were included). Both positive affect (g = 0.20, p = 0.001) and negative affect (g = - 0.30, p = 0.001) change scores for the VR natural environment were statistically significant. On the other hand, change scores for VR built environment were not significant in both positive affect (g = - 0.08, p = 0.355) and negative affect (g = - 0.08, p = 0.058). The findings revealed that, in addition to a VR natural environment, a VR built environment is capable of providing restorative experiences against negative mood in some circumstances.

A closer look at the time course of bodily responses to awe experiences

The structure and function of awe have been examined by focusing on the average level of outcomes during awe experiences. In the present study, we tested the psychophysiological process of experiencing awe, focusing on time-series changes in skin conductance responses (SCRs), a moment-by-moment measure of sympathetic nervous responses, and pupil diameter, which is dilated or constricted through the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The responses were measured through an experiment where 77 Japanese university students watched emotional (awe, amusement, or neutral) videos while moving a joystick when they felt supernatural agency or non-agency, examining the underlying psychological processes. We found that experiencing awe was associated with frequent and steep changes in SCRs and frequent changes in pupil diameter. The joystick inclination, the perceptions of the supernatural, was kept at a high level from the start to the end of awe experiences. These results may reflect the psychophysiological processes of awe: the "fluctuation" of the sympathetic nervous system might underlie awe-specific experiences. Our findings shed new light on the mechanisms of the body-mind interaction in awe experiences.

Cultivating Awe: A Means to Inspire Sciencing

Awe is an emotion involving a feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one's current understanding of the world and is associated with creating a sense of wonder and curiosity. The author explores how awe experiences can have a role in igniting and sustaining research endeavors, and how nurse researchers can cultivate everyday awe experiences as sources of inspiration when engaged in the art of nurse sciencing.

NASA resilience and leadership: examining the phenomenon of awe

This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, along with related resilience practices, is perceived by a NASA medical and mental health professional, who also serves in a leadership role, and how awe has impacted their work and personal life. Considering both their leadership role and how their work involves supporting the wellbeing of astronauts pre-mission, during missions, and post-mission, the potential impact of awe on the NASA expert has individual implications along with many others, especially in stressful environments. The results indicate that reflecting on awe experiences can support a person finding meaning and purpose in their life, evoke gratitude, increase social connectedness, promote optimism and other resilience skills in the moment, and generally have a sustainable positive effect.

The influences of daily experiences of awe on stress, somatic health, and well-being: a longitudinal study during COVID-19

In the present work, we used daily diary methodology to investigate the influence of awe on stress, somatic health (e.g., pain symptoms), and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. We recruited a sample of community adults (N = 269) and a sample of healthcare professionals (N = 145) in the United States. Across both samples, we found that awe and well-being increased, and stress and somatic health symptoms decreased over the 22-day diary period. In daily level analyses, we found that the more daily awe people experienced, the less stress, less somatic health symptoms, and greater well-being they felt. Daily experiences of awe can benefit individuals during times of acute and chronic stress-such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effect of simulated natural environments in virtual reality and 2D video to reduce stress

Stress is a common problem associated with poor physical and psychological health. Exposure to the natural environment is one method for reducing stress. The real and simulated natural environments have a restorative effect on stress reduction. In contrast to the real environment, simulated natural environments, such as virtual reality and 2D video, provide safer and more controllable exposure. Several studies on the restorative effects of the natural environment in virtual reality and 2D video have been conducted. However, the difference between the two in reducing stress must be clarified. This study was conducted to determine the effect of the simulated natural environments in virtual reality and 2D video and their differences in reducing stress. This study hypothesizes that both simulated natural environments in virtual reality and 2D video can reduce stress, but there is a difference between them in reducing stress. Fifty-three subjects were divided into two experimental groups: 2D video (n = 28) and virtual reality (n = 25). The results indicated that simulated natural environments in virtual reality and 2D video reduced stress. However, there was no difference between the two groups regarding stress reduction.

"Standing Up for Earth Rights": Awe-Inspiring Virtual Nature for Promoting Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Virtual nature exposure has emerged as an effective method for promoting pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors, also due to the increased emotional connection with nature itself. However, the role played by complex emotions elicited by virtual nature, such as awe, needs to be fully elucidated. Awe is an emotion stemming from vast stimuli, including nature, and virtual reality (VR) emerged as an effective medium to elicit it. One hundred nineteen participants were exposed to either one of four VR environments: (a) an awe-inspiring virtual nature, (b) a non-natural awe-inspiring virtual scenario, (c) a non-awe-inspiring virtual nature, (d) a non-natural non-awe-inspiring scenario. Pro-environmental attitudes, intentions, discrete emotions, and affect were measured and compared across the different conditions. Two ad hoc tasks were developed to measure two pro-environmental behaviors after each VR exposure. Participants were invited to sign a real petition against plastic production, consumption, and in favor of plastic recycling (a personally engaging behavior), and to take flyers to spread the word on the petition to friends and acquaintances (a socially engaging behavior). Awe-inspiring virtual nature resulted in a significantly increased number of flyers taken by participants (vs. control). Disposition toward the protection of the environment, positive emotional affect, and condition significantly correlated with the number of flyers taken. These results indicated that awe-inspiring virtual nature can influence socially engaging pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors but not personally engaging ones.

