The influence of one's immersion ability on physiological and psychological relaxation in a virtual natural relaxation video

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the effects of relaxation. Experiencing nature, even in virtual reality (VR), has been shown to decrease stress and improve well-being. But research into the exact mechanisms of how relaxation has its positive effects is scarce. This project aims to answer the question if an individual’s ability to immerse in sensory environments has an influence on their ability to relax. Immersion ability was collected by the immersion tendency questionnaire, developed by Witmer and Singer (1994). For this study 60 participants took part in a relaxation intervention. Throughout the exposure, heart rate variability (HRV) was measured, and subjective re-laxation was recorded. 57 datasets were included in the results. The VR only inflicted an increase in relaxation in subjective relaxation. The HRV markers “High Frequency” (HF) and “root mean square of successive differences” (RMSSD) values did not show in-creased parasympathetic activity in reaction to the relaxation task. Repeated measure ANCOVA did not find an influence of an individual’s immersion ability on their ability to relax, neither subjective nor objective. As the markers of physiological relaxation did not increase, the results are inconclusive. Problematic factors in this study could be that the VR environment was not immersive or long enough. Additional limitations are discussed.