Physiological and Psychological Restoration in Matched Real and Virtual Natural Environments

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.