Feeling Virtually Present Makes Me Happier: The Influence of Immersion, Sense of Presence, and Video Contents on Positive Emotion Induction

Immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR), have great potential for enhancing users' emotions and wellbeing. However, how immersion, Virtual Environment contents, and sense of presence (SoP) influence emotional responses remains to be clarified to efficiently foster positive emotions. Consequently, a total of 26 participants (16 women, 10 men, 22.73 ± 2.69 years old) were exposed to 360-degree videos of natural and social contents on both a highly immersive Head-Mounted Display and a low immersive computer screen. Subjective emotional responses and SoP were assessed after each video using self-reports, while a wearable wristband collected continuously electrodermal activity and heart rate to record physiological emotional responses. Findings supported the added value of immersion, as more positive emotions and greater subjective arousal were reported after viewing the videos in the highly immersive setting, regardless of the video contents. In addition to usually employed natural contents, the findings also provide initial evidence for the effectiveness of social contents in eliciting positive emotions. Finally, structural equation models shed light on the indirect effect of immersion, through spatial and spatial SoP on subjective arousal. Overall, these are encouraging results about the effectiveness of VR for fostering positive emotions. Future studies should further investigate the influence of user characteristics on VR experiences to foster efficiently positive emotions among a broad range of potential users.

Awe as a Pathway to Mental and Physical Health

How do experiences in nature or in spiritual contemplation or in being moved by music or with psychedelics promote mental and physical health? Our proposal in this article is awe. To make this argument, we first review recent advances in the scientific study of awe, an emotion often considered ineffable and beyond measurement. Awe engages five processes-shifts in neurophysiology, a diminished focus on the self, increased prosocial relationality, greater social integration, and a heightened sense of meaning-that benefit well-being. We then apply this model to illuminate how experiences of awe that arise in nature, spirituality, music, collective movement, and psychedelics strengthen the mind and body.

Effects of immersion in a simulated natural environment on stress reduction and emotional arousal: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Although the mental health benefits of exposure to simulated natural environments are well established by researchers from environmental psychology, landscape architecture, and public health, it is unclear whether and to what extent technological immersion affects these benefits.

Methods

Systematical literature searches were conducted in May 2022 from six databases. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool 2.0 and the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions tool. We performed a random-effects meta-regression to investigate the heterogeneity. The immersion levels of included studies were classified by projection devices and motion capture, and then subgroup analysis was conducted.

Results

Twenty-six publications were included. Exposure to simulated nature was confirmed to be associated with increased positive affect 0.40 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.22, 0.58], vigor 0.58 (95% CI: 0.30, 0.86), calmness 0.54 (95% CI: 0.17, 0.92) and decreased perceived stress -0.38 (95% CI: -0.71, -0.06), total mood disturbance -0.87 (95% CI: -1.17, -0.57), tension -0.70 (95% CI: -0.99, -0.41), fatigue -0.60 (95% CI: -0.91, -0.28), anxiety -0.72 (95% CI: -1.43, -0.02), depression -0.33 (95% CI: -0.52, -0.14), confusion -0.79 (95% CI: -1.19, -0.40), and anger -0.54 (95% CI: -0.76, -0.31). Gender, health status, study design, mean age, and single exposure duration were not significant when entered in a meta-regression. For positive affect, medium immersion was observed to produce a larger effect than low and high immersion. All included studies had a moderate to high risk of bias.

Conclusion

Audio-visual exposure to simulated nature contributes to stress relief and emotional arousal. The immersion level explains the heterogeneity of positive affect triggered by simulated nature. Focusing on the technical features will open up new possibilities for combining actual and simulated nature's mental health benefits.

Awe promotes moral expansiveness via the small-self

The experience of awe has been shown to challenge how people think about themselves and the world around them, linking them to something greater than themselves. We investigated whether this emotional experience of awe may also challenge the boundaries of our moral consideration, leading to a generalized expansion in our moral worlds. Across five studies (N = 990), we examined whether awe might promote moral expansiveness; that is, increased moral concern across a broad range of entities (e.g., out-groups, animals, plants, environments). Cross-sectional Studies 1a and 1b, found dispositional awe was related to greater moral expansiveness. Experimental Studies 2 and 3, using video-induced awe, found consistent indirect effects on moral expansiveness, via self-reported awe and the small-self sense of vastness. Experimental Study 4, using Virtual Reality induced awe, found those in the awe condition (vs. control) reported greater moral expansiveness, and this was fully mediated by the small-self sense of vastness. Our findings show awe expands our sense of connectedness to the broader world, and through this, increases the breath of our moral concern.

It's awe-fully unfamiliar: The effect of familiarity on awe within a virtual reality setting

Awe-inducing scenes are purported to involve vastness and a need for accommodation. Familiarity with a stimulus should reduce the need for accommodation, thereby reducing the intensity of awe experienced. The present study tested the effect of familiarity to a natural awe-inducing scene on the experience of awe. Forty undergraduate participants (N = 40) participated in a virtual reality experiment. Using a within-subjects design, participants viewed (in counterbalanced order) an awe-inducing nature scene that was either familiar or unfamiliar. The dependent measure was self-reported awe. Results confirmed that participants experienced diminished awe while viewing a familiar awe-inducing scene compared to viewing an unfamiliar awe-inducing scene.

Virtual Reality for Awe and Imagination

Empirical research has explored the potential of the emotion of awe to shape creativity, while theoretical work has sought to understand the link between this emotion and transformation in terms of imagining new possible worlds. This branch of study relies on the transformative potential of virtual reality (VR) to examine and invite cognitive and emotional components of transformative experiences (TEs) within the interdisciplinary model of Transformative Experience Design (TED) and the Appraisal-Tendency Framework (ATF). TED suggests using the epistemic and emotional affordances of interactive technologies, such as VR, to invite TEs. The ATF can provide insight into the nature of these affordances and their relationship. This line of research draws on empirical evidence of the awe-creativity link to broaden the discourse and consider the potential impact of this emotion on core beliefs about the world. The combination of VR with these theoretical and design-oriented approaches may enable a new generation of potentially transformative experiences that remind people that they can aspire to more and inspire them to work toward imagining and creating a new possible world.

The reality of virtual reality

Virtual reality (VR) has become a popular tool for investigating human behavior and brain functions. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether VR constitutes an actual form of reality or is more like an advanced simulation. Determining the nature of VR has been mostly achieved by self-reported presence measurements, defined as the feeling of being submerged in the experience. However, subjective measurements might be prone to bias and, most importantly, do not allow for a comparison with real-life experiences. Here, we show that real-life and VR height exposures using 3D-360° videos are mostly indistinguishable on a psychophysiological level (EEG and HRV), while both differ from a conventional 2D laboratory setting. Using a fire truck, three groups of participants experienced a real-life (N = 25), a virtual (N = 24), or a 2D laboratory (N = 25) height exposure. Behavioral and psychophysiological results suggest that identical exogenous and endogenous cognitive as well as emotional mechanisms are deployed to process the real-life and virtual experience. Specifically, alpha- and theta-band oscillations in line with heart rate variability, indexing vigilance, and anxiety were barely indistinguishable between those two conditions, while they differed significantly from the laboratory setup. Sensory processing, as reflected by beta-band oscillations, exhibits a different pattern for all conditions, indicating further room for improving VR on a haptic level. In conclusion, the study shows that contemporary photorealistic VR setups are technologically capable of mimicking reality, thus paving the way for the investigation of real-world cognitive and emotional processes under controlled laboratory conditions. For a video summary, see https://youtu.be/fPIrIajpfiA.

Hostage negotiator resilience: A phenomenological study of awe

Law enforcement crisis and hostage negotiators (CHNs) are tasked with resolving incidents that are stressful, unpredictable, and often dangerous. These negotiators must work as a team and be able to successfully utilize a variety of skills in order to gain the subject's voluntary compliance and peaceful surrender. It is necessary for negotiators to continually practice these skills while also, and importantly, care for their own wellbeing. This study examines how a phenomenon, awe, when viewed as a resilience practice, can support law enforcement crisis hostage negotiators with their crisis work and personal wellness. Utilizing phenomenological methodologies, the findings demonstrate that reflecting on awe experiences had an overall positive impact on the negotiators in both their professional and personal lives. Based on the results, it is suggested that awe practices could be incorporated into future negotiator trainings in order to increase resilience and assist negotiators personally and professionally.

Self-transcendent experiences as promoters of ecological wellbeing? Exploration of the evidence and hypotheses to be tested

In recent years, much has been written on the role of different mental states and their potential to influence our way of thinking and, perhaps more importantly, the way we act. With the recent acceleration of environmental and mental health issues, alongside the limited effectiveness of existing interventions, an exploration of new approaches to deliver transformative change is required. We therefore explore the emerging potential of a type of mental state known as self-transcendent experiences (STEs) as a driver of ecological wellbeing. We focus on four types of STEs: those facilitated by experiences of flow, awe, and mindfulness, as well as by psychedelic-induced experiences. Some of these experiences can occur naturally, through sometimes unexpected encounters with nature or during immersion in every-day activities that one intrinsically enjoys, as well as through more intentional practices such as meditation or the administration of psychedelics in controlled, legal settings. We explore the evidence base linking each of the four types of STE to ecological wellbeing before proposing potential hypotheses to be tested to understand why STEs can have such beneficial effects. We end by looking at the factors that might need to be considered if STEs are going to be practically implemented as a means of achieving ecological wellbeing.

A Comparative Study on the Temporal Effects of 2D and VR Emotional Arousal

Previous research comparing traditional two-dimensional (2D) and virtual reality with stereoscopic vision (VR-3D) stimulations revealed that VR-3D resulted in higher levels of immersion. However, the effects of these two visual modes on emotional stimulus processing have not been thoroughly investigated, and the underlying neural processing mechanisms remain unclear. Thus, this paper introduced a cognitive psychological experiment that was conducted to investigate how these two visual modes influence emotional processing. To reduce fatigue, participants (n = 16) were randomly assigned to watch a series of 2D and VR-3D short emotional videos for two days. During their participation, electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded simultaneously. The results showed that even in the absence of sound, visual stimuli in the VR environment significantly increased emotional arousal, especially in the frontal region, parietal region, temporal region, and occipital region. On this basis, visual evoked potential (VEP) analysis was performed. VR stimulation compared to 2D led to a larger P1 component amplitude, while VEP analysis based on the time course of the late event-related potential component revealed that, after 1200 ms, the differences across visual modes became stable and significant. Furthermore, the results also confirmed that VEP in the early stages is more sensitive to emotions and presumably there are corresponding emotion regulation mechanisms in the late stages.

An Exploratory Study on the Effect of Virtual Environments on Cognitive Performances and Psychophysiological Responses

Research shows that reduced exposure to natural contexts is associated with an increase in psychophysical disorders. Recent evidence suggests that even a brief experience in natural scenarios can positively affect people's health and well-being. However, natural contexts are not always easily accessible. This study investigates the effects of natural and indoor virtual environments (VREs) on psychophysiological and cognitive responses. Following a within-subject design, 34 healthy participants were exposed to two VREs (i.e., a forest and a living room) in a counterbalanced order through a head-mounted display (Oculus Rift). Participants were asked to explore the scenarios and execute a modified version of the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test. Physiological parameters (heart rate, skin conductance level [SCL], and respiration rate) were recorded during the whole session. After the exposure to VREs, participants filled a set of visual analog scales to rate their subjective experience of presence, relaxation, and stress. Participants reported a higher perceived sense of relaxation in the virtual forest. Moreover, their SCLs were significantly higher in this environment, showing that the forest elicited higher physiological arousal than the living room. Furthermore, their SCLs were significantly higher during the attentional task in the virtual living room. The results suggest that a natural virtual environment can make people feel more relaxed and physiologically engaged than an indoor scenario. The latter instead can be linked to a performing venue, as reported for real contexts. However, these changes were not related to modulations of attentional performance.

The perceived duration of vast spaces is mediated by awe

Looking out over the Pacific Ocean or the Grand Canyon can lead to a sense of vastness. As a perceptual phenomenon, vastness poses a unique challenge because traditional measures of distance are not capable of explaining such large spatial extents. Vastness, however, may lead to a sense of awe, and awe, in turn, can dilate one's experience of time. Time, then, may be a meaningful proxy measure of vastness. Whether vastness is related to the perception of time and if the emotional experience of awe plays a role in that relation was explored herein. Across three experiments, we examined the relation between vastness, awe, and perceived time. In Experiment 1, participants reproduced the perceived duration of images varying in vastness and rated them in terms of the awe experienced as if they were in the spaces. Greater vastness led to higher awe scores and longer duration estimates, with awe mediating the relation between vastness and time. Experiment 1 assessed if the average brightness of images, absent of scene structure, explained changes in perceived duration. Brightness did not explain variance in perceived duration; thus, the scene structure of vast scenes may play a role in altering perceived time. Experiment 1 examined if scene semantics could explain changes in perceived duration. Whereas the relation between vastness and perceived duration vanished, a weak, mediated effect still occurred. Ultimately, time may not be a proxy measure of vastness, but we find evidence that emotion can link the relation between spatial and temporal perception.

Theta-Burst Stimulation Combined With Virtual-Reality Reconsolidation Intervention for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Study Protocol for a Randomized-Controlled Trial

Background

Craving associated with drug-related memory is one of the key factors that induce the relapse of methamphetamine (MA). Disruption or modulation of the reconsolidation of drug-related memory may serve as an option for clinical treatment of MA addiction. This protocol proposes to use virtual reality (VR) to retrieve drug-associated memory and then use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at the neural circuit that encodes the reward value of drug cues to provide a non-invasive intervention during reconsolidation. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of TMS treatment after VR retrieval on the reduction of cue reactivity and craving of MA.

Methods

This is a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, parallel group trial, targeting participants with MA use disorder aged from 18 to 45 years old. Forty-five eligible volunteers in Shanxi Drug Rehabilitation Center will be recruited and be randomly allocated into three parallel groups, receiving either 1) MA-related cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (MA VR scene + TBS) or 2) sham TMS (MA VR scene + sham TBS), or 3) neutral cues retrieval in VR combined with active TMS (neutral VR scene + TBS). Two sessions of post-VR-retrieval TBS will be scheduled on two separate days within 1 week. The primary outcome will detect the memory-related activity by the electroencephalography (EEG) reactivity to drug cues in VR scenes. Secondary outcomes are the self-reported MA craving in VR scene, the physiological parameter (cue-induced heart rate) and the scores of psychological questionnaires including anxiety, depression, and mood. All primary and secondary outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 1-week, and 1-month post-intervention. Assessments will be compared between the groups of 1) MA VR scene + TBS, 2) MA VR scene + sham TBS and 3) neutral VR scene + TBS.

Discussion

This will be the first study to examine whether the TMS modulation after VR retrieval can reduce self-reported craving and drug-related cue reactivity. It will promote the understanding of the neural circuit mechanism of the reconsolidation-based intervention and provide an effective treatment for MA use disorder patients.

Clinical Trial Registration

[Chinese Clinical Trial Registry], identifier [ChiCTR1900026902]. Registered on 26 October 2019.

Developing measures of immersion and motivation for learning technologies in healthcare simulation: a pilot study

INTRODUCTION

Medical education has benefitted from the introduction of new technology within recent years. Immersive devices, such as, 360-degree films and virtual reality have become new ways of simulating clinical experiences. The aim of the study was to validate and test reliability of a new measure of engagement.

METHODS

A between-participants design of 2 groups viewing a clinical consultation on a 360-degree headset or 2D monitor was conducted following computer random allocation of 40 healthcare professionals recruited from scheduled teaching. Twenty-three were assigned to 360-degree and 17 to 2D Medias. Adapted Immersion Experience Questionnaire (AIEQ) and Abridged Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (AIMI) were modified to match factors relating to clinical encounters. AIEQ and AIMI were utilised as the data collection tool by each group following video viewing. Spearman's rank correlation was used to assess relationship between immersion and motivation. Comparisons between 360-degree and 2D media responses were made using Wilcoxon's signed ranks test. Internal reliability coefficients of adapted measures were calculated with Cronbach alpha scores.

RESULTS

Total immersion scores were statistically higher in those experiencing 360 (p<0.05), with a median difference of 14.50 (95% CI 6.50-22.00). A positive correlation existed between the total AIEQ and total score of the AIMI in both groups (r_s =0.88, n=17, p<0.001). Internal consistency and reliability was demonstrated with a high Cronbach alpha score for the AIEQ (α= 0.91). AIMI subscale alpha value was also high at (α= 0.95) which shows the measures to be of high internal reliability.

CONCLUSIONS

Adaptation and validation of existing measures for use in healthcare education can be used to quantify levels of immersion and motivation. Standardising measures for use in evaluating new Technology Enhanced Learning is a step to aid understanding on how we develop these tools in medical education and how we might learn from immersive technology.

The physiological study of emotional piloerection: A systematic review and guide for future research

This paper provides an accessible review of the biological and psychological evidence to guide new and experienced researchers in the study of emotional piloerection in humans. A limited number of studies have attempted to examine the physiological and emotional correlates of piloerection in humans. However, no review has attempted to collate this evidence to guide the field as it moves forward. We first discuss the mechanisms and function of non-emotional and emotional piloerection in humans and animals. We discuss the biological foundations of piloerection as a means to understand the similarities and differences between emotional and non-emotional piloerection. We then present a systematic qualitative review (k = 24) in which we examine the physiological correlates of emotional piloerection. The analysis revealed that indices of sympathetic activation are abundant, suggesting emotional piloerection occurs with increased (phasic) skin conductance and heart rate. Measures of parasympathetic activation are lacking and no definite conclusions can be drawn. Additionally, several studies examined self-reported emotional correlates, and these correlates are discussed in light of several possible theoretical explanations for emotional piloerection. Finally, we provide an overview of the methodological possibilities available for the study of piloerection and we highlight some pressing questions researchers may wish to answer in future studies.

Defining Transformative Experiences: A Conceptual Analysis

The concept of transformative experience (TE) has been widely explored by several disciplines from philosophy to neurobiology, and in different domains, from the spiritual to the educational one. This attitude has engendered heterogeneous models to explain this phenomenon. However, a consistent and clear understanding of this construct remains elusive. The aim of this work is to provide an initial comprehensive interdisciplinary, cross-domain, up-to-date, and integrated overview on the concept of TEs. Firstly, all the models and theories on TEs were reviewed to extract and analyze TEs’ main components emerging from different disciplines. Then, this preliminary analysis was integrated with an in-depth examination of redundancies and particularities across domains and disciplines, to provide an integrated theoretical framework of TEs and a preliminary interdisciplinary operational definition of TEs. This examination, in turn, can help organize current research and theories, thus providing suggestions for operationalizing TEs as well as encouraging new interdisciplinary research endeavors.

Awe and Prosocial Behavior: The Mediating Role of Presence of Meaning in Life and the Moderating Role of Perceived Social Support

Although awe has been shown to increase prosocial behavior, there is limited knowledge about the mechanisms underlying this relationship, and about this relationship during unique periods. To bridge these gaps, this study examined the influence of awe on prosocial behaviors, the mediating role of the presence of meaning in life, and the moderating role of perceived social support. Based on longitudinal surveys from 676 Chinese college students we showed that: (1) awe was positively associated with prosocial behavior; (2) the presence of meaning in life mediated this association, and; (3) these associations were moderated by perceived social support. Specifically, the positive relationship between awe and the presence of meaning in life was only significant for college students with low perceived social support; and the positive relationship between the presence of meaning in life and prosocial behavior was stronger for college students with high perceived social support.

Awe Narratives: A Mindfulness Practice to Enhance Resilience and Wellbeing

It is necessary to have available a variety of evidence-based resilience practices as we experience life’s stressors including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Evoking, experiencing, and reflecting on awe moments by developing and sharing an “awe narrative” are a type of mindfulness technique that can have the potential to help someone flourish, enhance their resilience, and have a positive impact on their overall wellbeing. This paper explores how constructing an awe narrative can assist the individual while also possibly having a positive impact on others.

Trust Development in Military and Civilian Human–Agent Teams: The Effect of Social-Cognitive Recovery Strategies

Autonomous agents (AA) will increasingly be deployed as teammates instead of tools. In many operational situations, flawless performance from AA cannot be guaranteed. This may lead to a breach in the human’s trust, which can compromise collaboration. This highlights the importance of thinking about how to deal with error and trust violations when designing AA. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of uncertainty communication and apology on the development of trust in a Human–Agent Team (HAT) when there is a trust violation. Two experimental studies following the same method were performed with (I) a civilian group and (II) a military group of participants. The online task environment resembled a house search in which the participant was accompanied and advised by an AA as their artificial team member. Halfway during the task, an incorrect advice evoked a trust violation. Uncertainty communication was manipulated within-subjects, apology between-subjects. Our results showed that (a) communicating uncertainty led to higher levels of trust in both studies, (b) an incorrect advice by the agent led to a less severe decline in trust when that advice included a measure of uncertainty, and (c) after a trust violation, trust recovered significantly more when the agent offered an apology. The two latter effects were only found in the civilian study. We conclude that tailored agent communication is a key factor in minimizing trust reduction in face of agent failure to maintain effective long-term relationships in HATs. The difference in findings between participant groups emphasizes the importance of considering the (organizational) culture when designing artificial team members.

The unaffordable and the sublime

In this paper I examine a set of exceptional aesthetic experiences that remove us from our pragmatic everyday life and involve a specific type of unaffordability. I then extend this notion of unaffordability to experiences of awe and its relation to the sublime. My analysis is guided by considerations of the phenomenologically inspired enactivist approach that supports an affordance-based accounts of aesthetic experience. I review some recent neurophenomenological studies of the experience of awe, and I then sketch out a phenomenology of awe as it approaches the sublime.

Virtual Reality as a Moderator of Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy with the use of psychedelic substances, including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), has demonstrated promise in treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, addiction, and treatment-resistant depression. Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PP) represents a unique psychopharmacological model that leverages the profound effects of the psychedelic experience. That experience is characterized by strong dependency on two key factors: participant mindset and the therapeutic environment. As such, therapeutic models that utilize psychedelics reflect the need for careful design that promotes an open, flexible, trusting mindset and a supportive setting. To meet this need, the PP model is increasingly supplemented by auxiliary methods, including meditation, relaxation, visualization or spiritual practices. We suggest virtual reality (VR) as a full-spectrum tool able to capitalize on and catalyze the innately therapeutic aspects of the psychedelic experience, such as detachment from familiar reality, alteration of self-experience, augmentation of sensory perception and induction of mystical-type experiences. This is facilitated by VR’s evidenced capacity to: aid relaxation and reduce anxiety; buffer from external stimuli; promote a mindful presence; train the mind to achieve altered states of consciousness (ASC); evoke mystical states; enhance therapeutic alliance and encourage self-efficacy. While these unique VR features appear promising, VR’s potential role in PP remains speculative due to lack of empirical evidence on the combined use of VR and PP. Given the increased commercial interest in this synergy there is an urgent need to evaluate this approach. We suggest specific VR models and their role within PP protocols to inspire future direction in scientific research, and provide a list of potential disadvantages, side effects and limitations that need to be carefully considered. These include sensory overstimulation, cyber-sickness, triggering memories of past traumatic events as well as distracting from the inner experience or strongly influencing its contents. A balanced, evidence-based approach may provide continuity across all phases of treatment, support transition into and out of an ASC, deepen acute ASC experiences including mystical states and enrich the psychotherapeutic process of integration. We conclude that the potential application of VR in modulating psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy demands further exploration and an evidence-based approach to both design and implementation.

Developing and validating the Japanese version of the situational Awe cale (SAS-J)

The experience of awe, an emotional response to vast stimuli overwhelming ones’ current mental structure, has often been measured using a questionnaire method. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate the Japanese version of the Situational Awe Scale (SAS), which is a useful tool for measuring awe experiences from the perspective of the discriminability between positive- and threat-awe. The present study investigated the factor structure and validity of the Japanese version of the SAS (SAS-J) using awe-inducing video clips, through three online surveys (N = 1034; mean age = 38.74, SD = 10.95, range = 18–75). Results revealed that the SAS-J consisted of the same four factors as the original SAS (i.e., connection, oppression, chills, and diminished self) and had the convergent, criterion, and discriminative validity in measuring both positive- and threat-awe experiences. Additionally, results showed that the SAS-J could distinguish between positive- and threat-awe experiences. These results suggested that the SAS-J could measure both positive- and threat-awe experiences with validity. This study would make a methodological contribution to awe research.

Autonomic Nervous System Activity During Positive Emotions: A Meta-Analytic Review

Autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity is a fundamental component of emotional responding. It is not clear, however, whether positive emotional states are associated with differential ANS reactivity. To address this issue, we conducted a meta-analytic review of 120 articles (686 effect sizes, total N = 6,546), measuring ANS activity during 11 elicited positive emotions, namely amusement, attachment love, awe, contentment, craving, excitement, gratitude, joy, nurturant love, pride, and sexual desire. We identified a widely dispersed collection of studies. Univariate results indicated that positive emotions produce no or weak and highly variable increases in ANS reactivity. However, the limitations of work to date – which we discuss – mean that our conclusions should be treated as empirically grounded hypotheses that future research should validate.

Virtual Reality for Health Care Professionals During a Pandemic: A Pilot Program

Objective:

The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the safety and use of a nature-based virtual reality (VR) experience among health care providers (HCP) during a pandemic.

Methods:

Twenty-four frontline HCP participated in this crossover pilot where the viewing order of the experiences were randomized. All participants attended in-person consent, baseline, and end-of-study visits. The intervention consisted of viewing 2 nature-based scenes (“walk in the woods” and “forest of focus”) through 3-D VR and with computer 4K graphic imagery. Randomization took place with regards to the viewing order (VR vs 4K computer video, scene 1 and 2). Outcomes measured were safety, acceptability and changes in intensity of anxiety feelings, resilience, emotional distress, cognitive function, and self-efficacy.

Results:

Among the 26 HCP expressing interest in the study, 24 enrolled in this study. The majority were male (58.3%), white (66.7%) and of an average age of 46.3 ± 10.5 years (standard deviation (SD)). End of the study survey showed that almost all participants (96%) would participate in the study again and recommend it to others. Twenty-three of the 24 participants also felt relaxed after seeing the imagery. With respect to anxiety (as measured by the STAI Y1), the VR “walk in the woods” had the greatest reduction from pre to post (6.4 points, SD = 5.98) followed by VR “forest of focus” (5.8 points, SD = 9.29), computer screen “forest of focus” (5.0 points, SD = 8.89), and computer screen “walk in the woods” (4.1 points, SD = 6.22). All 4 sessions had a significant decrease in score from pre to post (P-values ≤.005), but there was no significant difference in the change from pre- to post-session between the 4 groups (P-value = .5835).

Conclusion:

The use of the VR among HCP has promise for reducing stress among health care providers during a high stress period, such as a pandemic but much larger studies are needed.

An Affective Interaction System using Virtual Reality and Brain-Computer Interface

Affective Computing is a multidisciplinary area of research that allows computers to perform human emotion recognition, with potential applications in areas such as healthcare, gaming and intuitive human computer interface design. Hence, this paper proposes an affective interaction system using dry EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface and Virtual Reality (BCI-VR). The proposed BCI-VR system integrates existing low-cost consumer devices such as an EEG headband with frontal and temporal dry electrodes for brain signal acquisition, and a low-cost VR headset that houses an Android handphone. The handphone executes an in-house developed software that connects wirelessly to the headband, processes the acquired EEG signals, and displays VR content to elicit emotional responses. The proposed BCI-VR system was used to collect EEG data from 13 subjects while they watched VR content that elicits positive or negative emotional responses. EEG bandpower features were extracted to train Linear Discriminant and Support Vector Machine classifiers. The classification performances of these classifiers on this dataset and the results of a public dataset (SEED-IV) are then evaluated. The results in classifying positive vs negative emotions in both datasets (~66% for 2-class) show promise that positive and negative emotions can be detected by the proposed low cost BCIVR system, yielding nearly the same performance on the public dataset that used wet EEG electrodes. Hence the results show promise of the proposed BCI-VR system for real-time affective interaction applications in future.

Dispositional Awe and Online Altruism: Testing a Moderated Mediating Model

Dispositional awe has a positive effect on prosociality. However, it has not been tested whether this disposition appears in online altruism. Using a large sample of 3,080 Chinese undergraduates, this study tested a moderated mediating model that takes self-transcendent meaning in life (STML) as a mediator and subjective socioeconomic status (SSES) as a moderator. As predicted, dispositional awe was positively correlated with online altruism, partly via the indirect effect of STML. SSES moderated both the direct and indirect effects. Specifically, the predictive effects of dispositional awe on both online prosocial behavior and STML were greater for lower rather than higher SSES. This study extends the prosociality of dispositional awe to cyberspace. Other implications are also discussed herein.

Temporal Fluctuation of Mood in Gaming Task Modulates Feedback Negativity: EEG Study With Virtual Reality

Feedback outcomes are generally classified into positive and negative feedback. People often predict a feedback outcome with information that is based on both objective facts and uncertain subjective information, such as a mood. For example, if an action leads to good results consecutively, people performing the action overestimate the behavioral result of the next action. In electroencephalogram measurements, negative feedback evokes negative potential, called feedback negativity, and positive feedback evokes positive potential, called reward positivity. The present study investigated the relationship between the degree of the mood caused by the feedback outcome and the error-related brain potentials. We measured the electroencephalogram activity while the participants played a virtual reality shooting game. The experimental task was to shoot down a cannonball flying toward the player using a handgun. The task difficulty was determined from the size and curve of the flying cannonball. These gaming parameters affected the outcome probability of shooting the target in the game. We also implemented configurations in the game, such as the player’s life points and play times. These configurations affected the outcome magnitude of shooting the target in the game. Moreover, we used the temporal accuracy of shooting in the game as the parameter of the mood. We investigated the relationship between these experimental features and the event-related potentials using the single-trial-based linear mixed-effects model analysis. The feedback negativity was observed at an error trial, and its amplitude was modulated with the outcome probability and the mood. Conversely, reward positivity was observed at hit trials, but its amplitude was modulated with the outcome probability and outcome magnitude. This result suggests that feedback negativity is enhanced according to not only the feedback probability but also the mood that was changed depending on the temporal gaming outcome.

Acceptability factors for wildlife approach in park and protected area settings

Human-wildlife conflicts are a challenge in parks and protected areas around the world. Facilitating quality wildlife viewing experiences that minimize negative impacts to people and animals is often complicated by distance-related human behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine how people's distance-related norms varied as a function of proximity from wildlife, wildlife species, and physical landscape features. By using virtual reality technology and simulations, this study assessed how physical landscape features (i.e., an open field, deadfall, and a paved road) impact wildlife viewing norms and also compared norms among three different wildlife species (i.e., bison, bear, and elk). Data were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA to explore how these factors influenced acceptability ratings of distances between people and wildlife. Results revealed a significant interaction between distance to wildlife and landscape features. Recommendations for improving the management of humanwildlife conflicts and future research directions are discussed.

Factor Structure of the "Top Ten" Positive Emotions of Barbara Fredrickson

In order to contribute to the consolidation in the field of Positive Psychology, we reinvestigated the factor structure of top 10 positive emotions of Barbara Fredrickson. Former research in experimental settings resulted in a three-cluster solution, which we tested with exploratory and confirmatory methodology against different factor models. Within our non-experimental data (N = 312), statistical evidence is presented, advocating for a single factor model of the 10 positive emotions. Different possible reasons for the deviating results are discussed, as well as the theoretical significance to various subfields in Positive Psychology (e.g., therapeutical interventions). Furthermore, the special role of awe within the study and its implications for further research in the field are discussed.

The Potential Role of Awe for Depression: Reassembling the Puzzle

Recently, interest in the unique pathways linking discrete positive emotions to specific health outcomes has gained increasing attention, but the role of awe is yet to be elucidated. Awe is a complex and transformative emotion that can restructure individuals' mental frames so deeply that it could be considered a therapeutic asset for major mental health major issues, including depression. Despite sparse evidence showing a potential connection between depression and awe, this link has not been combined into a proposal resulting in specific intervention guidelines. The aim of this perspective was three-fold: (i) to provide a new unifying model of awe's functioning-the Matryoshka model; (ii) to show systematic and explicit connections between this emotion and depression; and (iii) to suggest specific guidelines of intervention utilizing the potential therapeutic role of awe for mental health, specifically for depression. This theoretical endeavor in its entirety has been framed within the health domain.

Meditating in Virtual Reality 3: 360° Video of Perceptual Presence of Instructor

Objectives

The need for remote delivery of mental health interventions including instruction in meditation has become paramount in the wake of the current global pandemic. However, the support one may usually feel within the physical presence of an instructor may be weakened when interventions are delivered remotely, potentially impacting one's meditative experiences. Use of head-mounted displays (HMD) to display video-recorded instruction may increase one's sense of psychological presence with the instructor as compared to presentation via regular flatscreen (e.g., laptop) monitor. This research therefore evaluated a didactic, trauma-informed care approach to instruction in mindfulness meditation by comparing meditative responses to an instructor-guided meditation when delivered face-to-face vs. by pre-recorded 360° videos viewed either on a standard flatscreen monitor (2D format) or via HMD (i.e., virtual reality [VR] headset; 3D format).

Methods

Young adults (n = 82) were recruited from a university introductory course and experienced a 360° video-guided meditation via HMD (VR condition, 3D format). They were also randomly assigned to practice the same meditation either via scripted face-to-face instruction (in vivo [IV] format) or when viewed on a standard laptop display (non-VR condition, 2D format). Positive and negative affect and meditative experience ratings were self-reported and participants' maintenance of focused attention to breathing (i.e., meditation breath attention scores [MBAS]) were recorded during each meditation.

Results

Meditating in VR (3D format) was associated with a heightened experience of awe overall. When compared to face-to-face instruction (IV format), VR meditation was rated as less embarrassing but also less enjoyable and more tiring. When compared to 2D format, VR meditations were associated with greater experiences of relaxation, less distractibility from the process of breathing, and less fatigue. No differences were found between VR and non-VR meditation in concentration (MBAS). Baseline posttraumatic stress symptoms were risk factors for experiencing distress while meditating in either (VR and non-VR) instructional format. Of those who reported a preference for one format, approximately half preferred the VR format and approximately half preferred the IV format.

Conclusions

Recorded 360° video instruction in meditation viewed with a HMD (i.e., VR/3D format) appears to offer some experiential advantage over instructions given in 2D format and may offer a safe-and for some even preferred-alternative to teaching meditation face-to-face.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12671-021-01612-w.

Nature versus art as elicitors of the sublime: A virtual reality study

The sublime–the mixed aesthetic experience of uplift and elevation in response to a powerful or vast object that otherwise is experienced as menacing–has nurtured philosophical discourse for centuries. One of the major philosophical issues concerns whether the sublime is best thought of as a subjective response or as a stimulus. Recently, psychology has conceived of the sublime as an emotion, often referred to as awe, arising from natural or artistic stimuli that are great, rare, and/or vast. However, it has not yet been empirically demonstrated whether two major elicitors of the sublime–nature and art–differ in inducing this state. In order to experimentally compare nature and art, we exposed 50 participants to sublimity-inducing content in two different formats (nature-based and art-based) using 360° videos. We compared Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night with a photorealistic version of the actual place depicted in the painting, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence. We measured participants’ emotional responses before and after each exposure, as well as the sense of presence. The nature-based format induced higher intensity emotional responses than the art-based format. This study compares different sublime stimuli (nature vs. art) for eliciting the sublime.